When does one apply concealer? a) before foundation; or b) after foundation?

City Girl Shoot ~ Photographer: Lucko Prawito, Stylist: Sam Gan, HMUA: Mural Beauty, Model: Brooke Settle from Red11 Models

Imagine you’ve just concealed around your nose, chin, under your eyes, and your blemished areas and are about to go in with your foundation… By applying foundation on top, you’re going to move the concealer around and by the time you’ve finished applying your foundation, the concealer would have disappeared! You’ll end up having to go back in with your concealer after to ‘touch up.’

♥ Step 1: Your foundation is your foundation – It’s the base of your makeup, so it goes on first. Doing it this way means you’ve already taken away most of the uneven skin tone and will only be left with those larger blemishes or darker spots that foundation couldn’t hide for you. Then it’s time to go in for that extra coverage!

♥ Step 2: Conceal the last of those blemishes – To do a good job concealing you should really have two kinds of concealer in your makeup bag. The first one should match to your foundation shade in order to cover up those blemishes or spots around the nose and chin. The second concealer is what will step up your beauty regime. A concealer that is the opposite undertone to your foundation AND half a shade lighter than your foundation. For example, if you have a cool undertone foundation like MAC NC30, then you will need a warm concealer in the shade NW25. If you are like me and suffer from dark under eye circles, then this trick really makes all the difference.

◊ Pro application tip – When applying concealer, use a small stippling brush or a domed blending brush and work with a small amount of product to start with (you can always build it up as you go). Lightly press and pat over the blemish so the concealer blends effortlessly into the foundation ◊