How to hide pimples with makeup

Pimples always seem to pop up at the worst possible time. Even into adulthood, when you figured you would be so over this inconvenient plague by now. Whether you have a wedding, a party, a family event or a job interview, it never seems to fail. There’s that pesky breakout.

What really stinks is that they seem to pop up during times of stress, leading to more stress and causing a breakout negative feedback loop. But with some expert makeup hacks, you don’t have to let pimples stop you in your tracks. You can hide pimples with makeup and keep doing you.

How to hide pimples with makeup

Get a color-correcting concealer

To start, you’ll need to locate a concealer with green tones to it. It sounds super weird, but green is the opposite color to red on the color wheel, so the two will end up cancelling each other out. So, no, you won’t replace that acne with green witch warts.

Prep the skin

You’ll need to start by cleansing the area. Use your favorite facial cleanser for this step. Some makeup artists recommend moisturizing, some do not. Here’s a rule of thumb: if the blemish is already flat and fairly smooth, don’t add moisturizer, as that will add some slickness that may obscure the makeup from taking to the skin as well. If you’re dealing with a dry, peeling breakout, you’ll need moisturizer to even out the area so the breakout can be covered better. Either way, you should also use an overall primer to help the makeup stick better.

Apply your concealer

For this step, you’ll actually want a narrow makeup brush so that you’re applying the green concealer with precision. You can’t just dab and blend with your finger like you would a normal concealer due to that green pigment. It has to be applied right to the pimple so the two colors are cancelling each other. Apply a thick layer.

Now you apply your normal concealer on and around the spot. That’s what will help hide that slightly off-color concealer. This is also the part where you can blend the edges and harsh lines of your concealer. You can use your finger, a makeup sponge or a brush for this step.

Apply the rest of your makeup

Now you actually place your foundation over the concealer. This may be a little different than what you’re traditionally used to. But that will help further blend in your concealer. Just be gentle while applying to not smudge the concealer. You’ll also add your powder to set after the foundation. And your potentially day-destroying breakout is no more!

What to do with raised blemishes

This method will work on raised cystic acne to get rid of the coloring of the breakout. But you may still be left with that uneven bump texture. To reduce cystic swelling, apply an ice cube in a thin towel to the blemish for a few minutes regularly while you’re not wearing makeup. That will reduce swelling while killing bacteria, making the breakout flatter for when you have to apply makeup.