Conceal: Cover up your pimples like a pro

The deal on how to conceal!

Despite what the beauty therapists tell us, “let your skin breathe” “makeup will make it worse”, we all know that the ONLY thing you want to do when you have acne is to hide it.

If you have a hot date, an important meeting or any social gathering that requires you to change out of your gym gear then this is the blog post for you.

How to cover up a pimple like a pro. Below are some make-up artist techniques to covering up each type of pimple.

First step: start with clean, fresh skin. Do NOT wake up and apply your makeup without washing your face first. During the night your skin has suffered a build up of sweat, bacteria, skin/dust and bed mites. You need to clean the slate…and change your pillow cases while you’re at it.

Whiteheads
You want to go for a thick, dry, clay like concealer. The kind you find in a pot, not the one with the wand applicator. Use a clean finger or a small clean makeup brush and only apply to the actual pimple and surrounding redness.

Gently press the pimple to try and hide it’s 3D shape. Finish with a translucent setting powder, to prevent that oily glow.

Cystic Acne
Cystic Acne is characterised by red, swollen, headless monsters that are painful to touch. The first step is to try and settle them down. DO NOT PICK AT THEM.
Use an ice cube and massage over the acne to reduce the swelling. It will also help numb the pain a bit, as these pimples can make your skin very sensitive. Next, use warm water (not hot) and gently pat the affected area.

The cold/warm compression is a great trick to reduce the inflammation of the lesions.
The problem with cystic acne, is no matter what you do, you won’t completely cover the suckers.

Choose a mineral makeup, such as a tinted BB cream and use a mineral based concealer to try and reduce the redness. If you apply heavy layers of foundation you have the potential to make the bumps more obvious.

The aim here is to produce an even skin tone, not airbrush your skin smooth…. save that for your Facetune app.
Pro type. Add a red lip or a dramatic winged eye liner, to detract attention.

Flaky Skin
A dried-out pimple is screaming out for hydration. Wash your face with warm water (remember, warm and not hot).

Next focus by applying warm water on a gauze or cotton pad specifically to the dried out, flaky pimples. Apply a gentle exfoliator to try and massage away the flakiness. Next apply a deep moisturising day or night cream. To cover these types of pimples you want to go for a moisturising, wet concealer, so the kind with the wand application brush. 

Blackheads:
Blackheads tend to concentrate around your nose. While, we consider these the least offensive type of pimple, they do require some clever layering to hide them from the naked eye. First apply primer, then your BB cream or liquid foundation.

Use a concealer after to massage into the nose area to really blend in the colour. I always like to finish with a matte setting powder to hide the sheen.

Pimples on the forehead
Suffer from an oily T Zone? Don’t worry, so do the rest of us. Our beauty babe, Chloe Morello suggests applying a ‘mattifying’ primer to this area of your skin, then applying a glow primer to the rest of your face.

You also want to pick an oil free foundation and concealer as your body is clearly producing enough of it on its own.

You don’t want to have dry skin either, so make sure not to over exfoliate or apply too much toner as this will only cause your skin to want to produce more oil to compensate.

If some of your blemishes are about to rupture, use clean hands and a clean tissue and apply gentle pressure to the pimple. Make sure all your makeup brushes / hands are clean as you don’t want to spread the bacteria.

Again, go for a liquid BB cream to hydrate the skin followed by a matte setting powder to settle the shine.

Whether you have a single pimple, or an entire family of friends on your face, remember, no one is actually judging you as most people are trying to do the exact same thing. Happy Concealing….and remember to clean your face as soon as you get home.

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