I received a reader request to explain about concealer and foundation colour choices.
You may have seen green concealers and wondered what they are for – well, if you think about going back to your colour wheel and looking a the complementary colour on the colour wheel, the opposite of green is red, thus green concealer is created to combat redness. You need to apply it very very thinly before you apply foundation and it will take away ruddiness in your skin.
As you can see from the above picture there is also a pinky/purple colour, this is used to combat sallowness (or jaundice).
You will also find yellowish and orangish concealers, they are used for the dark circles under eyes. Yellow if the circles are more a purple colour, orange if they have a blueish cast.
Then you will find skin tone concealers which you may need to mix to find the right tone for your skin and can be used to cover pimples, chloasma/melasma or any other blemishes. I often find it’s better to apply the skin tone concealers after foundation.
You can also use darker concealers for contouring the face, they tend to be used more in makeup for photography purposes than every day makeup.
That’s very helpful, thanks Imogen! I’ve known about yellow concealers but didn’t know about green (which might be good on my ruddy nose and cheeks). My big challenge though has been finding something to help hide the “liver spot” on my cheek that appeared when I was pregnant 12 years ago. Everything I’ve tried (based on sound recommendations) is either too dark or too pink. The Giorgio foundation covers it a bit, but not completely.
I have always had a difficult time finding make-up to wear. I finally ordered Bare Escentuals (sp?) and I love their powdered based foundation. They sell a product called well rested that does the best job of covering my under eye circles. No matter how well rested I am I have them and I’m pretty sure if you can inherit them, I did. My grandmother always had them. Anyway, the powder works well for me, but I didn’t know about using the different colors to hide blemishes. Thanks!
Thanks for answering this so quick! You rock! I love your blog. . .
Deja – be aware with the green you need to only use a VERY thin layer, otherwise you may look like Kermit.
I use a brush so I can blend and use very little, but you can use fingers if you like.
The ‘liver spot’ is chloasma or melasma, I have them all over my face since my pregnancies, they’re from your pregnancy hormones. I find that I have a light slightly yellowish concealer that works well on them. You need to just go round all the cosmetics counters and try out their colours til you come up with the one that suits your skin tone.
Modest Mom – interestingly often dark circles round your eyes is related to poor kidney function – not sure if you have that run in your family or not!
For me it’s related to kids and lack of sleep over years and years … I used to look so young before I had them!
Maybe this will help someone: I have found that if you use green concealer, you need to finish it off with a dab of skin-toned concealer or foundation on over it. There is no way I can blend the green so that it doesn’t look green any more !