The best concealers: eight favourites for camouflaging blemishes and dark circles – tested

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When life gets stressful, your face is often the first place to show telltale signs. Eye bags get darker after sleepless nights and pimples appear in protest at the first signs of stress. Whatever the cause, the best concealers can help to even out imperfections, so you look flawless regardless of what is going on behind the scenes.

It might seem obvious, but not all concealers are the same. Some leave a cakey finish on the skin, while others settle quickly into fine lines or blend out and leave barely any coverage at all. Many modern concealers also include active skincare ingredients to combine the benefits of both products.

I tested a huge variety of concealers for consideration here, including cult-favourite viral products and new formulas arriving to shake up the makeup game. Below, you’ll find the very best concealers from my testing, with options to suit every skin type, coverage preference and budget.

Scroll further to find advice from professional makeup artists on how and when to apply concealer, as well as how to prolong its wear.

At a glance

Best concealer overall:
Nars Radiant Creamy concealer

£29.50 at Lookfantastic

Best budget concealer:
Collection Lasting Perfection concealer

£2.25 at Amazon

Best concealer for dark circles:
Charlotte Tilbury Beautiful Skin Radiant concealer

£28 at John Lewis

Best concealer for dry skin:
By Terry hyaluronic serum concealer

£39 at Cult Beauty

Best lightweight concealer:
NYX Bare With Me Serum concealer

£6.51 at Amazon

Why you should trust me

I’ve spent the past four years testing and writing about beauty products, makeup included. In that time, I’ve come across bestsellers that fully deserve the hype, but also a fair share of concealers that crease immediately or cling to every dry patch on my face.

I’m not a professional makeup artist, but I’ve been wearing makeup since my early teenage years. Because I don’t use fancy blending techniques, my tests show exactly how user-friendly each product is. If I ended up with a creasy, cakey mess under my eyes, chances are you might too.

How I tested

There are three main areas to consider when testing concealer: coverage, creasing and the range of shades available. Before I sourced any concealers, I checked the available shade ranges and wouldn’t touch a formulation if it didn’t cater to a wide range of skin tones. Considering this has been a widely publicised issue for a decade or more, I was amazed by how many brands still hadn’t caught up.

Sarah Matthews testing concealers on her forearm

The next thing I tested was coverage, for each of the 13 concealers I tested. Rather than guess how well each concealer covered up my ever-changing spots and dark circles, I judged this by using a red Sharpie to make small spots on my forearm. Once the spots had dried, I covered each with a small amount of concealer and lightly blended them with a small fluffy brush. This showed me how well each concealer could cover imperfections.

The last and perhaps most important step was a wear test. This involved wearing each concealer for a full day and monitoring how well it covered spots and dark circles. Whenever a concealer settled into fine lines, it was marked down as being unsuitable for the eye area. I assessed how easy to blend each product was too, and noted any dryness, irritation or patchiness as the day went on.

The best concealers for 2026

Three hands each holding a NYX Professional Makeup Bare With Me Concealer Serum

The best of the rest

Three arms wearing various shades of MAC Studio Fix 24-Hour Smooth Wear Concealer

Three forearms wearing various shades of Laura Mercier Real Flawless Weightless Perfecting Concealer

Three bottles of Milani Conceal + Perfect Longwear Concealer

What you need to know

Three concealers stood on a wooden worktop

How much should I spend on a concealer?

“Concealer sits closely on your skin, often covering spots or sensitive areas, so quality really does matter,” says Jamie Genevieve, makeup artist and founder of Vieve. “It’s worth investing in a formula that performs well, wears comfortably, and treats your skin kindly. But ultimately, choose one that fits your budget and meets your needs.”

As you can see in the recommendations above, you can buy a great basic concealer for less than £10. However, if you want to invest in something that uses hydrating skincare ingredients, more innovative applicators or cruelty-free formulations, you may need to spend more.

How do I know my concealer shade?

This was far simpler in bygone days before online shopping, when pharmacies would stock testers of every concealer to help find your perfect shade. Sadly, in-store product testers have become a dying breed since the pandemic.

However, many makeup brands now have their own shade finders online, which use either a phone camera or webcam to give a best guess for your perfect shade. Others will offer a short questionnaire that asks you for details about your skin undertone, texture and shade. Both work well in my experience.

It helps to know your skin tone to help choose the right shade – if you have warm-toned skin and the shade finder recommends a cool-toned shade, think twice. For each concealer on this page, I’ve included a link to the shade finder.

That said, concealer isn’t a one-trick pony. “Use a shade lighter than your foundation for brightening the undereye area, or a shade that matches your skin tone for seamless coverage elsewhere,” recommends Suzie O’Neill, founder of AYU Cosmetics.

How and when do I apply concealer?

“Think of it as layering strategically based on the coverage you want,” says Genevieve. “I usually apply concealer after foundation to brighten and perfect specific areas. But if you’re covering dark spots or pigmentation, you can start with concealer as a base, then follow with foundation to even out everything.”

Unlike Genevieve, I apply concealer after my eye makeup to clean up any fallout from the eye shadow I use. Most days, I prefer a lighter makeup look and don’t see the need to use foundation after applying concealer. This is an approach recommended by Karen MacDonald, founder of Blomma Beauty, “for a barefaced, no-makeup look to let your natural skin shine through”.

How do you keep concealer from creasing on older skin?

“Prep is everything,” says O’Neill. “Hydrate the undereye area well, apply a nourishing eye cream, and use a light hand – less is more.”

I recommend giving any hydrating, anti-ageing skincare and eye creams 15 minutes or so to settle into the skin before applying makeup. This should ensure the skincare products don’t mess with the formulation of the concealer, causing it to pill or settle into fine lines.

When applying concealer, O’Neill recommends you “tap the concealer in gently and, if needed, set lightly with a touch of translucent powder to stop it from moving”.

For more:
The best eye creams for banishing bags, puffiness and fine lines
The best mascaras for longer, fuller and fluttery lashes
The best anti-ageing creams, serums and treatments, picked by Sali Hughes

Sarah Matthews is a consumer journalist who specialises in giving health and beauty recommendations. She’s tested her way through more makeup, skincare and hair care than you can shake a stick at. Thanks to her stubborn hormonal acne, concealer is always a staple in her makeup bag

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