What’s my makeup maxim? Easy: It’s all about the base, baby.
Here’s why. While heaping on the highlighters and faking it with falsies are excellent exercises in entertainment, when push comes to shove, it’s concealer that’s absolutely crucial.
But when it comes to concealers, everyone and their mother seems to have the most vociferous of opinions, so it’s crystal clear that one shade most certainly doesn’t fit all. Instead, the trick is to build up a wardrobe of flesh-toned “dresses”, to be layered over each other when the occasion calls for it.
What to try, what to buy? Glad you asked. Presenting a terrific trio of this most essential of makeup must-haves – graded by coverage too, from the slinkiest and sheerest of “lingerie” to the most opaque and opulent of gowns – for your perusal and purchasing consideration. Happy beauty shopping!
Babes who dare to bare, this one’s for you. Operative words: Sheer, soft, delicate, dewy.
Clearly sprung from the less-is-best beauty school of thought, Perricone MD’s skincare-centric salve boasts decent sun protective powers – pivotal for preventing further skin damage – and a plethora of plumping peptides and moisture magnets for cushiony all-day comfort.
As for coverage … well, this thin-textured tincture won’t pass muster when it comes to concealing pits and pimples. Instead, the coral tint of this exquisite elixir excels at canceling out the dullness of dark circles, while letting just enough light in to lend the illusion of beguilingly bare skin.
Here’s a personal tip: Look down into a mirror placed flat on a table to pinpoint the problematic purplish discolouration beneath your eye, then stipple on several dots in a U-shaped curve. Finish by blending outwards with a damp sponge. Voila! A dewy, semi-sheer finish that will leave you looking like you had the nap of a lifetime.
This is a great Goldilocks option: Not too heavy, not too light. Perfect for perfecting your peepers, the comfortably creamy consistency glides like a dream – an incredibly important criteria when choosing concealer, as we don’t want any tugging and tearing along the delicate orbital region.
Ingredients-wise, the Intensive Skin Serum Concealer contains a carefully curated concoction of peachy pigments plus a skin-soothing cordyceps mushroom extract and a botanical blend of Indian Mukul Myrrh tree and bamboo grass extracts. Taken together, the age-reversing actives promise to buffer your baby blues from the scourge of stress and pollution, as well as – and this is the crucial bit – diminish dark circles and discolouration instantly and over time.
I dig the doe-foot applicator too, which can be deployed any which way all over your face: Stipple it on and blend; then go back in with the angled tip to finish the job on any residual imperfections. This dot-and-blend technique works much like a real-life Instagram filter in simulating that softly diffused, is-she-or-isn’t-she look the beauty world is so enamoured with these days.
Another huge plus? I’m a sucker for aesthetically pleasing packaging, and this glossy black tube is gorgeous in that understated Bobbi Brown way. Suss it out, stat!
Bring out the big guns, because this is pretty much as industrial-strength as it can get. Souped up with hugely hydrating hyaluronic acid spheres, this excellent emollient is creamy enough to double up as an on-the-go luminiser. Simply brush on a thin layer over strategic areas of your face (and go one shade lighter in this instance): Brow bone, nose bridge, cupid’s bow; wherever you think would do well with a hint of a tint.
Or try layering this over eye cream as a makeup-cum-preventative measure – the extra helping of hydration will soften those spidery lines that are the ominous beginnings of deeper-set crow’s feet.
This handy little hard worker will also be of aid in your blemish-busting battle, as disguising pitted pimple scars is plain sailing with this buildable balm. What I do is to pick up the product with a small fluffy brush and literally go over each and every spot, blemish by blemish, as if my brush were an eraser.
This admittedly arduous method will yield results that are by far more natural than blanketing your entire face with warpaint, which can look very “lumpy” and artificial on acne-afflicted skin. Oh, and always use the exact same shade as your skin for concealing spots: A pale hue will only highlight the very problem you’re trying to hide. And you’re done! All ready to “face” the day.