Beauty · February 20, 2022

Different Types of Concealer and the Best for You

Last updated on February 27th, 2022 at 09:23 pm

If you’re not familiar with concealer, it’s similar to foundation and provides skin-like coverage. But is used on smaller areas, and tends to be more concentrated. Concealer can be used under your eyes, to cover blemishes, or could even be used in-lieu of foundation! There’s so many different types of concealer, it can be hard to figure out what’s the right one for you!

However, unlike foundation, you don’t have to find an exact match for your skin tone depending on what you’re using it for. 

Covering up blemishes? Try to find a color that matches your skin tone. But for your undereyes, you could go with a shade slightly lighter than the rest of your face for a brightened eye look. 

Or, you can use concealer as a highlight or contour too!

Jump to:

Formula: 

There’s other types of concealer, but these are the most common and the easiest to use. 

Liquid

Really easy to use, and has the most variety as far as coverage types, and can be layered to build up the coverage. Liquid formulas will look the most natural. 

Use a liquid concealer all over the face as a stand-in foundation, a darker shade along your cheekbones, forehead, and jaw as contour, or on the high points of your face as a highlight. 

Cream

Slightly thicker than liquid formulas, and can be in a tube (similar to a liquid formula), or in a pot. 

These are going to be thicker than liquid concealers, and depending on application can end up looking slightly cakey if you aren’t careful. 

Cream concealers are great for blemishes or any spots you want to cover!

For cream concealers and stick concealers, if you have dry skin, they’re going to stick to dry patches and not look great. 

Stick

Stick concealers will be the thickest of all three, and really only offer medium and full coverage. 

These formulas are for when you need heavy-duty coverage, and probably not for everyday wear. 

Before Starting Your Makeup:

Make sure you’re using an eye cream and/or an under eye primer. You want your under eyes to be hydrated and smooth for a base to put concealer on. 

If your under eyes are dry, your concealer isn’t going to look good and will settle in any lines under your eyes. 

Applying Concealer: 

Using a brush or a makeup sponge is going to give you different results. A brush is going to give you more coverage, but you have to make sure you don’t have lines from the bristles. 

With a makeup sponge, make sure you use the pointier end to get to the inner corner of your eyes. 

You can also use concealer on the top of your eyelids as an eyeshadow primer, and either set it with powder or your eyeshadow!

Concealers by Formula and Coverage

Liquid

Liquid | Light

Liquid | Medium

Liquid | Full

Cream

Cream | Light

Cream | Medium

Cream | Full

Stick

Stick | Medium

Stick | Full

Jen’s Favorite Concealers:

Of all the different types of concealer, my current all-time favorite is the e.l.f Cosmetics Hydrating Camo Concealer. I prefer a hydrating formula as I’ve gotten older, and this has been a great find for me. A YouTube video I was watching a while back mentioned it, and decided to give it a shot. It also layers really well too if you need more coverage. 

Like a lot of other people, I’m also a fan of Tarte Shape Tape, but it can be a bit drying for me these days. If I use Shape Tape, I’ll mix it with the e.l.f concealer too. 

My skin tone is neutral, but after a lot of trial and error, I’ve realized I need a concealer that’s neutral, verging on cool. I’ve seen a lot of older pictures of me, where my under eyes look very yellow. Not a great look!

Dianne’s Favorite Concealers:

I agree with Jen in that you want some moisturizing with your concealer. I had found the perfect product and it appears it is now discontinued (don’t you hate when that happens?). It was the Estée Lauder 24 Hour Concealer with Hydra Prep. One side was a moisturizer that you applied with a brush and the other side was the concealer. I am still using it until it runs out.

Normally I wouldn’t recommend a potentially discontinued product, but I mention it here just in case it get reformulated and comes back. So, once this product wears out, I will go back to the “regular” Estée Lauder liquid concealer, the 24 hour Double Wear Stay in Place Flawless Concealer. I mentioned in our post on foundation that I love their Double Wear foundation so this is an extension of that.

Another honorable mention is Maybelline’s Instant Age Rewind Concealer.

There are so many different types of concealer. Do you have a favorite that we missed and should try? Let us know in the comments below.