A Guide to Concealer Colors

colored concealer

When you think of concealer, you typically have an image in your head. That image is probably a concealer stick, wand, liquid or even powder that’s in a shade similar to your own skin tone. But did you know that there are a variety of different colors of concealer that you should be using on your face?

Concealer is used for a variety of purposes including to mask dark circles around your eyes, cover blemishes and give your skin a uniform appearance and color. So it makes sense that certain trouble areas of your face would require different colors, consistencies and types of concealers, right? Right. So here’s a little crash course on the different colors of concealers and when to use each one.

 

green concealer

Green Concealer

Green concealer is used to reduce redness on the skin. This is used for spots on the skin that are red, including blemishes, acne, rosacea, windburn and even sunburn. Think about it: green and red are opposites on the color wheel, so applying a green concealer over a red area will counteract the redness.

Try these:  Physicians Formula Powder Finish Concealer Stick  /  NYX Above & Beyond Full Coverage Concealer  /  Boots Botanics Complexion Refining Concealer Stick-Anti-redness  /  Physicians Formula Mineral Wear Correcting Primer  /  Physicians Formula Concealer Twins Correct & Cover Cream Concealer

 

 

purple concealer

Purple Concealer

Purple concealer (although it’s more “lilac” than it is a dark purple) is used to mute any yellow undertones on your skin. If you have a sallow, dull, yellow-ish complexion, it will brighten up your face instantly. Again, purple and yellow are opposites on the color wheel, which is why this works so well.

Try these:  Jane Iredale Corrective Colors /  NYX Concealer in a Jar  /  Make Up For Ever 5 Camouflage Cream Palette  /  NYX Concealer Wand

 

salmon concealer

Salmon Concealer

Salmon concealers are made from the popular fish. Just kidding, guys. I wanted to see who is actually reading this post! Salmon concealers (a peachy-pink shade) should be used around the eye area to brighten it. I love using a pinky-colored concealer as my highlighter (when I’m highlighting and contouring my face). I apply it in an upside-down triangle underneath my eyes and against the sides of my nose and blend. This color is known to give your skin a bright and radiant appearance, and who doesn’t want that?

Try these:  EVE PEARL Salmon Concealer & Treatment  /  Laura Mercier Eye Basics  /  Pixi Correction Concentrate  /  Maybelline Dream Lumi Concealer  /  Sephora Smoothing & Brightening Concealer

 

yellow concealer

Yellow Concealers

Yellow concealers hide dark circles, bruises or veins. Any area that has tones of purple or purple-grays can be hidden easily with a yellow shade. Kiss the raccoon-eyes goodbye!

Try these:  Bobbi Brown Creamy Concealer Kit  /  Physicians Formula Gentle Cover Stick Concealer  /  Maybelline Cover Stick Corrector/Concealer  /  NARS Concealer  /  NYX Concealer Jar  /  Physicians Formula Concealer Twins Correct & Cover Cream Concealer

 

white concealer

White Concealer

White concealer is great for highlighting certain areas of your face. For example, put a little bit on the inner corners of your eyes to brighten them up, or above your cupid’s bow to draw attention there.

Try these:  Bobbi Brown Creamy Concealer Kit /  Maybelline Cover Stick Concealer  /  Illamasqua Concealer

 

orange concealer

Orange Concealer

Darker skin tones can use orange concealer to correct dark circles or very severe dark spots on the face. It also can help hide any hyper-pigmentation or white sun spots. It also typically adds a luminous sheen to your face (and mimics the effects of a liquid bronzer).

Try these: Laura Mercier Under Eye Perfecter  /  Bobbi Brown Tinted Eye Brightener /  Giorgio Armani Master Corrector Concealer  /  NYX Above & Beyond Full Coverage Concealer

 

neutral concealer

Neutral Concealer

If you don’t have that many problem areas on your skin, you can just use regular concealer in a shade that matches your skin tone. This should cover up any basic small imperfections or blemishes. For those who have a specific problem area, a colored concealer (in addition to sufficient foundation, primer and powder) should probably be used instead.

Try these: Benefit Boi-ing Concealer  /  Benefit Fake Up Concealer  /  L’Oreal True Match Crayon Concealer  /  Maybelline Fit Me! Concealer

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50 Comments

  1. LOL – Salmon concealers are made from a popular fish. I was reading and I would have believed it too if you hadn’t said jk 😉 This is seriously such a great guide. I’ve seen a lot of these concealers and I tried a mixed Physician’s Formula one once, but I don’t think I knew what I was doing! Definitely need to get some green and salmon concealer! Anything to help with my blemishes and bags under my eyes!

  2. love this guide! NYX makes a new (to me?) concealer crayon with every concealer color you can think of! Almost bought a few yesterday 🙂

  3. Thank you for this post! I struggle with massive under eye circles and finding the right concealer has been a terrible experience. I never know what is right for me and it’s just terrible. I am saving this post FOREVER because it is fabulous! Thank you so much for outlining what kind of concealer is used for what kind of blemish. It’s amazing 🙂

  4. Such a great post – all information I need to know!! I need to pick up some salmon (not of the fish kind, but I like that too!) and some green – I clearly have been using the wrong color to attempt to mask my bags under my eyes!

  5. I’ve always wondered about those crazy colored concealers. I always stick with the neutral ones. Now, I know to use a coral one when I want to conceal my fish! 😉 But seriously, I could use the green toned ones, my skin is pale and sensitive and tends to get red spots from time to time.

  6. “Salmon concealers are made from the popular fish.” Imagine if that were really true- the smell would put people off, ha!

    I do love a pink-toned concealer to brighten up under my eyes. 🙂

    Great post; very informative!

  7. It’s honestly taken me 25 out of my 27 years to be able to choose the right concealer color. These are great tips!

  8. Loved this post! i’ve heard about using green concealer but I’ve wondered how well it blends with foundation.

  9. I tried using a green concealer when I was in my teens but it didn’t really like it. I’m sure they’re improved over the last few years though. I totally laughed when I read about the salmon colored concealer 😉 At the moment I only use a neutral concealer by Make Up For Ever and I love it! Great post Rachel!

  10. OMG I had no idea there were so many colors of concealer! Obviously I know nothing about makeup. I really need to spend a day at Sephora and have them teach me everything!

  11. After reading this I purchased the Pixi salmon colored correcting concealer from Target. It was the last one on the shelf! So as soon as I got home I had to try it out and WOW! This is the solution that I’ve been waiting for! I have dark under eye circles some of it is shadow from eye but it’s mostly just from thin skin. it’s always kind of blue/purple. I saw online awhile ago how orangey/peachy colors are great for the color for the problem I have. This helped me slim down the options out there and lead me to the Target Pixi concealer. I applied it with a concealer brush and it worked pretty well, underneath e.l.f eye primer, a dab of my Make UP Forever concealer and set with a translucent powder. My eyes look much brighter now and I can’t wait to wear it to work on Tuesday.

  12. So informative! Do you think a yellow toned concealer will blend well with a BB cream or will one have to use a neutral concealer on top?

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