Finding your concealer shade: lighter under the eyes, exactly your tone on spots
The most common concealer mistake: one shade for everything. But under the eyes and on a spot, concealer has two different jobs.
Under the eyes: a touch lighter
Here concealer should brighten. A shade slightly lighter than your foundation makes the area look fresher. Much lighter quickly looks like a pale patch or reverse sunglasses. If you want it natural: the same shade as your foundation.
On spots, redness and marks: exactly your tone
Here concealer should disappear. If it’s lighter than your skin, the spot stands out even more. Take the shade that matches your foundation and dab it only onto the spot.
When the colour shows through: corrector
- Redness: a green corrector, very thin and only where needed. Green and red cancel each other out visually.
- Bluish shadows under the eyes: peach on light skin, orange or apricot on medium to deep skin.
- Concealer or foundation goes on top. Dab it, don’t rub, or the corrector shifts.
An example from the catalogue
Light · warm
You wear NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer · Custard
L'Oréal Paris True Match Radiant Serum Concealer · 6N
A touch lighter, less pink.
“Just fits” means you can see a small difference side by side. Under the eyes, where concealer may be a touch lighter anyway, that shows less than on a spot.
The Copine app knows 321 concealers with 3,090 shades from 160 brands. For medium and deep skin tones the choice at the drugstore gets small quickly. The colours come from the brands’ own swatches.
Find your concealer at other brands
Have a concealer in a shade that works? Type it in. The shade finder shows you the closest shade at other brands, with an honest number. Free, no sign-up.