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9 best concealers for dark skin

Feel confident hiding blemishes with a well-matched cover up

Jazmin Kopotsha

Thursday 20 October 2016 10:54 BST

We ask a lot from our concealers. We want them to hide blemishes, erase dark circles, blend well with foundation and last the entire day without the need for emergency touch ups at our desks.

But first and foremost we all want a concealer that matches our skin tones, which sadly isn't always an easy task when you have a dark complexion. That’s why we sought out and tested the best concealers for darker skin - we’re talking smooth, natural-looking coverage, serious staying power, as well as ranges with a good selection of shades.

Yellow or orange toned concealers tend to work better to lift and brighten typically dull and tired areas of skin, like under the eye. But we recommend looking out for concealers that’ll work with your overall skin tone to ensure a nice even base, should you need to use it on any other areas. Here are the ones that made the cut.

1. Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer: £22.50, Nars

Nars’ concealer is available in an impressive 15 shades, with the six shades from ‘caramel' to ‘cocoa’ best suited to darker tones. Thanks to its opaque texture, it quickly makes problem areas disappear, making it great for pretty much any and all complexion woes. As described, the concealer is creamy both to touch and in finish, leaving your skin looking soft and supple. Added benefits include special hydrating properties, so it can be used under your eyes without fear of creasing.

2. Bobbi Brown Retouching Wand: £26.50, John Lewis

No one enjoys having to touch up their make up throughout the day, but this Retouching Wand helps to make the process really, really easy. Sitting somewhere between a concealer and a foundation, this product quickly hides problem areas with just a click, a prod and at most three taps onto the skin, then use your fingertips to blend. There’s a choice of nine shades (my skin tone is dark brown with golden undertones, so the ‘dark’ shade fitted perfectly) and its lightweight formula distributes evenly, thanks to the rounded sponge applicator.

3. Charlotte Tilbury The Retoucher: £25, Charlotte Tilbury

Style meets substance in this sleek rose gold concealer pen. The creamy textured formula blends with your natural skin tone with little effort and the 10-shade range manages to make dark circles disappear without needing to apply too much product. The formula is super hydrating which will keep your skin well moisturised while providing coverage at the same time, making it especially suited to that delicate under eye area.

4. Smashbox Studio Skin 24-Hour Wear Waterproof Concealer: £20, Boots

A hero product for combination-oily skin, Smashbox’s concealer will stay put no matter what sort of day your skin is having. As it’s waterproof it has that little bit extra you might be looking for in an all-day concealer. With 10 shades to choose from, its buildable coverage makes it a great option for spot-prone skin that tends to get oily throughout the day, as it’ll stay put for the duration. ‘Dark’ and ‘Deep’ should blend well with most dark complexions, but if you want to brighten any dull areas, ‘Medium/Dark’ might be the one for you.

5. Yves Saint Laurent Touche Ḗclat: £25, Yves Saint Laurent

It’s worth thinking twice before using products with highlighting properties to conceal, because you can end up drawing attention to the areas of skin that you’d probably rather hide. Nevertheless, the iconic Touche Éclat, often used to highlight and brighten, has become a make-up bag staple for good reason. Although its 10 shade offering is probably better for bags and under-eye circles than breakouts, this illuminating concealer brightens the skin leaving targeted areas with a soft glow. The narrow brush also makes for easy, precise highlighting.

6. Sleek Make-up Corrector and Concealer Palette: £7.99, Boots

This three-step skin saviour is great value and combats multiple issues in one handy compact. We found it easiest to use our fingers to apply the corrector, followed by the concealer, and then set with the powder using a small brush. The solid formula makes for a good full coverage, and the bonus of a colour corrector makes this a good option for those prone to breakouts, scarring or varying pigmentation. We’d really like to see some extra shades added to the five currently on offer, though.

7. Estée Lauder Double Wear Stay-In-Place Flawless Wear Concealer: £22.50, Estée Lauder

If you're someone who prefers to put concealer on before (or without) foundation, this is the product that'll allow you to do so without smudging it everywhere and then having to apply another layer on top of your base anyway. From ‘Medium Deep’ to ‘Extra Deep’, four of the nine shades are tailored to darker skin tones and the formula dries pretty quickly to a medium coverage that really doesn’t budge, despite being a slightly thinner texture.

8. Bare Minerals BareSkin Complete Coverage Serum Concealer: £22, Bare Minerals

This concealer will certainly last you a while. We only needed to apply a little to cover most areas of the face, as the silky formula spreads really well without compromising coverage. A few additions to the six shades on offer wouldn’t hurt. But we did find that this concealer-serum combo seems to sink into the skin without the need for too much blending, leaving the skin with a really healthy, even finish.

9. Hourglass Hidden Corrective Concealer: £25, Space NK

Hourglass is becoming increasingly well known for its reliably durable products, and we can see why. We found the concealer really easy to apply, thanks to the super slick, mess-free packaging. Despite its solid texture, it left the skin feeling hydrated and well covered. The dose of Vitamin E makes for a nice addition with some extra protection now that the weather’s getting colder. Its darkest shade wasn’t as dark as we expected when applied though, so a few deeper, richer options would be very welcome.

The Verdict: Concealers for dark skin

For its fantastic range of shades and blemish erasing coverage the Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer comes out on top for us. But for sheer ease of application and super blendable texture Bobbi Brown’s Retouching Wand was a particularly strong contender.