Under eye concealers are a double-edged sword – when used correctly, they can cover up (literally) the fact that you barely slept the night before; use the wrong one, and everyone can see your wrinkles and fine lines.

So, how do we find an under eye concealer that really works for us, and how should we best use it to give us that coveted well-rested look?

In order to answer those burning questions, we spoke to Shannon Pirie, the Vice President of Global Education at IT Cosmetics. The makeup expert shed light on the topic of under eye concealers, and gave some useful skincare tips to care for the delicate eye area.

Read on to find out what she has to share!

What are some common skincare problems around the eye area?

Source: Medical News Today

Definitely lines and wrinkles – that’s the thing that I’m hearing when I’m in stores. The skin around your eye area is 10% thinner than the rest of your face, so you show ageing there faster than anywhere else.

I think when I was growing up, eye creams were commonly thought to be used only when you are older. I think eye creams should be used the minute you start skincare, because you should definitely be hydrating your eye area. That’s what I love about Southeast Asia, you guys are into skincare way earlier – the Western world needs some help there.

If you are looking for an eye cream, I would recommend the IT Cosmetics Bye Bye Under Eye Eye Cream. It’s a triple threat – it helps with dark circles, puffiness, and also fine lines.

Could you use eye creams in the day?

It’s really up to you – do whatever is consistent for you.

What is the difference between a normal concealer and an under eye concealer?

IT Cosmetics Bye Bye Under Eye Full Coverage Anti-Aging Waterproof Concealer

I can’t speak for all brands, but generally most concealers are quite similar – they are meant to cover everything. You can think of it as a foundation with fuller coverage, is more emollient, and hence more prone to moving around on your skin. The biggest difference between a concealer and an under eye concealer, however, is that the latter should be more hydrating.

As mentioned before, the eye area requires more care. That is what makes IT Cosmetics Bye Bye Under Eye Full Coverage Anti-Aging Waterproof Concealer so amazing. It contains antioxidants, hydrolysed collagen (being hydrolysed makes it smaller so that it can penetrate deeper into your skin), and has a creamier texture. It’s like a Swiss Army knife – it does everything!

Can we use an under eye concealer for other skin blemishes?

Shannon demonstrates the concealer’s full coverage

Yes, you definitely can use an under eye concealer to cover the other blemishes on your skin (pimples, zits, etc.)

What should we look for in an under eye concealer?

Hydrating. You have to make sure it’s hydrating.

If you notice that you look tired, it’s because of your under eyes. That’s why I love the hydrolysed collagen in Bye Bye Under Eye concealer, it’s like having skincare benefits in my makeup.

The second thing you have to make sure is that the tone is there. When you’re looking a concealer specifically for under eyes, it’s always nice to have something that is more brightening, so I always tell people to go up one shade. Don’t go for your true match.

How do we find a concealer shade that works for us, especially if we have dark eye rings?

The first thing you can do is to ask counter staff to help you swatch and advise on a shade. If you can’t go into a store and talk with a staff member, then the second best thing you can do is to go online.

For IT Cosmetics, we try to make the work simpler for you, so within the Bye Bye Under Eye concealer range there are four categories. Anyone can simply go online to check the shades, and easily classify themselves into a category, and then from there it’s about finding your undertones.

Most people don’t understand undertones, even those in the beauty industry. It’s about understanding what colour matches you. There are many different ways of finding your undertone – for example, you can look at veins, but the simplest is using jewelry. If you love silver jewelry and only use silver jewelry, you definitely have a cool undertone, If you like using warm shades, gold jewelry, then you’re more of a warm undertone. If you can look good in both gold and silver jewelry, then you have a neutral undertone.

Does age affect the kind of under eye concealer that you should use, or how you should apply it?

Generally, I think concealers should be hydrating, even more so if you are older and have fine lines around your eyes. If you use an under eye concealer that is very matte and you have lines and wrinkles, it’s gonna show every single thing.

However, for a concealer that is more hydrating, such as the Bye Bye Under Eye Concealer, anyone of any age can use it. For example, there is a woman in the US named Helen, she is 70 years young (that’s what we always say!) and she can wear this concealer as well. I’ve also seen fourteen-year-old teenage girls wear this!

Should we apply under eye concealer before or after foundation?

You gotta do what’s best for you. I prefer to put my concealer on after my foundation, because I actually do my eye makeup first, then foundation, then concealer is my last step – it’s like a magic eraser that cleans everything up. I also think that because of the high coverage of base makeup, like our Your Skin But Better CC+ Cream, sometimes you don’t need a concealer. So you should put your base makeup first and see if you really need an under eye concealer.

You can also do your concealer before foundation, but if it’s a brightening concealer, the brightening effect will be covered by the foundation. That being said, a lot of people do their concealer before foundation, and it looks great on them too.

Recently, people have started this new trend where they use red lipstick to colour correct dark circles. Does this really work?

Source: StyleCaster

I’ve seen videos where it totally works. If you look at colour theory and colour wheel, this hack definitely works. The problem is that for the typical woman out there – it’s too many steps.

Of course in the beauty industry you have to come up with ideas for creative content, and hacks like that are cool to watch on Youtube. But the reality is I only have 15 minutes to work with in the morning. We just wanna look our best under five minutes. And even when you are watching that video, it’s an hour and it’s sped up.

Do you have any tips for best applying under eye concealer? E.g. should we use a brush, or our fingers?

Fingers are attached to you, so they are easily used. The problem is that the results you get are streaky, and there’s also the problem of poor hygiene. Unless you are washing your hands like a surgeon, your hands aren’t clean. Hence, a brush is much better in these aspects.

A concealer brush you may want to check out is our Heavenly Luxe Dual Airbrush Concealer #2. One of the brush sizes is made to mimic the size of a finger for easy access to get into the small tight spaces around the eyes, nose and lips. You can just use this brush to buff your concealer in easily, because it’s custom-made to do the work for you. You can also just throw this in your bag – so convenient for touch-ups!

If you prefer using your fingers to apply concealer, make sure to use your ring fingers, because the area around your eye is so delicate.

How can we prevent concealer from creasing, especially in Singapore’s hot weather?

You have to set your makeup. In Singapore’s weather, it’s not an option.

Unfortunately, the problem is that most powders have talc, and talc whisks away moisture from your skin. A lot of people in the US don’t know that talc actually causes creasing and cracking of your makeup, so they put that under the eyes to set their concealer. You can try Bye Bye Pores Pressed Powder, which is a talc-free hydrating powder that can help you to set your makeup and give an airbrushed look without making creasing your concealer.

IT Cosmetics Bye Bye Under Eye Concealer is available in 24 shades, and it is currently retailing at SGD42 in Sephora stores and website.