A couple weeks ago we talked about eye creams which spawned some questions about under eye problems: bags, dark circles etc. and how we can minimize those nasty suckers. In my last post I talked about the products I love for de-puffing, but lets talk about concealing because lets get real, sometimes we need to become masters of camouflage in our journey to beauty.

Think PINK

A major trick is use a pink or salmon colored concealer. Flesh colored concealers can sometimes make the problem worse some people can get a way with a regular flesh colored concealer and it matches and boom!! Looks great. Most of us need a little bit of color correcting.

So think of it this way: if your under eye is dark purple, blue or shadowy looking, grab the pink concealer. It will neutralize those dark circles and brighten you right up. PRO TIP: bring the concealer up and around the outside of the eye all the way up to the tail of your eyebrow creating a half moon around the outside of your entire eye, blend and see how much more awake you look! I will sometimes mix my concealer with my Advanced Night Repair Gel (for eyes) to get the double benefit of de-puffing and it dilutes my thicker concealers causing them to crease less.

Products:

Maybelline Age Rewind (brightener): One of my most favorite concealers of all time and guess what ladies its a cheapo drug store one! I use this bad boy ever single day.

Double Wear Brush on Glow BB (soft pink): This is the first pink tone concealer I’ve ever used and still to this day I think its the best on the market. It’s recently been rebranded to fit in the BB line but its still just as amazing as it was when I started using it 5 years ago!

Double Wear Stay In Place Flawless Wear Concealer: This is one of my favorite concealer when used with caution. A little goes a long way, and its 15 hour long wear, and trust me it totally lasts all day.

Mac Prolong Wear: Another favorite of mine. Its long wearing and does not crease.

Application:

Most people apply their concealer with their fingers or  a flat concealer brush like the MAC 195 or the MAC 242. I love these brushes, but I hate it for concealing blemishes and the under eye. Its great for cleaning up lip stick lines or even for packing eye shadow on the lid, but one thing you don’t want to do is “pack” your concealer on. It should look natural.

Here is a trick that you will notice a huge difference with: Use a blending brush (clean one, doi) and gently, barely touching the skin in a circle motion air brush your concealer on. You can use this trick on blemishes too. It prevents you from plopping on way too much product and make give a great blending effect to your makeup. Less is always more. Apply the product to the back of your hand and dip the brush in the product. You can always build the product but once you’ve put way too much on its difficult to avoid a cakey mess.

Real Techniques Duo Fiber Collection: This is an affordable set that I love. I use the smallest one for feathering on my conceler by the medium and larger brushes are great for foundation and highlighting/ contouring application.

MAC 217: All women should have this brush because it can be used for concealer application it is the most versatile blending brush on the market.

MAC 224: Another must have blending brush Can be used with liquid and powers.

The Most Obvious Makeup Tip:

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Someone years ago lied to women of the world about the process of applying makeup. We’ve been told foundation first, to prep the canvas… Ummm no. ALWAYS do your eyes first! Especially if you like to wear eye shadow. When your foundation is already set and you then go to apply eye shadow guess what happens? The dreaded fall out! The powder of the shadow will fall under your eye causing your “dark circles.” Even if you put concealer on top of it, the shadow has already mingled with the foundation and will discolor your under eye further. So leave your foundation and concealer last.

Most Common Question: When should I apply my concealer: under or over my foundation? It really depends on what works best for you. Artists disagree with each other on this topic, but personally I find that blending my foundation in with my concealer give me the best result. So I guess my answer is over/ under and together. Try it  each way and see what looks best for you and what gives the best results and last longest throughout your day.

All of these tips should help but the most obvious treatment is SLEEP! Some people will struggle more with dark circles because of how their eyes are set but never underestimate the power of sleep and a well hydrated body!

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What questions do you have for me? Leave them in the comments! Share your secrets with all of us! And what should we discuss NEXT on Normal Girl Beauty?

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