The secret to better looking skin (aside from excellent skincare, naturally!) starts with a really good concealer. There are dozens upon dozens of concealers on the market today: mineral, medicated, liquid, whipped, cream and some that carry the promise of younger skin, so it’s no wonder that the task of finding a really good concealer can, at times, be daunting. I’ve done a bit of research and testing on several popular brands of concealer, and the results are:
The Top 5 Best Concealers
1. Yves Saint Laurent’s Touche Éclat – brightens and illuminates the darkest under eye circles. A favorite of top make-up artists (and me too) because it works quite well. Does come with a hefty price tag, but looking good does have a price. Great for undereye darkness but if redness, dark spots, minor blemishes or scars are also concerns (as well as budget), then you might be interested in Vincent Longo’s Creme Concealer.
2. Vincent Longo Creme Concealer – Easy to apply, excellent coverage (from light to heavy without feeling heavy), long-wearing and fairly good skin tone matching. I say that because I have really, really dark under-eye circles and I had to mix two colors to get a perfect match – but it looked completely natural despite the extra work and cost. My friend who also tried the Vincent Longo concealer had a perfect match without having to mix colors. Nothing is ever easy with my skin 
3. Bobbie Brown Blemish Cover Stick- Heals while it covers. Goes on easy (no tugging or pressing down hard), which is a godsend, specially for those cystic type blemishes that hurt at the slightest touch. Didn’t cake on the blemish! You’d think that that would be a requirement for medicated blemish concealers, but after trying several other (being nice so won’t name them here) brands, I soon learned that it isn’t. Nothing worse than a blemish that screams “Hey, I’m under this cakey mess of concealer!”. Thankfully, Bobbie Brown’s Blemish Cover Stick spared my skin (and me) that humiliation 
4. Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage - great for covering small flaws, light redness and undereye darkness. Has two colors that are mixed to create a more natural color finish – which was a big plus as it came out overall to cost less than the Vincent Longo brand, but personally I still prefer the Vincent Longo for staying power alone.
Do you have a favorite concealer? Have you found your Holy Grail of Coverup?
Submitted by Ms. distressedDERMA on Thursday, 29 May 2008
June 2nd, 2008 at 10:16 pm
I must have a peculiar problem because I’ve never heard anyone else complaint about it… the veins around my eyes particularly on the inside corners of my eyes are VERY, VERY noticeable. I’ve tried every kind of concealer and nothing works. The only problems concealers treat are dark, purple circles or redness. Will any of these products help me?
June 5th, 2008 at 10:12 am
LC,
I hadn’t heard of that either,but I can ask some of the other beauty bloggers at the Beauty Blog Network for their input. Maybe one of them can give you some advice.
June 7th, 2008 at 7:06 pm
Hi LC,
I sent you an email to let you know I got some fantastic advice for your under eye make up issue.
I asked the ladies over at the Beauty Blog Network and they generously gave advice (and theres also some great before and after photos). I hope this helps:
Make-up Makes Me Happy writes:
I would suggest she look into the Dermablend brand. They are
formulated to provide very full coverage especially for problem skin. As to which specific product within that brand, I cant really say because they have many options with different purposes. She can go into a authorized retailer and test the different options. But this is definetly the best in my opinion for those types of cases.
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Beauty and Fashion Tech writes:
I tested a Dermablend concealer just the other day (I think the name is Cover Cream). It was great stuff! opaque coverage, but not caky or heavy–perfect for people who can’t get veins or melasma covered any other way.
I think Jane Iredale also has something similar, but I haven’t tried it.
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Beauty in Real Life writes:
I would suggest that she gets one of those
concealor palettes with the different colors, so she can custom blend
her colors together to get the right one. They have a whole bunch at
Sephora (too many to list here) and if she has one near her, they can
help her find one that will work.
I’ve heard good things about Dermablend too. Either way, she should
also think about getting a good eyecream to get the concealor to
stick…something not too “slippery” so that the concealor will stay
in place.
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Bionic Beauty writes:
Sonia Kashuk (from Target) makes a concealer palette called Hidden Agenda and that works pretty well for me. I can blend to cover circles, my melasma (which just flared up thanks to the summer sun) and anything else that decides to bloom on my face.
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The Makeup Girl writes:
MAC studio finish concealer is fantastic I have used that to cover a black eye before (tons of purple blue and green in it too)
http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewPicture...
let me know if that link doesn’t work…
Also Makeup Forever palettes are what I used to fix the areas under the eyes
The coverage is pretty
http://themakeupgirl.typepad.com/themakeupgirl/2006/12/all-about-the-...
you just have to make certain that the concealer is opaque, that you use a brush so you don’t get too much on
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Raging Rouge recommends Joe Blasco Orange Highlight 1 to try to cover veins. I bet the orange shade would neutralize blueness quite nicely.
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The Make Up Divas writes: I use the Bare Escentuals Well Rested and it does a pretty good job of covering up my dark circles.
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kdarby writes: I echo Raging Rouge in that orange covers or cancels those dark veins… (that’s how i’ve been learning to cover up tattoos)… she’s dealing with my exact problem of very noticeable blue veins under my eyes. mac studio finish concealer and dermablend are great recs! can’t wait to try makeup forever!
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Beautynomicswrites: Cinema secrets covers problem areas perfectly
heavy
June 9th, 2008 at 12:04 pm
I always had terrible skin and black circles but I use Cleansers to first moisterize the skin the diminish the shadow under my eyes.
August 26th, 2008 at 1:34 pm
There have been times when I have had the same problem as LC who had posted previously. While I have not experimented with any creams to solve the problem, I have noticed that taking time to get a full night’s rest and finding activities during the day that will rest my eyes instead of using the computer or watching TV have helped a great deal.
December 9th, 2008 at 12:22 pm
I think Pevonia also do a good one as well. I have tried the Laura Mercier also and found it achieved pretty good results.
June 4th, 2009 at 9:04 am
I prefere pure make up as Jane Iredale or Derma. Pevonia as good as well.