Concealer for my skin tone.

Dec 15, 2013

Anna S.

Does anyone know the best shade of concealer for fair, olive toned skin? I am looking for concealer for my awful (hereditary) under eye circles. They're blue-purple, I think leaning more purple. I have no idea if having olive undertones means I have cool or warm skin, if I need yellow or peachy corrector, etc. Help please 😥

Dec 15, 2013

Anna S.

My closest foundation match is CoverFX G30, if that helps.

Dec 15, 2013

Emily D.

The easiest way to tell warm vs. cool is the vein test.

1.) The vein test. Look at the veins on your inner wrist. If they appear blue, you're cool. If they're green, you're warm. If you can't tell on the wrist, find your most prominent veins and look at those.

If you have cool tones, you need a pink based concealer/foundation. If you're warm, you need yellow. You can usually get either kind of foundation from any given brand.

As for under eye circles, the thing that works on pretty much anyone is a salmon concealer. These are good because the color is between yellow and pink. Probably the best one is Erase Paste from Benefit. This will conceal, but it will not highlight. The big mistake that a lot of people make is putting a highlight concealer on WITHOUT a salmon concealer. This is a problem for two reasons.

1.) If you don't cover up the circles, you can't highlight your under eye. That's like putting on concealer over bronzer. It's only going to neutralize the bronzer and make your skin look exactly as it did when you started.

2.) It's going to make the shadows MORE prominent. You're putting a light concealer over darkness. By having that bright color under there, it will do nothing for the actual problem, but now they're more noticeable.

As you see, it's really the combo of two products that'll give you that great undereye!

Hope this helped!

Dec 15, 2013

Natalie R.

Your undertone doesn't matter when correctin circles that much as your correcting to purpleness, which requires a peach toned correcter like benefit erase paste, evepearl salmon concealer or Bobbi brown corrective concealer. For a cheaper option you can buy the NYX concealer in a jar in the shade orange and mix it with any concealer you have to give it a more peachy undertone. with undereye concealer going one shade lighter than your skintone can give a brightening affect.

Dec 15, 2013

Anna S.

Thanks ladies, I'll give the Benefit Erase Paste a try, since it's a product you both mentioned. What would be a good highlight concealer to put on top of the salmon one, Emily?

Dec 15, 2013

Anna S.

The vein test always confuses me. I can't tell if I'm seeing blue or green lol. I've always assumed I'm neutral.

Dec 15, 2013

Anna S.

I think there are more than just yellow and pink skin tones. Olive isn't really yellow, and yellow based foundations look kinda ashy on me. But I am definitely not pink toned. Everyone says "olive", but what does that really mean? I only ever see cool, warm, and neutral. I know not a lot of companies cater to olive skin tones, I was really lucky to find a good match in CoverFX, they truly have a great range. Thanks again for your input so far!

Dec 16, 2013

Emily D.

The erase paste is a great product! So is the Bobbi Brown that Natalie mentioned. As for a highlighting concealer, anything lighter than your skin tone is going to give a highlight effect. Though it's not meant for the eye, I really like the MAC Studio Finish concealer. If you use that, just make sure you don't use too much because it can cake up since it's technically meant for blemishes. But my absolute favorite EVER is the Bye Bye Under Eye from IT Cosmetics (at Ulta.) it's $30 which made me kind of uncomfortable at first, but with the amount you need to use (literally the amount of a pen tip) it'll last you forever. If you're willing to pay that much, it's totally worth it.

As for figuring out your undertones, it can be really hard lol. I'm pretty fair, but I swear sometimes they change colors lol! Your best bet is going to be to go to Sephora and have them do the Color IQ on you. It takes a photo of you, and out of hundreds of products, it'll tell you what foundations are good for you, AND what shades. If you get that done, go see what undertones are in those foundations (color IQ may tell you, but I'm not 100% sure) and that's a good starting place. However, true olive tones have green undertones (the color of an olive) which would mean you need a foundation with yellow undertones, and that your undertones are warm. CoverFX has a wonderful line of foundations, which do not match me (my undertones are pink) so it makes sense that you would be yellow! :) Foundations can look ashy if you're using one with the wrong undertone. However, this can also happen if you don't moisturize often, or at all. Foundation dries out your skin, so that could cause it. Do you use moisturizer?

Dec 16, 2013

Anna S.

Yep I moisturize and all that :) my skin isn't dry, just combination... Normal on the cheeks and oily tzone. The sephora color iq is actually how I got matched to coverfx g30. While it didn't come up in my listed matches (nothing by CoverFX did), I told the associate that I was looking to purchase either coverfx or tarte Amazonian clay because I heard great things about the formula. So the cover fx was a much better match, tarte was too yellow on me. So that's what I have been using :)

I am comfortable paying for an expensive product if it really works. I love shopping at sephora because they have an awesome return policy. I can buy a $50 primer or foundation and not dread it cause I know if it looks wrong I can come back next week and return it. Do you know if Ulta is as accommodating? I am also looking for a separate concealer for blemishes. I've mostly used drugstore concealers so far, and though some people swear by them (maybelline age rewind, hard candy glamouflage, etc.) they really don't work for me. So, I can justify spending more, because in the long run I've been spending a ton experimenting with cheaper products that barely work for me

Dec 16, 2013

Emily D.

Huh, that's really weird then. Well, I'm glad that the Color IQ helped you get your Cover FX! The Amazonian Clay is actually the exact foundation I use lol. MAC has really, really good foundations! They're not so good at color matching usually, so if you go in there, just use your judgement lol! Sephora has an awesome return policy! Ulta's isn't as long, as I think Sephora's is 6 months, but they're very helpful, and as long as you have the receipt, they'll take it back. If you go get the IT concealer, the one I like is in a tube. They have one in a jar, but I haven't tried that, so I can't tell you whether it's good or not. I have REALLY bad acne/scars, and the only concealer that works for me is the MAC Pro Longwear concealer. It's got really good coverage without looking cakey. I think their return policy is 14 days. It also depends how you apply it as well. You need to stipple instead of swirl, because that's only going to cause it to move around your face. Also, the best concealer brush I've ever found is the pro airbrush concealer brush from Sephora. In my opinion, it is SO worth it to get a few nice brushes. Although, I think that's the only sephora brand brush that's worth the money, because they're kind of overpriced otherwise. Oh! Another concealer that's really good if your blemishes aren't too bad is the Sonia Kashuk concealer palette from Target! It's a quad, and I only use one color in mine, but the coverage is really nice.

Dec 16, 2013

Anna S.

I have to get that sephora brush! I've been wanting that Mac concealer for my blemishes but there isn't a store by me where I can get matched :(

Dec 18, 2013

Emily D.

That brush is so worth it! If you have the Naked 2/3 palette, the double ended eyeshadow brush that comes with it is also REALLY good! That sucks about MAC! The good news is... since all signs point to you having warm undertones, there are less choices for concealer colors, so less likelihood of you picking the wrong color! If you order online, MAC does do refunds. Your color is going to be anything with NC before the number. I would look up swatches of the colors, and see which one you think is closest to your skin tone. :)

Dec 20, 2013

Anna S.

Just got a sephora gift card, buying the brush and erase paste ASAP!

Dec 21, 2013

Althea L.

Orange corrector under concealor.

Dec 23, 2013

Emily D.

Oh my gosh, that's awesome!! I hope you like them!

Dec 30, 2013

Anna S.

Hey Emily, wanted to give an update. After about a week of using Erase Paste, I've found that it really settles into the fine lines I have under my eyes. So, I'll be returning that. I really loved the color though, so I'll be looking for another option, maybe the Bobbi Brown? I do love the brush, though. Thanks for all your help!