You may have gotten eight hours of blissful sleep and gulped down your recommended eight glasses of water a day — but sometimes, under-eye puffiness, bags, and dark circles will still get the best of you. On those days, your best bet (besides heading straight back to bed for a power nap) is an under-eye concealer.
Unlike regular concealers, which tend to be full coverage and thick, an under-eye concealer is specifically formulated for the delicate skin around your eyes. They’re also extra hydrating so you don’t get any unsightly creases or makeup pilling.
As beauty editors who have dealt with ragged under-eyes more often than we’d like to admit, we feel personally invested in helping you find the best under-eye concealer for every circumstance. We put 23 of the most popular under-eye concealers to the test and analyzed them intensely based on coverage, texture, how long they lasted, and whether they creased at all. After hours of testing in our lab and the real world, we’ve come to a consensus — these are the best under-eye concealers for your roughest mornings yet.
Best Under-Eye Concealer Overall
Tarte Shape Tape Concealer
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Ulta Beauty
What We Love What We Don't LoveOne tube of this beloved concealer sells every 12 seconds. It sounds shocking, but we have zero doubts after conducting our own comprehensive testing on the formula. In our testing, this concealer earned a perfect 5/5 score on all attributes — texture, coverage, staying power, and creasing. It truly is that good.
It's a full-coverage formula with a soft matte finish, meaning your skin won't look shiny after it's applied. You can concentrate it on your under-eye area to make it look brighter and more lifted, or dab a bit on blemishes, redness, or other imperfections as needed. One of our testers likes to use this formula to contour in addition to concealing her dark circles. There are 35 shades to choose from, so it's easy to find the right match for concealing, contouring, and highlighting alike.
The staying power of this concealer is worth calling out as well. It stays put for a full 16 hours and is crease-proof for 12 of them. "This formula lasted all day without creasing or giving me extra wrinkles," says one of our testers with mature skin. Another tester called it a must-have, both for everyday wear or when you're trying to go full glam.
Coverage Level: Full | Finish: Matte | Shades: 35 | Size: 0.3 fl. oz
Best Light Coverage
Milk Makeup Sunshine Under Eye Concealer
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Sephora
What We LoveIt's a 99% natural formula, free of parabens, silicones, and fragrances.
If dark bags and stubborn acne are what you're looking to hide, this concealer is not it. But if you want to look refreshed in a natural, no-makeup-makeup kind of way, you'll really like this one. It's formulated with vitamin C and light-reflecting powders which help brighten the eye area, as well as plant-derived squalane and hyaluronic acid to hydrate.
Our testers gave this formula a 5/5 on coverage. It does have a serum-like consistency, which makes the formula feel light and airy on the skin. "Most full-coverage concealers get cakey, but a hydrating, lightweight formula like Milk's brightens my under-eyes without oxidizing and flaking during the day," one tester noted.
One of the most unique aspects of this concealer is its antimicrobial glass rollerball applicator. It offers a cooling benefit to tired eyes, but not all of our testers were huge fans of it. While some testers thought the applicator was very cool (pun intended), others felt it was hard to control how much product was deposited from the tip. If you click the pen too many times (once is enough for both eyes), things could get a little messy.
If we had just one wish for this product though, it would be that the brand increases the shade range. At seven shades, it leaves much to be desired right now. Milk Makeup, if you are reading this, make it happen — pretty please.
Coverage Level: Light | Finish: Radiant | Shades: 7 | Size: 0.2 fl. oz
InStyle / Jessica Juliao
Best Splurge
Dior Forever Skin Correct Concealer
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Sephora
What We Love What We Don't LoveThe first thing our tester recorded about this concealer is that it's her new dream concealer. Need we say more? Probably not, but we will. "I used this concealer two days in a row and was shocked at how great my skin looked from the moment I put it on until I washed it off at night," she says. She especially loved the full coverage (which she scored a 5/5) because it was smooth and didn't require multiple coats. Whether you're covering acne scars, pimples, or dark spots, a little bit is all you need for the job.
Our tester also called out the concealer's success at blurring the look of her large pores. "I have large pores, especially on my nose, and this has been the best concealer I've used to minimize the look of my pores for a successful "airbrush" effect while still looking natural," she notes. Considering there's no way to get rid of pores altogether, this concealer may just be the next best thing to making them disappear.
The formula is thicker than some of the other concealers out there, which is to be expected to a degree because it offers full coverage, so it may not be an everyday go-to. Our tester plans to use it on special occasions, date nights, or when she really needs to hide a blemish quick. And while it is on the pricier side, it is the biggest concealer out of this entire list.
Coverage Level: Full | Finish: Natural | Shades: 28 | Size: 0.37 fl. oz
Best Full Coverage
Hourglass Vanish Airbrush Concealer
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Sephora
What We Love What We Don't LoveSometimes you really want to just cover everything — the bags, the blemishes, the veiny lines, the dark spots — and that's when you should lean on this concealer. It's really full coverage but it doesn't look or feel that way on the skin. When blended, the result is natural with an airbrush-like effect. No wonder it's also a favorite of makeup influencer Mikayla Nogueira.
We love that this concealer is waterproof for those days when you're not sure what life will throw your way. It features microsphere powders that assist with that airbrush finish, working to diffuse the look of imperfections and pores and reflecting light so it works in your skin's favor. The applicator is uniquely designed for precision, an aspect our tester really appreciated for application under the eye area in particular.
The only downside we noted is that the formula may be too dry for drier skin types. Our tester with combination skin had no trouble with this concealer, however.
Coverage Level: Full | Finish: Natural | Shades: 22 | Size: 0.2 fl. oz
Best for Dark Circles
Maybelline New York Instant Age Rewind Eraser Concealer
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Amazon
Our Ratings
What We LoveThe coverage, texture, and wear are phenomenal, especially at its price point.
This concealer is labeled the most popular concealer in America. Credit its affordable price point, easy-to-use applicator, buildable formula, and natural finish. Our testers loved it too; the formula scored a perfect 5/5 on every attribute it was tested against.
It's great at concealing all types of imperfections, but — as its name suggests — it's an all star against pesky dark circles, thanks in part to ingredients like goji berry and haloxyl. "This is my daily go-to," says one of our testers with mature skin. "The applicator is targeted specifically for my under-eye circles and I don't get creases."
It wears for a full 12 hours and multitasks as a highlighter and contour in the right shades, of which there are 18 to choose from. It's also celebrity makeup artist-approved. Maybelline's Global Makeup Artist Erin Parsons turns to this concealer time and time again for her clients, including supermodels Gigi Hadid and Emily DiDonato. She once said in a statement: "Maybelline Instant Age Rewind is my all-time favorite concealer! It provides amazing coverage and keeps the eye area hydrated and radiant."
Coverage Level: Full | Finish: Natural | Shades: 18 | Size: 0.2 fl. oz
Best Medium Coverage
Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer
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Sephora
Our Ratings
What We Love What We Don't LoveOne of our testers called this concealer "an old reliable" in her makeup collection, and we think that's a perfect description. The formula has won over the hearts of many and, in our opinion, can really do no wrong. It brightens, corrects, highlights, contours (you name it) and it does so pretty darn well.
It has a smaller applicator which allows you to target specific areas without applying too much product. The texture is creamy and blends really nicely, per our testers, and the coverage is medium, though you can build it up to full if you wanted to.
No surprise here, but this concealer also has the seal of approval from celebrity makeup artists. Allan Avendaño, who works with clients like Chrissy Teigen and Sarah Hyland, once told InStyle this is his favorite concealer to use. "I love this because of how easy it is to melt into the skin," he says. "The wand applicator makes it simple to apply to target areas. Then, you can blend with a warmed-up finger or brush. It gives a sheer to medium coverage—and it's buildable so you decide on how much coverage you want. The best part is its light-diffusing technology that blurs imperfections on the skin."
It's worth mentioning that our testers also tried another concealer from Nars, the Soft Matte Complete Concealer, that they liked just as much (it scored a 5/5 on all attributes!). Unlike the Radiant Creamy Concealer, the Soft Matte option comes in a pot and offers fuller coverage from the jump.
Coverage Level: Medium | Finish: Radiant | Shades: 30 | Size: 0.22 fl. oz
Our Testing Process
We spent about a week researching different under-eye concealers, as well as talking to experts and industry pros about the formulas they like to use on their own skin. This information helped us determine our initial selection of 23 under-eye concealers. While we did not disqualify any concealers based on shade range alone, we noted the brands that we felt could do a better job at making their ranges more inclusive of all skin tones.
Each of our six testers was asked to wear the under-eye concealers for a full day — morning to night — and jot down their insights along the way. Did the formula cake up at any point during the day, or settle into fine lines? Did it dry down fast, or was it difficult to blend? Was the applicator easy to use? These are just some of the questions our testers were tasked with answering. In addition to sharing their specific feedback, our testers rated each concealer on a scale of 1 to 5 on four attributes: texture and feel, coverage, staying power, and creasing. We felt that these attributes were among the most important to consider when deciding if a concealer is worth it.
Once all of the data was collected, our editor assigned specific categories to the concealers that performed the best based on what testers felt about each product overall.
What to Keep in Mind
When purchasing an under-eye concealer, here are some factors you should keep in mind:
Shade
For the under-eye area, most makeup artists recommend reaching for a shade that is one to two tones lighter than your natural skin tone for a bright-eyed look. Many brands and retailers offer shade finder quizzes and virtual assistants to help you find the perfect shade without swatching them in person. If you are reaching for a concealer for your face excluding the under-eye area, try to match it to your foundation shade. The impressive shade range in the Tarte Shape Tape Concealer is one of many reasons why it earned our Best Overall pick.
Coverage
Concealers are available in light, medium, and full coverage. If you're concealing very dark circles, a fuller coverage concealer will do a better job of camouflaging the area (like the Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Concealer). Keep in mind though that the thicker the formula, the easier it is to cake up. If your under eye area has many fine lines, a lighter, serum-like concealer will be less likely to settle into those creases.
Finish
This is mostly up to personal preference, but experts recommend reaching for a concealer with a radiant finish under the eyes if you want the area to look brighter. Concealers with a matte finish often last longer and look more natural, though drier skin types should generally avoid products with a matte finish since they tend to be more drying.
Your Questions, Answered
How do you apply under-eye concealer?
There are a few different ways to apply under-eye concealer — with clean fingers, a sponge, a brush, or — as celebrity makeup artist Sir John once told InStyle — with a fluffy, synthetic eyeshadow brush for an airbrush effect.
One way to apply under-eye concealer is to place three or so dots directly onto the under-eye area and gently blend it out with your tool of choice. Sir John recommends then taking your ring finger and gently tapping the under-eye area after the concealer is blended to warm it up and ensure a natural, lived-in look. Another way to apply under-eye concealer, especially if you want an all-over brightening effect versus a targeted application, is to dot the formula under the eyes and work it downwards into an inverted triangle that hits the top of your cheek. Blend it out as your normally would and top with a setting powder.
How do you pick a shade of under-eye concealer?
Finding the correct shade of concealer is similar to how you find your foundation shade. There are color families (fair, light, medium, tan, dark, and deep) as well as undertones. Once you identify the category you're in, it'll narrow the list down to fewer options. Next, consider your skin's undertone. One of the easiest ways to find your undertone is to look at your veins, if they are blue or purple you have cool undertones (a pinker concealer), if you have green you're warm (a more golden concealer), and a mix of both is olive (a greener concealer). While concealer to cover a pimple or discoloration should match your skin tone, under-eye concealer can be worn one to two shades lighter for a brightening effect.
What Is InStyle Picks?
Did you notice the InStyle Picks seal of approval at the top of this story? That means our team of testers has reviewed every product on this list using a unique methodology to ensure it's really worth your time, money, and attention. We may get samples for free to try but we never promise positive (or any!) coverage in exchange. Put simply: InStyle Picks are products we love, and we've put them to the test to be sure you will too.
Want more product recommendations? From best-in-class concealer to the black pants you need for work, check out all of our InStyle Picks content.
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