What is the difference between concealer and foundation and which is better to apply first?

Is concealer the same foundation, only in a mini format? Not really. A similar creamy texture is not a reason to consider them interchangeable beauty products. They have different properties and functions. In this article, learn more about the differences between concealer and foundation.

Foundation is the main tool for correcting skin tone, with which any makeup begins. It is evenly distributed either over the entire face or targeted (for example, over the T-zone), paying attention to careful shading. The “second skin” effect, which makes the makeup invisible, is extremely important here.

Concealer was created for other purposes: this product is designed for local correction of imperfections. Due to its dense texture, it helps to hide skin imperfections such as pimples or dark circles under the eyes.

What is concealer?

Concealer is a highly pigmented product for spot application.

It is designed to hide redness, small pimples and bruises .

Concealer is applied mainly under the eyes.

Almost every cosmetic brand produces concealers. In the mass segment you can find inexpensive concealers from L'Oreal and Maybelline ; among luxury cosmetics, concealers from Bobby Brown, Yves Saint Laurent and Shiseido .

How it works?

Concealer will not be superfluous in any woman’s cosmetic bag, since everyone has dark circles or inflammation under the eyes sooner or later.

But for those for whom bruises or pimples are a chronic problem, concealer is a must. A thick concealer can hide noticeable skin imperfections.

The key component of concealer is a special pigment that is designed to “cover up” unwanted color spots on the face.

Concealer often contains reflective particles , which also hide imperfections and give the skin an exquisite glow.

We choose and use wisely

Concealer is applied to the skin under the eyes using a special technique: draw and shade an inverted triangle. Concealers are usually produced in three forms:

stick;
pencil;
liquid concealer.

Depending on skin type and personal preferences, as well as on the imperfections that need to be disguised, each woman chooses her own type of concealer.

It is much more important to choose the right pigment .

Please note that concealer with yellow pigment works well with bruises, while green pigment hides reddish spider veins.

Corrector concealer, how to use. How to use a concealer palette?

Thus, every woman should have at least a couple of concealers in her everyday makeup bag. And on store shelves you can often find entire palettes of concealers - a set of products in several colors. There is an opinion that such color extensions can only be useful to professional makeup artists. However, this is not quite true. We often don’t notice, but our skin tone changes throughout our lives - tanning, general well-being, stress, sleep - all this affects our complexion. We habitually use the same cosmetic products, but at some wonderful moment our reflection in the mirror is no longer pleasing. It is likely that you just need to adjust the color of the products used. And this is where you can “experience for yourself” all the joy of using a concealer palette.

Not only does the palette always contain the lightest color, which is probably suitable for use under the eyes, and a slightly darker color to cover imperfections on the face. So there are also intermediate shades that are useful if you are tanned. Darker colors can be used on their own or mixed with familiar shades, darkening them as much as you need.

If you have a palette of concealers in your arsenal, then you can say that you have an endless number of shades of concealer in your hands.

In addition, makeup artists recommend applying the lightest shades of concealers under the eyebrow, making the overall appearance more well-groomed. And the darkest shade in the stretch is perfect for cheekbone correction.

Concept of foundation

Foundation is a cosmetic product that serves as a base for makeup . It evens out the complexion, hides minor imperfections, and modern foundation creams protect and nourish the skin.

On store shelves there are foundations for every taste and budget: from budget Rimmel and Vivienne Sabo to luxurious Christian Dior and Guerlain .

Foundation is in almost every cosmetic bag.

It is a rare girl over 20 who can boast of a perfect, even complexion .

Foundations come in different densities; there are also very light ones, which only slightly smooth out skin imperfections and are quite suitable even for the youngest ladies. Well, in adulthood you can’t do without a thick foundation.

What is it made of and how is it used?

There are hundreds of varieties of foundation. Water and fat based , with vitamins and antioxidants, natural oils and mineral particles.

But the main component of foundation was and remains pigment, in other words, a coloring matter, a color base.

Typically, foundation is used on top of a special makeup base . It is applied pointwise to the forehead, nose, cheeks and chin, and then distributed over the entire face with a brush or sponge with soft “driving” movements.

Common mistakes when working with a color palette

The task of a makeup artist is to create a perfect image, transform a woman’s face, hide imperfections and add new accents, and select the most suitable range for tone and contouring. Makeup should look natural and flawless. But often beginners make mistakes that are easy to spot by eye.

Let's introduce the most common mistakes to avoid when working with a color palette:

If there are no obvious defects on the skin, you can limit yourself to foundation. Concealers are used for intensive camouflage.
Bright shades in contouring are used in evening or themed makeup for photo shoots.
Without shading, the lines look drawn separately. It looks stupid and unnatural.
A thick layer of concealer loses its camouflage functions and will look like a separate greasy stain. Only a thin application hides imperfections and makes them as invisible as possible.
The corrector must be applied with a special brush using tapping movements. You cannot achieve the desired effect with your fingers.

What is the difference?

Unlike concealer, foundation usually has a less greasy and less dense base. In addition, the pigment of the foundation is usually as close as possible to the natural complexion - beige, pinkish, olive.

Whereas the concealer can be yellow, green, and even orange. The area of application also differs. Concealer is used only in the area under the eyes. The foundation is distributed over the entire face and even the neck.

Top 5 concealers - reviews

At the moment, there are many companies producing decorative cosmetics, and almost everyone has at least one type of concealer. Let's look at the top ones among all:

Meybeline New York Master Camo

It is a palette that contains 2 concealers, 2 concealers with reflective particles and 2 correctors. It is very good to use, as it can cope with all the most significant defects and cover up shortcomings. All the products included in the set have a light texture, do not clump during application and last well throughout the day.

MAC Pro Longwear Concealer

It is a liquid concealer. It has a light but dense texture. Excellent application and easy to use. It copes well with “disguising” visible defects, but is more suitable for those with oily and normal skin. It dries out dry skin, so do not overuse it in the area around the eyes.

Clinic Air Bruch Concealer

It is a liquid concealer with shimmering particles. The composition is very good, easy to apply and does not dry out the skin. When applied, it does not roll down and covers defects well. Among the disadvantages, it should be noted that the texture is too light, which cannot cope with severe defects.

Armani High Precision Retouch

Refers to liquid concealer and highlighter. The product has a light, pleasant structure, but despite this, it does a good job of correcting imperfections, eliminating their visibility. It fits well on the skin and lasts for a relatively long time without slipping. Reflective particles allow you to expand its area of application and visually improve the appearance of the skin.

Mace up For Ever 5 Camouflage Cream Palette

This is a palette of creamy concealers. It has a very dense texture, thanks to which it copes well with significant defects, and can even disguise scars. The texture of the product, in addition to its density, is also highly pigmented and greasy, which allows it to be more evenly and easily applied to the surface of the skin.

What to apply first?

Is concealer applied before or after foundation? First the cream, and only then the concealer! Many people have been familiar with the technique of applying foundation for a long time.

But concealer is a relatively new cosmetic product on the Russian market, and not everyone knows how to use it.

Very often, when women buy concealer for the first time, they fail and throw this cosmetic product into the far corner. And all because they use it incorrectly !

Here are a few conditions to follow when applying concealer:

Warm hands . Concealer does not interact well with cold surfaces and can simply form clumps without giving the desired effect.
Moisturized skin . Before applying concealer, just lightly moisten your skin with water.
The right shade . The color of the pigment has already been mentioned above. When choosing a concealer, you need to remember that it should be lighter than your foundation, but not contrast with it too much.
And the most important rule: concealer is applied to the skin after foundation! Otherwise, it simply won’t have any effect!

Can CC cream be applied under the eyes?

First of all, in the SS

- the cream contains less oils, due to which the texture has become lighter (which allows us to draw an analogy with a tinted moisturizer).
Despite this, the visual alignment of skin tone and texture has increased. This gives every right to apply
the product to the area around
the eyes
- both for camouflage and for care.

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Which is better to choose?

Imagine that you overslept and are late for work or an important meeting. You only have five minutes to get your face in order. What to use: concealer or foundation?

Concealer of course! It will refresh your look, remove traces of long sleep, you will look natural, as if you just washed your face with cold water! But foundation will only do harm in this case.

However, it cannot be said unequivocally that concealer is always better than foundation, or vice versa, that foundation is preferable. These products give maximum effect only in combination with each other !

Making one from the other

How to make concealer from foundation? And can you use foundation instead of concealer?

If there is an urgent need to hide skin imperfections that foundation cannot cope with, you can prepare your own concealer.

To do this, you need to take a foundation slightly lighter than the one you use on your face, or add a little light powder , preferably with reflective particles.

Mix all this thoroughly and hold it in the air for a while to allow the cream to oxidize slightly - then the pigment will appear brighter .

After this, homemade concealer should be applied pointwise to problem areas on top of foundation.

Remember that this is an emergency option, and it is better to still keep a factory-made concealer in your cosmetic bag.

Face corrector, what color for what. Colored concealers: it's simple if you know!

Many people use nude shade concealers. But they don’t always know what to do with people of color. But in vain. After all, they can correct many skin imperfections: from dark circles under the eyes and age spots to protruding veins (and not only on the face). Let's figure out why color is needed in concealers. The skin defects that we most often lament have their own color: reddish pimples, gray-blue circles under the eyes, yellow age spots, red freckles, brown moles, etc. In order to neutralize these color stains, another color is needed. If you do everything according to science, then you need the so-called “opposite color”. This refers to a color wheel that represents pairs of colors. The shades located opposite each other in this circle are called opposite. For example, the opposite of red is green, and the opposite of purple is yellow, and so on. Look at the picture.

This diagram is a kind of hint as to which concealer you should choose. Thus, those who believe that colored concealers should only be chosen to match the color of their skin are wrong. No. They should be selected to match the color of the skin defect that needs to be disguised. For example, if you have bluish veins, then an orange concealer can neutralize them; if you have orange freckles, then you need a purple shade of concealer. In addition, it is worth considering your own skin tone, and this only comes with experience. So it turns out that each of us should have several colored concealers, not the same shade, but different ones. That is why manufacturers have recently been releasing entire palettes of concealers, so that several shades can be combined in one product, for all occasions.

But as before, there are also concealers in separate bottles and tubes. Let's figure out what shades of corrective products exist and why.

Lavender, purple concealer Used to neutralize yellow skin imperfections such as yellow complexion, yellow bruises, age spots. It also helps conceal very dark circles under the eyes and dark brownish spots on bronzed skin tones. Shades close to blue will add radiance to the skin, so they can be added to foundations and applied as shimmer to the inner corner of the eyes, under the eyebrow.

Green concealer Neutralizes red defects: spots, irritations, allergic reactions, pimples, blackheads, rosacea, alcohol stains, any redness. Use green concealer only on red areas. If it gets on the natural skin color, it can highlight the face green, this is of no use.

Yellow corrector Used to disguise blue-violet imperfections: dark circles, dark circles, veins. Makes skin tone warmer, softer. Even tattoos can be treated with yellow concealer. Yellow concealer can be used on your eyelids and makes a great eyeshadow primer.

Orange, apricot, salmon concealer They mask blue skin defects: as a rule, these are circles under the eyes. To cover up tattoos, mix orange concealer with regular nude concealer and cover the tattoo. Makeup artists warn to buy a color that is too carroty; it does not “work” on all skin tones.

Pink concealer Hides greenish spots (for example, from bruises, or dark circles under the eyes), sometimes veins are greenish. But be careful with pink concealer. The fact is that when it gets on bluish areas of the skin, the effect may be unexpected. After all, pink + blue = purple. Therefore, use pink concealer with caution, and only on greenish areas. It remains to be reminded how to use this life-saving product - color concealer: - Always mask imperfections before applying foundation and powder. — Use a brush to apply, apply a thin layer. If you use your fingers, tap the product in, but do not rub it in; it should remain on the skin as a thin coating layer. - Apply from top to bottom so that the hairs on the skin do not rise and draw attention to your imperfections. — It happens that the color of the defect is not clear, then mix several concealers at once. If you want a more sheer shade of concealer, then mix a colored concealer with foundation or nude concealer. — If you don’t have a colored concealer, but want to try how color masks skin imperfections, add a little eyeshadow of the desired shade (light green, lavender, apricot, etc.) to your nude concealer, this will clearly show you how important a colored concealer is makeup product.

We use both products for the perfect tone

So, concealer and foundation are fundamentally different cosmetic products, which in no case replace, but only complement each other !

It would not be amiss to remind you once again that foundation in combination with a properly selected concealer will give your face an even and radiant color and eliminate visible imperfections . At the same time, you will look fresh and natural.

You can learn how to use concealer and foundation correctly from the video:

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