Hi beauties!
I have had many requests for a tutorial on applying concealer to under eye circles/bags. Whenever I have a request for something, I don't just grab a popular concealer & bang out a quick tutorial on how to use it. If you take a look around the beauty blog world & of course, at the beauty videos on YouTube, many of them have excellent advice but they all have one thing in common: their method of applicationis sworn by. Many of them also seem to promote fancy, top of the line, too rich for my blood concealers....when there are many, many affordable, drug store concealers that work just as well.
You guys know my philosophy: Why purchase high-end, break the bank makeup products when many, many affordable drug store brands work just as well, if not better? Any product can work for you, with the right tools & the right techniques!
I LOVE many of my fellow beauty bloggers/vloggers across the web but I am the odd ball when it comes to applying concealer, especially when you require full coverage like myself. I will admit that as a 30-something year old mom of 4, my under eye area looks like a puffy, so-blue-it-is-almost-black, dry, wrinkly hot mess. Hey, don't judge....that is what happens when you work all day from home, while taking care of 4 kids ranging from a very hormonal 12 year old to an ADHD 9 year old to a super smart, nothing gets by me 5 year old to a toddling, into everything & everything goes into the mouth 1 year old! Even though my job is to hide these type pf perfect imperfections, using makeup to give clients & to teach you how to achieve that perfect look we all desire, it doesn't leave a lot of time to use those makeup tricks on myself!
I want to give you a little backstory on why this post came into creation. A few months back, I was asked to participate, along with several other beauty bloggers/vloggers, for a series of joint tutorials on 'the best methods for a flawless makeup application.' I was assigned to write tips & tricks to concealing under eye circles, which is my best makeup technique because of my own need to conceal terrible eye bags. I wrote out my tips & tricks article, mentioning that if you had severe discoloration, puffiness or a lot of laugh lines, then you did not need to use your finger to apply concealer because it thinned out the product too much for a decent coverage. I was asked by the website host to remove that statement because she swore that using your finger was the best method & that by me opposing her view, I would discredit her to her readers.
However, I refused to do so...she asked me to write the article, instructed me to post my most accurate concealing method & insisted that it should be my 'tried & true" method...not to mention, I was not paid to contribute & I have never and will never write anything that is not the truth, proven by trial and error. My contribution has since been removed & that is ok. I don't agree with all of the tips & tricks of the other beauty writers and I do not expect them to believe in all of mine. That is what is great about makeup...it is all about creativity. What I create is different than anyone else's creations; even if the same results are created, the methods are always different!
But I will say this: I stand by my original concealer tips & tricks article & my convictions that beauty bloggers should never create fictional reviews or tutorials to please another beauty blogger, receive compensation or receive free products. And you will never see me do it here on Your Infallible Beauty!
Why do I say NOT to use your finger to apply & blend concealer? Body heat!!! 98.6 degrees combined with a patting or rubbing motion that increases the temperature by 2-4 additional degrees will melt any concealer you attempt to use, unless the product is super thick. But I don't recommend going the thicker concealers either...because the result starts to look cakey & cracked with thicker concealers, even top dollar concealers, because of the constant twitching of the muscles located under the eye with blinking, the weather, the length of time that passes after applying it & the drying that comes with every liquid type product. That is, unless you can refrain from blinking or stop the passing of time. LOL Have you ever noticed that some concealers are full coverage for your sister but give you no coverage at all? Yeah, 75% of the time, it is application method! After explaining my first experiment, make sure you read my latest experiment that any of you can do in just a few months to substantiate my claim that full coverage concealing of the under eye area should never use the finger application technique
Let me state that one concealer may work great on you & not work at all on other people, depending on skin tone, skin type, type of problem that needs concealing & the extent of problem. If your eye bags are more blue than green, more puffy than sunk in, thinner skin, fine lines, etc. is all taken into consideration in concealer comparisons. However, by learning the proper technique & with the right tools, you can get the natural, complete coverage you want!
I have already shared the results of my concealer experiment, comparing type of concealer (stick, liquid, cream, mousse, powder, etc), concealer brands from high end to drugstore and my experiment of which concealer application method was best. I used brush, finger, sponge and concealer applicator that come with the product. I used a different one for an entire week, on 3 different people: myself who required full coverage, my friend who required medium coverage and my preteen daughter who required light to no coverage.
Without rehashing all of those results, I will say the ONLY one of us who the finger application method gave decent coverage results to was my preteen daughter, who didn't need much concealer at all except to hide some slight puffiness & a light green-purple discoloration on some days- with 3 exceptions (Makeup Forever Camouflage Cream Palette, Benefit Erase Paste & Kat Von D Tattoo Concealer) because these three more expensive concealers have a thicker, very heavy coverage, they are able to be spread out before your body heat thins them too much to get a good coverage. However, these concealers needed a lot of blending to give a smooth appearance which lowered their coverage some. Because of the thickness of the coverage, a setting powder....every one we used, even with the smallest & lightest applications...immediately made the concealer cake. On me & my bestie, we needed the setting powder to fill in any lines not hidden with the concealer & to ensure our constant running around between work & mothering didn't wear the concealer off, leaving us with our bags of glory exposed. On my preteen, we could skip the powder but within minutes, the area began to look sweaty, almost damp in appearance...leaving the under eye area very artificial looking. These thicker concealers began to crack at the 2 hour & 15 minute mark after applying and each one of these thicker, more expensive concealers were completely gone by the 4 hour mark. The high temperature body heat doesn't actually thin out the thick cream or stick concealers BUT it actually sets them, making them clump up on top of the skin. Even though the price is higher & you could use your finger to apply, what good are they if they are gone half way through your day & even though they hid the discoloration well, you could tell their was a heavy, artificial product under the eye... isn't the point of makeup to hide the imperfections & enhance our God given beauty, without making it obvious we were wearing makeup?
Here is what I want you beauties to try: Grab your favorite concealer & apply the normal amount you use under your eyes to the tip of your finger, without blending it in. Set a timer for 10 minutes & press your thumb against the concealer on your finger firmly. Hold it in place for the full ten minutes & then observe the product in a bright light. Notice how thin, slightly runny the concealer product is? Now, try to use it to pat into your under eye area. How much coverage did you get? If you chose a thicker cream or stick concealer, do you notice how thick the product looks when placed under your eye. Regular concealers thin considerably with body heat which lowers your coverage terribly, requiring many, many coats to cover the under eye circles which in turn causes a cakey, dry, fake appearance. The exact opposite happens with thick, heavy concealers. This type of concealer actually starts to harden & set with your body heat, leaving it clumpy, hard to blend & very obvious that you are wearing something under your eye.
Why not skip all of that & find a concealer brush or beauty sponge that gives you the look & coverage you desire?? Trust me, with a great tool and the right technique, you can get the exact amount of coverage you want while keeping it natural looking. Trust me, there is a tool out there that will work perfect for you. Don't try to buy ever single one that MIGHT work...instead Google is your best friend. Read concealer brush reviews...read different techniques for using brushes & sponges to apply technique. Make comparisons. Just make sure that when you are doing your research, you are making these comparisons using women who have the same skin type & problem areas, including the correct color of eye bags, as you do! Then, purchase the one that is within your price range, created for your skin type & needs & meets every one of your coverage requirements!
I am sure there are thousands of you who are thinking "I always use my fingers & it works great" or, like many of the comments on my tutorial before it was deleted, "but so & so has this many readers or this many subscribers and her makeup always looks flawless & she says the ring finger is best". Its okay if you prefer to use your finger. It is ok if you want to disagree with me because of another makeup artist's method. But for those of you who need a full coverage & want to skip all the extra layers, cakiness, clumpiness, etc, then just give it a try! Try out my finger experiment above then try out this concealer brush with my concealer application tutorial. Come back & tell me how your results are!
WE ARE ALL DIFFERENT, WITH DIFFERENT MAKEUP METHODS. I LOVE & SUPPORT EVERY ONE OF MY FELLOW BEAUTY BLOGGERS/VLOGGERS. BUT WE ARE ALL DIFFERENT, WITH DIFFERENT LIKES & DISLIKES & DIFFERENT MAKEUP PREFERENCES. THOSE DIFFERENCES DO NOT MAKE ANY OF US WRONG...THEY MAKE US UNIQUE!! UNIQUENESS IS AWESOME!!
This post ran a little long so my concealer tutorial will be a part two post. Click here to read it!
<3 Missie <3
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