Brushes I use for Concealer

Ahhhh concealers...

Where would we be without concealers and correctors.  They give us the power to look awake and refreshed.  To look younger and less hungover.  To camouflage skink imperfections.  To "up" the coverage of a foundation only where it's needed.  Spots, scars, redness, hyper pigmentation, broken capillaries, veins, dark circles... all banished with the wave of a concealer wand and some judiciously applied slap.

So what are the wands that I use?

Concealer brushes that I use...

Some of the brushes I use for concealer

I use a wide range of concealer brushes, depending on the formulation of concealer.

General Rule of Thumb

The creamier the concealer, the fluffier the brush

Fluffy Brushes
USE FOR: HEAVY, FULL COVER, CREAM OR PANCAKE TYPE CONCEALERS
eg MAC Studio Finish, Vichy Dermablend...

Inglot 6SS.  My go-to fluffy concealer brush

For thicker/denser/heavier concealers I use a MAC 224 (not shown) and an Inglot 6SS or Inglot 4SS (although this one is pretty big so only when I need a bare wash of concealer or am in a hurry or concealing a larger area), a Real Techniques Domed Shadow brush (from the Travel Essentials set) or the MAC 286 or Sedona Lace Synthetic Blender (not shown).  As you can see, these are all quite fluffy and vary between synthetic, natural, and dual fibre brushes.

My preference?  I generally reach for the Inglot 6SS, so this one is probably the one I recommend most highly.

How to use?  Swirl the brush in the product and then gently buff, using small circular motions, on to the area that needs concealing.  I generally use this type of brush for "large area" concealing - ie using a concealer to increase coverage on a particular area of the skin (eg for covering redness or areas of hyper pigmentation).  I sometimes use it for under-eye concealing.  A fluffier brush can also be used for more liquid formulations, but you will find that the bristles will soak up a certain amount of product, so for this reason I generally only use them for thicker formula concealers.


Flat Brushes
USE FOR: LIQUID TYPE CONCEALERS
eg MAC Select Coverup, Select Moisturecover, Mineralize, Pro Longwear etc...

My favourite flat concealer brush

For more liquid formula concealers, there are a bunch of different brushes I use - these are generally (a) small, flat, paddle brushes and (b) synthetic fibres.  The ones I've always loved are the Chanel #8 brush (discontinued, sadface) and the Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage Brush (not shown) and Laura Mercier Camouflage Powder Brush.  My absolute favourite is the one above, the Beauty Strokes Wet/Dry Concealer Brush.

My preference?  I generally reach for the Beauty Strokes brush.  This is a double-ended concealer brush made with synthetic fibres, just enough bristles to grip and distribute the product, both ends are sufficiently pointed to get into nooks and cracks, and one is smaller than the other, for smaller areas.  All-round, this is a great brush.  It's also available in drugstores and chemists (and Flair also stock it) and is only around €12 I think. Highly recommended.

How to use?  This brush is used to lay down concealer, using a gentle patting motion.  Don't use this to buff-in product, the shape of the brush doesn't allow for it.  You can use this for heavier formula concealers as well if you like, but just remember to take back* any product that's creasing before you set with powder.  Generally, I use these brushes for under the eye area, but also any area that's sensitive, or for dry skin, where I don't want to be using a buffing action.

*"Taking back" a product that has creased just means smoothing it out, removing the excess. You can do this gently with your fingers, a sponge, a brush or by blotting with a tissue.  It's an important step before you powder, otherwise you just set the crease in-place.


Spot Concealing

Spot Concealing is detailed work - it means covering a tiny area of skin with concealer (or corrector); this might be a spot or blemish, a broken capillary, a tiny scar, an undesirable beauty spot or very obvious freckle that you want to hide.  As you need to place a tiny amount of (usually high coverage) concealer exactly where it's needed and nowhere else, generally you will need a small pointed brush.  The one I use and recommend is the Ruby & Millie Pointed Concealer Brush (shown in the image above), however I believe this brand is being discontinued, so something like the MAC 209 (or any pointed eyeliner brush) would do the trick nicely too.


Some More Concealer-Related Links...

• Look here for under-eye concealers
• Look here to help you pick out the correct colour concealer for your skin tones.
• This link here explains the MAC concealers available on the market
• This link gives my overall concealer recommendations
• This one has some information on  drugstore branded concealers
• Look here for how I clean my makeup brushes

That's enough links for now!