The Best Natural Concealers: My Top Picks + Application Tips

Hiya Gorgeous,

I don’t know many gals who haven’t grappled with under eye circles. Those dark, puffy bags can show up for a long list of reasons, including lack of sleep, long hours staring at the computer, too much gin and not enough green juice—you know the drill.

Although sometimes, even a good night’s rest and nourishing nosh aren’t enough to alleviate those unsightly shadows. And did you know that they can also be hereditary and show up more prominently in those with darker skin tones? So, what’s a gal to do when she wants to feel wide-eyed and awake? This is when having a great concealer on hand can help you brighten up your look in a matter of minutes! And that calls for another beauty review.

To make all of my beauty reviews as accurate and useful as possible, I always bring in one of my favorite organizations, the Environmental Working Group (EWG). EWG is a leader in up-to-the-minute research on toxins and chemicals present in the environment and our personal and home products. Together, we’ve teamed up and created a Healthy Home Checklist and done several beauty reviews like this one, including deodorant, lipstick, foundation, mascara and nail polish (stay tuned for more reviews to come!).

EWG did us a huge favor by analyzing the ingredients in these concealers and adding the product ratings to their Skin Deep Cosmetics Database, which contains information and online safety assessments for over 60,000 products. Thanks, EWG! So, let’s get started, gorgeous.

If you’re struggling with dark circles, have no fear. My team and I tested and rated some of the most popular concealers on the market so that you can do some complexion correction the natural and non-toxic way. Ready? Let’s uncover the best concealer!

How did I choose and rate these concealers?

Concealer Selection Process

The concealers chosen for this review came from a poll I ran at KrisCarr.com and on Facebook. My goal was to test the concealers that were recommended most by my beauty-savvy readers. These product reviews are designed to make your life easier by providing helpful information on different beauty brands and sharing how they performed for me and my team. But please note that each concealer is going to feel, look and perform differently for everyone. And if you don’t see a brand on my list, it may be because the product couldn’t be analyzed by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) at this time or it just didn’t make the Crazy Sexy cut while testing (aka we didn’t love it).

Concealer Review Results

My team and I have been researching and testing these natural concealers for the past several months, and we’ve never felt more bright-eyed! Check out my nifty infographic below for the final results, and be sure to read on to get the details on how we determined the various ratings and additional info for each product. We’ve got something for everyone, from a less expensive drugstore brand to higher end products, and from sticks to liquids and pots—oh my!

My Crazy Sexy Concealer Review

How to Apply Your Concealer

Now that you know more about non-toxic complexion correction, I’m sure the next question on your mind is how to apply your new natural concealer. I asked makeup artist/green beauty expert Rebecca Casciano for her top tips, and here’s what she had to say:

For Covering Dark Circles Under Eyes:

1. Prep your under eye area with eye cream or serum. Allow it to absorb before applying concealer.

2. Add a small amount of concealer to the tip of your finger or a concealer brush. You can always add more, if needed.

3. Apply concealer above and below the inner corner of your eye. This is the area where we will find the deepest concentration of color, also know as “dark circles”.

4. Use light, gentle strokes to blend product on the delicate eye area. You may want to apply concealer to upper and lower lids, as it will neutralize any discoloration and provide a nice base for eyeshadow application.

5. Set the concealer with a pressed or loose powder on a fluffy brush or sponge. This will help increase longevity and minimize creasing, although some creasing is expected (due to the creamy nature of the product and fine lines around the eyes).

For Other Imperfection Correction (Zits, Dark Spots, Etc.):

1. Prep your skin with skincare, sunscreen and/or foundation or tinted moisturizer.

2. Identify areas of discoloration where you would like more coverage. Some common areas for this are: around the nose and mouth, acne scarring, visible veins and/or sun damage.

3. Add a small amount of concealer to the tip of your finger or a concealer brush.

4. Lightly tap, or “stipple” concealer onto the area. Stippling is a professional makeup technique in which you lightly tap, rather than swipe, the concealer directly onto the area of discoloration, layering as needed. This helps you build coverage while seamlessly blending the concealer into the rest of the skin.

5. Set the concealer with a dusting of loose or pressed powder on a fluffy brush.

Thanks, Rebecca!

For those of you who are wellness detectives like I am and want to know more about how we vet the products I recommend, read this.

FYI: If a company is not certified through PETA or Leaping Bunny but they still have an internal policy on no animal testing, it’s your decision whether or not to embrace these makeup brands. In this Concealer Review, rms, bodisafe (formerly GlamNatural) and Beautycounter fall under this category. You can learn more about Leaping Bunny’s certification standards here and PETA’s here (scroll down to FAQ).

And remember, cruelty-free and vegan do not always mean the same thing when it comes to cosmetics. A company can pledge to not test on animals and even be certified by PETA and/or Leaping Bunny as cruelty-free, but may still use animal-derived ingredients in its products. We had to leave a few recommended concealers out of this review because they contained animal-derived ingredients (beyond bee products), despite being certified as cruelty-free.

Your turn: What’s your ultimate concealer pick or top application tip? Let us know in the comments below!

Gentle request: If you work for a beauty company, please be cool—we’re trying to keep these comments as unbiased and useful as possible. Sharing your product is welcomed and awesome. Hundreds of comments about your product and/or why you’re cranky that it wasn’t included is NOT awesome. Thank you!

Peace & reviews,