you're STILL applying your concealer WRONG... tips from makeup expert

One of the top things that can go wrong in your makeup routine is your concealer is not applied properly. I'm here today to show you what are the top eight concealer mistakes that you are making and how to fix them. If you're new to my channel, my name's Marlena. I've been a cosmetic brand owner and product developer in the beauty space for over 15 years. And I'm taking all of that experience to the table today to show you how to be a smart shopper, but also how to have the best techniques that work specifically for you to help your concealer look as flawless as possible. Mistake number one, you're not prepping your skin properly. When it comes to concealer, especially if you're over 40, you all prepping your skin is so critical to getting the results that you want. A lot of people always say, Marlena, the concealer under my eyes look thick, it looks cakey, it's not blending in, it's settling into fine lines. The chances are you're not putting down a good primer underneath or something that's hydrating for under the eyes. So I have a couple options for you all. You can take an eye cream and put it under the eyes just a minute or so before you do your concealer. If you tend to have dry skin, the skin under the eyes is such a thin texture, especially as we start to get older, you really have to add more hydration because it's such a thin, delicate area. You can also get an eye cream like this. This is the Beauty Bio Eyelighter Concentrate. It's something I love to use when I'm really struggling with my concealer. It's an eye cream, but what it does, you all, it has this metal tip on the end and you start to blend it in and it brightens under the eyes while also hydrating it at the same time. And because it has a massaging tool here on the end, they're not sponsoring this, you guys, I just really enjoy this product. I massage it under here and it increases blood flow and things like that, but it just brightens it. Do you see how much brighter this side is than this side? It just brightens it, it hydrates it. So then when I put my concealer on top, it's gonna glide a little bit more easily. It's not gonna settle into fine lines. It's just gonna give me a nice base to smooth everything out on top so that way it doesn't look dry or cakey either. The other thing that you all can do is use a silicone-based primer. I recommend doing this all over the face, but definitely make sure that you put that under the eyes too. You want something that has dimethicone in it, cyclopentasiloxane. If you need education on that, search it on my YouTube channel, put some links below because I talk about it a lot. So I like the Lancôme Love Base Pro one, but specifically under the eyes, I always make sure I put a bit of silicone-based primer in there. It's going to create a barrier between your skin and the product on top, making the concealer glide more smoothly and not settle into the fine lines. Mistake number two, you're not color correcting first. Now this mistake was one that took me years to figure out, you all, because I've, genetically, I've had dark circles for a really long time. They've gotten worse as I've gotten older. I've learned that if you don't color correct first, applying layer after layer after layer of concealer is just going to make it look thick and cakey and not give me the coverage that I need. I need to correct the actual blue, gray, or purple undertones of the dark circles first. So I'll be quick on this demo because you guys already know this, but you've got to take a peach corrector. If you have fair skin, if you have deeper skin, go with an orange, a kind of rusty color, and you want to put this down first on the dark circles before putting anything on top. This is going to neutralize that color, allowing you to not have to place so much concealer or foundation on top to cover those dark circles properly. Color correcting is going to be a bit more effective, allowing you to use less product. Now I know it looks crazy on its own. It's a little bit orangey in here, but once I put my foundation on top, it's going to smooth it out and make it look super flawless. I'm a huge advocate of color correcting if you have dark circles under the eyes. Mistake number three, you're just using the wrong tools. Now, just like I taught you guys about tools pairing up with the viscosity of foundation, the same rules apply with your concealers. If you have a very thick type of concealer, I'm looking at you, Tarte Shape Tape. You are thick, you are cakey. You've got to use different tools for your concealer. I always have two on hand. So I have a brush like this. This is the Anisa Angle Concealer Brush. I always use it just because it glides concealer smoothly, but I'll use this with a thin to medium viscosity of a formula, something that's not too thick. With a thicker concealer, you've got to use a sponge. What happens if you use a brush with a really thick concealer? It's going to drag, it's going to stick to it. It's going to make it look thick and cakey. Let me show you with a concealer like this. This is the NARS Concealer. It's obviously a pot concealer, but do you see the consistency of this? It's thick. When I put it on my hand, it stays put. A thinner consistency formula would be like the Natasha Denona one, the High Glam. Let me show you. Do you see when I glide that? It's a very thin formula. So thin formulas, especially under the eyes, use a brush like this. But with thick concealers, if I take this brush and I'm trying to sweep it out under the eyes, it's thick, so it's going to grab and it's going to give me a really thick, opaque appearance. And it's not going to melt into the skin as much as it would with a sponge. So I would take a sponge, pat it on under the eyes. You can even blend it like this, roll it to smooth out those edges. But matching the correct tool with the viscosity of your concealer is going to be critical to getting that flawless look that you're hoping for. Mistake number four, you're using way too much product. So using too much product is the number one way that you're going to get cakey appearance, especially under the eyes. Because like I said earlier, the skin under the eyes is very thin. So especially as we get older, you've got to try to find thinner formulas. Thick concealers just don't work for us as we get older because it's just too much. It can settle in the fine line. So you want to find a thin consistency, but high pigmentation. I really do like the Natasha Denona High Glam. I did a whole concealer video. I'll link to it right here if you guys want, naming my top 10 concealers of all time. But if you have very dark pigmentation, you've color corrected, maybe you have a lot of scarring, redness, things like that, and you're like, okay, I just, I don't want to keep applying layer after layer. You can do my trick that I've done for years. You can take a very highly pigmented foundation or mixing drops and use that as concealer. I really do like the Dermablend Flawless Creator. I want to show you why. So like I've said, I had really dark circles under my eyes. I color correct, I apply my foundation. And then if I still feel like those circles are barking, they are mooing, they are poking through, I take something like this that's almost like a very, very high pigmented concealer. Cause let me show you the pigmentation level in this you guys. That's one drop. I mean, it, the coverage of it is insane. So every time after I do my makeup, I will take a drop of that foundation. I will take my angled brush. I'll pick up a little bit. I'll really smoosh it into the brush because when I tell you all this is pigmented, I'm not joking. It is a mask like pigmentation. I will sweep it over my foundation like this and just a light stroke. And that thinner formula, but super high pigmentation is gonna give me the coverage that I need without it being thick or too cakey because it's still thin viscosity and I'm applying just the slightest amount just to give me the coverage. So as we get older, thin formula, but high pigmentation, that's gonna be your friend. Mistake number five, you're using the wrong shade. So now the other trick is, is you're using the wrong shade of concealer. I was trying to find examples, you guys. I have my bucket here of different concealers. I was trying to find one that was too dark and too light for me, but I'm just gonna explain it to you guys. So you know how years ago, they used to say, oh, apply a lighter concealer under the eyes. It's gonna brighten your dark circles. You know what happens, you guys, when you put a light color on top of blue circles, you're gonna get light blue or gray. It's not gonna cover it. You cannot use a lighter color concealer to cover things. You need to, in my opinion, actually use one shade darker if you're trying to hide something that is dark, such as dark circles. Then after you put your foundation on top, you can use a lighter concealer in a very thin consistency and place it on top for brightening, but not covering, if that makes sense. So use the same shade of concealer as your skin or even one shade darker. If you need to cover hyperpigmentation, redness, dark circles, use a lighter concealer for brightening after you do your foundation, but don't use a light concealer to cover your dark circles. You're just gonna get light blue dark circles instead of dark blue ones. Actually, I'm gonna demo this to you guys. Okay, this is my dark circles. You think I'm joking. I am not. So there are some days, I'm gonna show you guys that my dark circles, I'm rubbing it on my hand. They're like a dark bluish gray. Like, they're awful. Okay, now I have my Natasha Denona concealer and it is a little bit light because I use this as brightening. Let me show you what happens. Let me make sure this dried. Okay, so it dried. So here's my dark circles. Look what happens when I place a light concealer on top and I start to blend it in. It's gonna give you a little coverage, but look, there's still a gray cast under there. It's still, it's giving me grayish skin. It's not actually covering that dark circle because it's just lightening on top of the blue. I hope my demo makes sense, but let me show you what happens when I've got a dark circle and I correct it, then put the concealer on top. Okay, so here's my dark circles. Woof, woof. I've got a peach color corrector. Putting it on top. Okay, I'm gonna blend this in. Okay, do you see how it's starting to neutralize the blue? They're still peeking through. They're still peeking through, but look, it's not giving me ashy blue. It's warming it up a bit. Okay, now let me put the light concealer on top. I'm gonna tap it so then it can brighten it. Let me let this dry. Okay, look, do you see that? Look, do you see the difference between this side and this side? Light gray version of my dark circles. Neutralized and looks like skin. Mistake number six, you're applying concealer in the wrong places. Now, where you apply your concealer actually does matter a lot. The trend that we did several years ago where we did the triangle shape, I know it's not on trend anymore, but it actually still works. I know you guys were like, oh, she's gonna talk about you dot here, a dot at the end or the corner of the eye. I'm gonna show you both sides. Okay, so the trend now with the placement of the concealers, you do a dot here and you do a dot there. This works phenomenal if you were in your 20s and 30s or you have no dark circles and things like that. This could work because it's giving you just enough coverage here where it tends to be the darkness is right here and then you put it out here so that way it blends in. It can work on the days where I don't have severe dark circles, but for me personally, I still do the triangle shape after my foundation with a lighter concealer to brighten. And let me show you why. So I still do a sweep like this because the goal of me applying concealer here is not only brightening an extra layer of coverage, I want to highlight the center of my face. I'm gonna show you guys the difference between the two. Now this is one shade lighter because I'm doing a brightening technique, not doing color correcting or anything like that. Okay, do you see how me having that triangle shape, it still highlights the center of my face. It makes my cheekbones pop a little bit more. It covers my dark circles. It elongates my face and makes my eyes stand out more. It does so many different things. So personally me, I still like doing the triangle shape. I don't care if it's trendy or not. I don't care about trends. I care about what works and this works for me. So if you're not getting the results from your concealer, it could be the placement that you're doing. If you don't have a lot of dark circles and you feel like it's getting thick and cakey, by all means do this technique, dot, dot, splend out because you don't want to have a lot of product. The more product you apply, the thicker and cakey it can get. If you're someone like me who really struggles with dark circles and blueness under the eyes, then highlighting and doing this here is really gonna transform my face. So try both techniques. See what works for you. But if you're not getting the results, it could be that you're not applying your concealer in the right techniques or right areas. Mistake number seven, you're setting your concealer with way too much powder. Okay, so this is the other thing that I see happen is a lot of people say it's thick and cakey looking and chances are you're using too much powder. I have advocated for these sponges since 2008. I know they've come back around. Everyone on TikTok and YouTube is talking about these sponges. I've been using these since 2008 here. I always recommended these for powders because it applies the least amount of powder. If you're using a brush, let me grab the brush to show you guys. So say I've got a big old brush, I'm picking up powder, I'm dusting all over the face. I'm applying a lot more powder than I need to. I wanna apply the least amount of powder just to lock it in and set it versus adding more layers of product that again are going to emphasize fine lines and texture. So I like to take a pressed or a loose powder, either one, and I take some of that on the sponge and I literally will scrape it off the excess so I have just the lightest layer. Do you see how light of a layer of powder that is? I take it under my eyes, I press, press, press. I don't sweep. I wanna lock in that concealer like this. My goal is not to blend, I'm just locking it in. So do a nice pressing motion like this. Just enough powder. Do you see how I only did it with that little bit? Look how much that set it in. It brightened it, it added more pigmentation there, but it doesn't look thick and cakey because I used the least amount of powder possible. So anytime you lock down your concealer, the least amount of powder you have, the less chances it's going to look cakey. Mistake number eight, you're not locking in the concealer with a setting spray. Now our last hope of getting our concealer to look good is you have to lock it in. If your concealer throughout the day is settling in fine lines, it's moving, it's creasing or it's disappearing, you haven't set it. I really do recommend using a setting spray. I do like the one size setting spray. I think it's phenomenal. I'm not going to spray my whole face now because I still have to do my makeup. But what I do is I do my whole face of makeup. And if I know I need it to last for many hours, I will mist my whole face, kind of let it dry for a good 30 seconds. And that will lock it in, especially with the concealer. If you don't want to use a setting spray all over your face, what you could do, it's not my favorite method. I do like spraying it all over, is you could take a beauty blender. You can spritz a little bit of that spray on there. Not a ton, you just want enough. And you can take that and gently pat it on top of your concealer, especially under the eyes. And what that will do is help lock that in and make the concealer last a lot longer. So it won't crease, fade, sink into your fine lines, disappear throughout the day. It just helps it lock it and make it last for many, many hours. So how many of these concealer mistakes have you made? I know I personally have made all eight of them. I've learned by my mistakes. So let me know in the comments, do you agree with these concealer mistakes? How many of these have you committed yourself?