6 Best Concealers for Men That Actually Work

Makeup has been around for centuries. It’s almost as old as humanity itself! For most of that time, it was worn by men and women alike. There’s no reason why you shouldn’t be able to enjoy a little makeup boost yourself.

After all, we all want to look our best.

If a little makeup can help you look younger, healthier, more confident, and more in control, why not take advantage?

Concealer is one of the most subtle forms of makeup available. It will help you look healthier, and can even help you look younger, but you won’t look (or feel) like you’re wearing makeup.

Pretty much everyone should have a little concealer available from time to time.

This article will not only go over some of the best concealer options for men but also some tips on how to pick a good concealer. We’ll talk about color, skin type, and other considerations, as well as giving a quick guide to applying concealer effectively.

How to Match Your Concealer to Your Skin

There are several things you should take into account before buying a concealer. It’s not just a matter of matching your skin tone to the color of the concealer. You should also be considering what type of skin you have, and what types of concealer look good on that skin.

So you don’t end up buying a good product that just isn’t a good match for your skin, let’s take a look at how that breaks down.

Skin Type

Everyone’s skin is different, but everyone’s skin also breaks down into a few basic types. You may have a couple of the types listed below because there is some overlap. Generally, go with the concealer that works best for both types together.

Normal/Combination

Normal/combination skin can be difficult to care for in some other respects, but it’s easy to match to a concealer. Normal/combination skin works with almost any concealer type that is a good match for skin color.

Liquid can be a good option since it will work in all your skin areas. But you should try to find a non-comedogenic (we’ll define that in a bit) concealer for any areas that tend to be a little on the oily side.

Oily

Oily skin also works for most concealer types. You’ll want to avoid stick concealer, but the other varieties should all work.

You should also check the ingredients list if you have larger than average pores. Avoid concealers with a high percentage of oils.

Look for ingredients like salicylic acid, hyaluronic acid, and other acne and oil fighting components. These will help prevent your concealer from making your acne worse.

Dry

Dry skin can be a little trickier to match to a concealer. That’s because you need to avoid any concealer that highlights the dry skin or cause flaking.

Avoid powdered concealer with this type of skin. You may also want to avoid liquid concealer since it dries through the day and can highlight the appearance of dry skin several hours after applying it.

You’ll also likely want to add a moisturizer to your normal skincare routine. Putting the moisturizer on right before you apply any concealer will help the concealer look better, and will make liquid concealers a better option.

Sensitive

Sensitive skin types don’t have to avoid any specific concealer types, but there are some things you should look for. A non-comedogenic concealer is likely to be better for your skin than other alternatives.

Also look for concealers that contain soothing ingredients like chamomile, calendula, aloe, and lavender.

You may want to avoid concealers with a lot of salicylic acid, mint oils, and tea tree oils. While those ingredients can be beneficial, they can also irritate sensitive skin.

Wrinkly

Concealer can help with the appearance of aging and wrinkling skin. It’s especially helpful if you’re starting to age spots and other forms of discoloration. But you should avoid cream concealers since they tend to sink into wrinkles and make them more obvious.

Look for lightweight concealers that have skin-stimulating and protective ingredients. UV protection, aloe, chamomile, peppermint, and salicylic acid are all good options for wrinkly skin.

You’ll also want moisturizing ingredients like argan, coconut, and jojoba oil.

Color

Most of the time, you’ll want to pick the concealer that is closest to your skin tone. You may want to go to a makeup specialty store like Ulta or Sephora and try multiple shades on concealer on your skin to find out what color range you naturally sit in.

For spot control, and any concealer that won’t be on or under your eyes, you should try to match your skin tone exactly. This is a combination of two colors, how light or dark your skin is, and whether you tend to be more pink or orange. The highlight color, the pink or orange, can be translated as rose or peach, or fair or neutral.

If you have very dark skin, one way to tell is whether you tend to blush redder or blush a darker color. While rose and peach don’t really apply to darker skin, it’s the same kind of pigments at work, just more of them.

Concealer Type

While we’ve talked a little about matching your concealer type to your skin type, you also need to think about what the different types of concealers do. It’s also a good idea to think about how easy/difficult each concealer is to use.

Liquid

Liquid concealer is one of the most popular, and generally the most flexible option. It dried slightly on your skin, comes in a range of coverage ratings, and can be made to make pretty much any skin tone.

While liquid concealer is usually easy to blend down, it’s also easy to use too much accidentally.

It’s also one of the least portable types. If your bottle opens, it will immediately make a huge mess.

Cream

Creams are another common type of concealer. Applied with a brush, or the tip of a finger, cream concealers are reasonably portable, and generally easy to use.

But they can cake up and become obvious and fake looking if you use too much or have large pores or wrinkles.

Stick

Stick concealers are a little rarer and usually aren’t used as a primary concealer. They’re more thought of as a good portable option, since they are small, don’t make a mess, and can be applied on the go.

Unfortunately, color choice is a little more limited in many stick concealers. You may have to settle for a less than perfect color match.

Powder

Powder concealers are a little rarer anymore. This type of concealer is a good, lightweight and low coverage option. But it doesn’t work with liquid foundations or other heavier forms of makeup.

Like cream concealer, powder concealer can also make wrinkles appear worse if they settle into your skin. Not all powder concealers have this problem, some will make wrinkles and other skin imperfections much less noticeable.

If you can, test power concealers before buying them if you are concerned about aging skin.

Non-Comedogenic

This isn’t a type of concealer so much as a property that any concealers can have. Non-comedogenic means that the concealer doesn’t cause acne or make existing acne worse.

This rating is separate from having acne-fighting ingredients. A concealer can have salicylic acid and still contribute to acne.

Instead of looking for specific ingredients, look for the non-comedogenic rating. Usually, concealers that have this rating will have acne-fighting ingredients that are well balanced with the other ingredients in the formula.

Fair warning, while this is an important quality in a concealer, it’s also on the rare side.

6 Best Concealers for Men Comparison Table

6 Best Concealers for Men: Detailed Reviews

This brand would get a better rating if it came in more color options.

How to Effectively Apply Concealer

There are two different kinds of application you need to worry about. Applying concealer around your eyes and applying it to cover imperfections anywhere else. That can include pimples, moles, age-spots, shaving scars, and other small spots.

Concealer should never be applied over a scab or open scratch or spot.

Try to pick a shade or two lighter than your main skin tone to cover dark circles around your eyes. This concealer will also work to highlight your eye and bring more attention there.

Apply lightly under your eye. Liquid concealers usually only need a few drops or dabs under the eye, while stick and creak concealers may need to be applied more heavily. Then, using a brush, makeup sponge, or the tip of a finger, blend the concealer into the rest of your skin.

You want to blend it up immediately under your eye. Blend out the other edges until there are no harsh edges. Try to avoid rubbing the concealer into wrinkles by blending against the flow of the wrinkle.

For spots and other blemishes, match your concealer as closely to your skin tone as possible. You may also need a color correcting concealer or primer if you tend to have wide areas of discolored skin.

Apply directly to the spot and blend out. While you can build concealer up to get better coverage, it’s a good idea to buy at the coverage level you need. If you have a lot of spots, or the blemishes you want to cover tend to be very different in color than the rest of your skin, go for a high-coverage blend.

If you have less you want to correct, or your blemishes are close to the rest of your skin in appearance, you can go for a lighter coverage option.

Blending

Blending is an art all its own. Small circular motions are a good way to blend, but you’ll need some practice to figure out how much product you need, and how much pressure and blending is effective.

Try different methods and tools, like brushes and sponges, until you see what works best for your concealer and skin type.

Start with circular motions and then try short straight strokes radiating out from the spot you want to conceal.

The goal is to blend the concealer in to your natural skin (or other makeup) so that it can’t be seen.