Are you really using a Concealer?

With countless You Tube and Instagram beauty tutorial videos out there on all three of these topics—most of which seem to have conflicting information—it can be confusing (to say the least) to differentiate between this trio. Understandably so, given that they’re all complexion-enhancing techniques intended to even out and brighten your skin. Still, there are some big differences between the three. (And, spoiler alert: Many of those social media videos have got it wrong.) In many cases, this means you’d have to use three different products in order to get the best results. Enter the beauty of the Veil Complexion Fix Concealer, a multi-tasking complexion product that’s also loaded with brightening and hydrating skincare ingredients. While it may technically be called a concealer, you can easily use it to conceal, correct, and highlight. Ahead, we break down how to do exactly that. 


Concealing: Concealing is all about camouflaging small imperfections both under the eyes and on your face—think undereye fatigue or a little bit of discoloration, tiny dark marks, small areas of redness, pinkish scars, blemishes, and the like. The key here word here is small. Celebrity makeup artist and Veil Cosmetics founder, Sébastien Tardif says micro-concealing—zooming in on small imperfections only, while leaving the good skin untouched—makes for the best natural results because it lets skin breathe and look super fresh and healthy. Also important: “A concealer by definition is a color that matches your skin tone exactly,” Tardif adds. Happily, the Complexion Fix comes in a wide array of 15 colors, making this task easier than ever. To find your perfect match, Tardif suggests applying a small dot on both the face and directly under the eyes, then gently patting it into place; it should blend in completely with your skin tone. Use the brush applicator to strategically dab on a small amount of product just onto whatever needs covering, then pat it in gently with your fingertips. This formula delivers buildable coverage, so go ahead and add a second layer if you need a bit more, just wait 30 to 45 seconds in between to let the pigment dry. Also nice? The formula is self-setting, so you don’t have to worry about using any products after to lock it in place. 

Buildable Concealer

Correcting: Whereas concealing is used for mild discoloration or just a little bit of unevenness, correcting is a better technique for neutralizing more widespread areas of serious pigment and discoloration on your complexion. The best example: Major dark circles under and around your eyes, dark acne scars, big sun spots, or areas of sallowness. For this, it’s best to opt for a shade of Complexion Fix with a peachy-pink undertone that is one shade darker than your skin, says Tardif. But, and here’s the key part, the corrector should go only where the darker pigment is located so that you’re not changing your overall skin tone, he adds. You know those videos where influencers are applying ginormous triangles of product under their eyes? Yeah, that’s not the correct way to correct. Start by dabbing a sheer layer just on the discolored area, waiting for 30 to 45 seconds before adding another layer (if you need it to fully knock out the discoloration.)  Also paramount? “Correcting has to be followed by highlighting, since you ultimately need the corrected area to have the same tone as the rest of your complexion,” points out Tardif. To that point… 


Highlighting: Slightly different than the former two, highlighting is all about bringing radiance and a healthy glow to your complexion and should be the final step of your makeup routine. Choose a shade of the Complexion Fix that’s one to two shades lighter than you’re your skin tone; this will help you achieve that desired brightness. If you did in fact correct any spots, start by applying a sheer layer of highlighter all over the corrected area, then dab dry. “Repeat and layer until the corrected area smoothly blends with the rest of the complexion,” suggests Tardif.

You can also use highlighter solo, swiping it onto the high points of your face: the cheekbones, chin, bridge of your nose, as well as the inner corner of your eyes and above and below brows. (The one caveat? Trying to use highlighter alone to camouflage dark under eye circles isn’t going to work. Tardif notes that it’s actually one of the most common makeup mistakes women make, but ultimately always leaves behind telltale greyish purple tones.) If you’d like, you can buff it in with a small brush (either fluffy or flat) until it’s seamlessly diffused. Unlike many other highlighters out there, Complexion Fix doesn’t contain any shimmer, which just sits on top of the skin and can look unnatural. Instead, the subtle radiance melts in, creating that desirable, lit-from-within glow.



At the end of the day, we all want a flawless, gorgeous complexion—but a complexion that still looks like skin, and not like we’re wearing a mask. Try the simple tricks and pro tips for mastering concealing, correcting, and highlighting, and you’ll be well on your way to that type of natural complexion perfection.  

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