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This Concealer Hack Brightens Dark Circles & Lifts The Face Oh-So-Naturally

Author:

Jamie Schneider

December 08, 2021

Senior Beauty & Lifestyle Editor

By Jamie Schneider

Senior Beauty & Lifestyle Editor

Jamie Schneider is the Senior Beauty Editor at mindbodygreen. She has a B.A. in Organizational Studies and English from the University of Michigan, and her work has appeared in Coveteur, The Chill Times, and Wyld Skincare.

Image by Denise Vasi

December 08, 2021

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The best concealer hacks are ones you can master in a snap yet that look effortless on the skin (who would disagree?). A strategic swipe-and-go is the goal, for sure, and who better to share a fuss-free trick than actress, model, influencer, and entrepreneur Denise Vasi?

The busy founder of maed recently shared her five-minute makeup routine in an episode of Clean Beauty School, including the concealer hack that plays double duty: It brightens the eye area and lifts the face and helps cover up any spots you may feel insecure about.

We grabbed the details for you below. Trust us, it's as easy as 1-2-3.

How to apply concealer to brighten & lift the face.

For this tutorial, you'll want to use a lightweight cream-to-liquid concealer that blends seamlessly into the skin. Vasi calls the Kosas Revealer Concealer her "savior product," as it not only fuses to the skin beautifully but also comes in a wide range of 28 shades. In fact, she grabs three to nail her natural-looking routine:

"I use shade No. 6 under my eyes to lighten up my dark circles," she says. (We recommend applying only on discolored areas, as coating the entire surface area can make the skin look flat and one-dimensional.)
Then "I use No. 7 on and around my face to fix any little imperfections that I want to cover up," she continues. While you might opt for a slightly lighter shade for under the eyes, your true shade match is best for covering up imperfections, as a brighter tone may only highlight the area.
"And then I use No. 8 basically as a bronzer to contour and shape a little bit," she adds. Rather than a full-on cream contour, the slightly darker shade lends a subtler bronzed hue, just enough to help carve out the cheekbones and jawline. Swipe just under the cheekbones to make them pop, and add a few dots near the hairline for some extra warmth.

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Of course, precision concealing should be just that: precise. Vasi sticks to a lightweight application and lets her natural skin texture breathe rather than piling on layers of concealer in three different shades. "You can literally do a few dots and it gives you the perfect amount of coverage where you don't feel like you're wearing any makeup, but you have some coverage," she explains.

If you are hoping for a more full-coverage beat, you might want to opt for a foundation as your base, then spot-conceal any specific areas of concern. That way, you'll avoid looking cakey or patchy.

The takeaway.

With Vasi's concealer tricks, just three shades can expertly brighten the under-eyes and sculpt the face—without looking like you're wearing any makeup at all. You may have different shade matches than Vasi, of course, so you'll likely have to test out a few different iterations before finding the trio you love. But once you nail down the specific formulas, it's magic.