Makeup Mondays: Concealers

Concealer; a girl's best friend. A great concealer can hide acne, scars, redness and darkness. There are so many choose from. What color? What formula? What brand? Stick, wand or cream? Why is this one green? Every pesky imperfection has a concealer made just for it.

Let's start with the basics. Aside from the hundreds of flesh tone colored concealers, there is also green, blue, and yellow. On a color wheel, the colors that are directly across from each other cancel each other out.

You can see that green neutralizes red, blue cancels out yellow, and yellow cuts purple. Knowing what color you need is the first step to choosing your concealer. In most cases, a flesh tone is desired to hide mild discoloration, but corrective concealing will require green, blue or yellow for the best results. I suggest using a corrective color with a flesh tone on top.

Choosing a flesh tone concealer is where most people have confusion. It's a common misconception that the lighter the concealer is, the better it will be at hiding discoloration. I can usually see where the concealer is on a face, and while it does hide the discoloration, it also shows where they are hiding it. Just remember this: You wear foundation to even your skin tone. You wouldn't pick a shade lighter or darker than your natural skin or your neck would be a different color. Why would you choose a concealer that makes light or dark spots on your face? You should only go 2 shades max lighter than your skin. If it's still not a good enough coverage, then you need a corrective shade of green, yellow or blue.

Concealing your eye area is a little different than hiding a blemish or sunspot. The eye area is more sensitive and the skin is less dense. It's hard to brighten the eye area without caking on

the makeup. Of course, to neutralize red eyelids, use a yellow concealer like Lemon Aid (Benefit, $20). Something that isn't shown on the color wheel is the magic of pink. I used to use yellow to brighten my dark circles and it always looked unnatural. Then I discovered pink eye brighteners. They do a much better job of cutting the blue and purple under my eyes than yellow ever did. It looks natural and

smooth. My favorite eye brightening concealer is Maquicomplet in the shade, "Brightener" (Lancome, $27.50). Just a tiny amount instantly and naturally brightens the inner corners and dark circles under my eyes. If you have fine lines and wrinkles, patting concealer over it (even if you use a concealer brush) will make the wrinkles stand out more. That why I use Ooh La Lift (Benefit, $22). This remarkable miracle in a tube brightens darkness without giving the

appearance of raccoon eyes or enhancing wrinkles. This cream, although the consistency is more of a liquid, has light reflecting pigments and cell protecting raspberry extract. If I've had a good night's sleep, Ooh La Lift is all I wear. On a normal day, I will apply Maquicomplet on the inner corners and under my eyes keeping it below my fine lines. I follow with Ooh La Lift on top of the Maquicomplet, as well as directly under my lash line. Finish with a loose powder to set.

Concealing different things calls for different formulas. For acne, you want a concealer with salicylic acid, benzoyl peroxide or tea tree. My

favorite is Acne Solutions Clearing Concealer (Clinique, $13.50). It comes in 3 flesh tone shades and green. For age and sun spots, birth marks and scars, a brightening flesh tone concealer would be best. Look for a radiant finish concealer like Airbrush Concealer (Clinique, $19.50) so light will deflect and scatter darkness. Airbrush Concealer is also great for under the eyes and as a flesh tone topper to corrective colored concealers.

As for applying concealer, I like to pat it on with my index finger after putting on my foundation. The ring finger gives the least amount of pressure, so it is ideal to apply anything to the eye area with it. After applying to target areas, smooth over with a concealer brush. Don't stroke or it may look streaky. Just pat gently until it blends flawlessly with your foundation. If you use a powder foundation, apply your concealer first. Finish with a loose powder to set your makeup.