I’ve Tried 100s Concealers—These Are the Only 10 I’d Ever Recommend

In the six years I’ve been a beauty journalist, most of the people I’ve interviewed have counted concealer as one of if not the most important item in their makeup bag. For me, it holds true for not one but two concealers as I believe that different formulations are better suited to different areas and concerns. And I’m in fantastic company. Earlier this year, when I was chatting with Maya Jama for The Glowdown series, she revealed her best piece of beauty advice is to double up on concealer. “I get quite dark under my eyes,” she explained. “So one is for hiding the darkness, and then another is for brightening.” 

Makeup artist Neil Young says most complexions actually benefit from two concealers as the face and eye area requires a different approach. “With the face, it’s about matching the skin tone and texture of foundation for any blemishes and pigmentation, whereas the eye area is more about colour correction or brightening and this can often be lighter than the natural skin tone.” 

As I am prone to hormonal breakouts on my chin and redness in certain areas like around my nose, the concealer I go with in first is as close to the tone of my skin I can get, and I generally find formulas in a pot work best. At this stage, I’ll apply and blur out with my fingertips. I’ll then go in with a foundation or skin tint, and finish with my second concealer under my eyes and on the high points of my face. To do this, I use a slightly damp beauty blender.

Because concealer has become such an important step in my routine, I’ve really put in the research to find the best money can buy. Over a week I put the following duos to the test and I can say they pass the test on working in harmony to deliver excellent coverage, brightness and glow to the skin without looking cakey or drying. I have to make a point of saying that before writing this feature I would always also wear a skin tint or foundation to go out. Now I am completely sold on just wearing the two concealers as it looks so much more natural and stays in place for much longer. High praise indeed.

Scroll down to see the ten best concealers out there and how I wear them together.