The beauty report: concealers

This time of year can leave a person with a lot to conceal. The ravages of winter scowl from glum faces, and the lack of sunlight,

January blues – which can outlive January by some weeks – and generally bleak weather can create tired complexions. A tired complexion is prone to misbehave. Classic demons such as dark circles and skin conditions – dermatitis and adult acne are among the most common – plague beleaguered faces, making a challenging time of year that bit more unpleasant.

Thankfully, the quality of concealers on the market is impressive. Some brands boast more inclusive shade ranges than others, but it’s comforting to know that there is a forgiving concealer available to subtly disguise every imaginable blemish.

The key to effective concealing is ensuring that the skin on and around the blemish is as smooth as it can be. This may sound entirely impossible, but it’s as simple as being kind to the skin. Applying alcohol-heavy skincare to dry up a spot will do nothing but break and damage the skin on the surface. Though it seems counter-intuitive, apply a high-quality facial oil – even good olive oil will do – to the blemish to smother it and keep the skin on top in the best possible condition.

This trick also works perfectly for dry, patchy areas. Massage in a little oil, wait for about a minute, then apply your concealer over the top. The concealer will catch in crispy skin far less than it previously would have, and you can seal the top with a dusting of powder to prevent shine.

An illuminating concealer will catch the light, so it's ideal for the shadowy area under eyes. Clarins Instant Concealer (€24) banishes under eye darkness even when you're at your most exhausted. Unfortunately, the shade range is small, but if you can find a match, it disguises a sleepless night like nothing else.

When disguising blemishes, spots or discolouration, an opaque but non-illuminating formula is best. Bobbi Brown's Face Touch Up Palette (€40-€44) comes in 10 variations suitable for the palest to the deepest skins. Containing corrector, concealer, foundation and pressed powder to set your work, it allows for touch-ups on the go. There's no need to fear misbehaving skin with this in your handbag. The variation of products inside will cover you regardless of skin catastrophes or migrating mascara.

Radiant Creamy Concealer from Nars (€33) is a behemoth of blemish cover. Its thick formulation is somehow radiant despite the matte finish, and it eliminates spots or dark circles equally effectively, setting comfortably over a blemish without highlighting any areas of raised texture on the skin.

For drier skin, it will nestle snugly under eyes or over mild patches of discolouration without settling into fine lines. Pressing concealer into dry skin or blemishes with the pad of a finger will melt the product in to create a flawless but natural looking base to face the day with.