Katie Brown on Beauty: Choosing the right shade of concealer

Choosing the correct shade of any makeup can be a challenge, but the most daunting of all just may be concealer.

Ladies, we’ve all seen it and have probably all been guilty of it: the dreaded reverse raccoon look.  

You know the one. You’re getting ready for a night out, you apply your concealer to cover up those pesky under eye circles, and it all seems to blend perfectly in your bedroom lighting. Under-eye circles gone!

You go out, have a great time, and take some pictures. All is well.

The next day, pictures are uploaded onto the wonderful and unforgiving world of the Internet. You take a look and … oh no. The camera flash has prevailed and resulted in you looking pale, washed out, and possibly like you put your makeup on in the dark. A thick line of white has replaced your under eye circles.

I’ve got the reverse raccoon fix.

When choosing a concealer, it’s important to note that everyone most likely needs two different concealers for best results: one for under your eyes, and another for covering up redness and blemishes on the other areas of your face. The coloring on these two areas of your face is different, so two different colors are necessary.

For some guidance when choosing the color that is best for you, look no further than what you learned in your elementary school art class. The answer lies in the color wheel.

The colors across from each other on the wheel are opposites, so they’re going to cancel each other out. With this in mind, it’s best to find a concealer that is yellow or orange-yellow based for under the eyes, because that tone of color will neutralize the purplish blue tone under the eyes. It look me a while to finally realize this trick, and I’ve found that the Rimmel Wake Me Up concealer in Soft Beige works great for me. Although it looks a bit orange in the tube, when applied under my eyes, it blends perfectly and gets rid of my circles without giving me any white streaks or flashback in pictures.

Choosing concealer for the face is a bit easier. Simply choose one that is a shade lighter than your skin-tone, as you will blend it out to a flawless finish. I like to choose ones that are in liquid form as opposed to something in a stick or pot so that I can blend it out easily, like this one by CoverGirl. Also, be sure to pick one for your face that doesn’t contain any shine or light-reflecting ingredients (it will say on the bottle) to avoid flashback and sparkly blemishes.