Conceal it! My Magnificent Seven concealers

I’ve become obsessed by concealer lately – I love it. I tend not to wear a lot of foundation – just a bit of tinted balm, perhaps, and concealer, here, there and everywhere, to hide blemishes, fade out fine lines, cover dark circles, and add a bit of illumination – although that’s not technically concealing!

I think it’s a much underrated product and has come a long, long way from the plastic-y stuff in a tube I used to buy from Rimmel as a teenager!

Here are my “Magnificent Seven” – concealers I’ve been trying, all with different USPs and promises, and all of them excellent in their own way.

1. Guerlain Precious Light Rejuvenating Illuminator, £29, houseoffraser.co.uk. I am in love with this product. Guerlain have created something called “Gold Radiance Pigments”, their microscopic structure presenting  two contrasting sides – the opaque side targets shaded areas, imperfections and dull zones.

So it tones down open pores and  reduces the appearance of wrinkles, redness and pigment, and the  golden side, reflects light and adds radiance.

This lovely concealer goes on creamy, and yet light at the same time, and it really does work – use it on lines around the mouth, the eyes, between the eyebrows, down the side of the nose, on dark circles under the eyes, and watch your face glow.

Truly worth the money. Comes in three shades, pink, beige and light.

2. Smashbox Photo Op Under-Eye Brightener, £16, smashbox.co.uk. This does what it says on the tin, to paraphrase a famous ad campaign.

It basically is an under-eye brightener which you paint on.

The tube contains a little brush, and you just paint it on and blend it in. it really does reflect light, is packed with vitamins, and it feels great.

You can wear this under another concealer as well, it’s that light. Fab product.

3. Garnier BB Cream Miracle Skin Perfector Eye Roll-On, £9.99, boots.com. This promises SO much – reduce the appearance of dark circles and bags, conceal signs of fatigue, blur fine lines, illuminate and hydrate.

This is the light shade, and its a wee bit too dark still for my skin, but it’s a decent product, but a concealer I would wear on top or under foundation, not on its own.

I do love the cool rollerball on application to my tired, puffy eyes though, that’s why I have included it here!

4. Smashbox High Definition Concealer, £17, smashbox.co.uk Firstly, the fair shade is really good. It matches my skintone pretty well, and I also loved the thin tube, easy to apply straight to skin, or to the back of your hand.

This concealer is buildable, and is so soft, that you can easily build layers without it ever caking.

It contains cell-energizing Ribose, which helps renew the appearance of the skin, and it also has soft-focus pearls in it which deflect light. Another winner from Smashbox.

5. Sisley Phyto Eye Concealer with botanical extracts, £58, johnlewis.com. This is a luxury product, as all Sisley products are. But they are worth it. If you have some cash to spare, get to the Sisley counter, and buy!

This has key plant extracts, to help work on the eye area, as well as conceal.

Extract of Red Vine, extract of Arnica flower, and Gingko biloba all work to help combat blood circulation deficiency, which causes dark circles. Caffeine, Rice Peptide extract, and Horsetail extract, work to combat tissue slackening in the eye area, and Carrot Extract helps to moisturise.

It comes in three shades, and comes with its own brush. It has a metal application tip, which when pressed into the skin upon application has a decongestant effect. And if you pop this concealer in the fridge, the results are even better!

6. BeneFit Fake Up Hydrating Concealer, £18.50, benefitcosmetics.co.uk, from end of March. When I first received this concealer a month or so ago, I was intrigued by the clear hydrating ring around the concealer.

It reminded me of Clarins innovative lip balms, which have the colour in the middle of a clear outer. In this case, the clear outer delivers the hydration, and the inner colour, the concealer.

It’s easy to use, and it really is hydrating. Be careful under the eyes to blend it properly, or it can feel a little ‘wet’ and mascara can run! It comes in three shades – shade one is perfect for my pale complexion, and I really love this concealer in a hurry for hydrating touch ups on my dry skin.

7. Illamasqua Cream Pigment in Emerge, £17, illamasqua.com. Now, this is a very odd one. I was really dubious when the PR team at Illamasqua suggested this for dark circles.

Their cream pigments are pretty much ‘use anywhere’ products though, so why not.

The colour looks far too much for a concealer, but you really only need a little, and you need to blend it.

Use a brush, and then your fingers, and make sure it is completely blended in. I found it better under foundation, but it really does conceal the dark circles pigment.

So, there you have them – my Magnificent Seven concealers – let you never be bothered by blemishes, dark circles and the like again!