The best concealer can seamlessly erase dark circles, cover up acne, and make your skin look instantly more even. But figuring out how to choose the right concealer shade is a balancing act—if it’s just a little off, you won’t get any of those seamless benefits. Between skin tone, skin undertone, and compatibility with your foundation, finding your perfect shade can sometimes feel harder than it needs to be. That’s why we called in our resident experts to help you figure it out, whether you’re swatching in-store or searching online. Below, everything you need to know about finding your perfect concealer shade—plus, how to apply those tips to our fan-fave Future Fluid All Over Cream Concealer.
How to Choose Your Concealer Shade: Skin Tone vs. Undertones
Finding the right concealer shade involves figuring out both your skin tone and undertone. What’s the difference, you ask? “Skin tone refers to the surface color of your skin, which can get lighter or darker, while undertone is the permanent, underlying tint,” says Sara Wren, our Director of Artistry. Undertones, on the other hand, refer to the underlying hue of the skin; you can have warm undertones, cool undertones, or neutral undertones. Our skin tone usually fluctuates a bit due to sun exposure (for example, most of us get a little bit more tan in the summer), but our undertones remain the same.
If you’re looking for a concealer to cover up blemishes or even out discoloration, find one that matches your natural skin tone and undertone exactly. Dark circles are an exception: Sara recommends using a concealer one shade lighter than your natural skin tone on the under-eye area for an instant brightening effect.
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Should I use more than one concealer shade?
It depends on the type of concealer, as well as your skin tone. With a buildable, medium-to-full-coverage formula like our Future Fluid concealer, a single tube has most of your needs covered. But, you can also try grabbing a few shade variations to get different effects out of your concealer. Use concealer that’s one to two shades lighter than your perfect match to highlight areas of your face like your under eyes. To conceal pimples, you can try a shade with neutral undertones, which help color correct redness.
How to Shade-Match Your Concealer: In Person vs. Online
The most accurate way to find your shade of concealer is to head to your nearest store. Grab a few shades that look closest to your skin tone and swatch them on yourself (try to go near natural light, if you can). The makeup artist recommends swatching each shade from the apple of your cheeks down to your jawline and choosing the one that blends invisibly into your skin. This is your best bet for a concealer shade you can either wear alone or with your favorite foundation shade.
If you can’t make it into a store, we made our Milk Makeup Concealer Shade Finder to recreate the process at home. Our Shade Finder tool uses a series of quick questions and photos to help you find your perfect match, including both your skin tone and undertone. The great news is that we developed Future Fluid concealer in 30 different shades, so that everyone can find their shade.
Once you’ve met your match, we know you’ll be obsessed: You can use the handy, built-in concealer brush to apply the hydrating formula anywhere you need—whether you have dark spots, under-eye-circles, or breakouts—sans cakey finish. Plus, it has bonus skincare ingredients like hyaluronic acid and aloe vera. Second-skin finish, achieved.
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Meet the Expert
Sara Wren (she/her) is the Director of Artistry at Milk Makeup. In her role, she does all the makeup artistry and direction for our Milk Makeup global campaigns, educates the staff and field team on application methods, stars in the brand’s social media videos, and travels to different markets spreading Milk Makeup’s good vibes. When she’s not on set, Sara loves experimenting with DIY hair colors, eating tacos, watching basketball, and scouring for vintage cosmetics to add to her impressive collection.
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