Lancôme Teint Idole Ultra Wear Camouflage Concealer in 370 W Bisque, available at Sephora, $31
My pursuit of the right concealer began nearly a decade and a half ago, right when I began getting painful, cystic acne. It took me up until about about a year ago to find the right one for my skin tone. Year after year, I'd go to makeup artists to be skin-matched only to be disappointed by the shade range, or lack thereof.
After years of trying almost everything on the market, I tested the Lancôme Teint Idole concealer on my hand and figured it was worth a shot. The wind-up stick made for easy application, and the redness wasn't totally opaque, making its coverage buildable.
One year later, it's one of the few concealers I trust, not just for its the color-match but also for its high coverage and natural finish. I didn't expect the finish to be so natural. To be honest, the texture feels quite thick. The key, as Maderich and Shackleton reiterate, is to not be too heavy-handed with application.
According to Maderich, a concealer with a thick consistency is actually ideal for pigmentation. "It's really hard to cover acne scars on the cheeks," says Maderich. "If you choose to cover it, you have to use a concealer with a really thick consistency because you don't want it to move. Anything creamy is going to move in an hour, so you want it to be almost a paste consistency."
I layer this very lightly on top of the corrector. At this point, I still see some red tint coming through on my skin. Maderich advises applying two thin layers of concealer, powdering each. When I go in with the second layer of concealer, I'll dot this on the acne scarring on my cheeks and jawline, avoiding my dark circles. For the second layer of that, I go in with a lighter-tinted concealer that has an even thicker consistency.