This under-eye circle concealing trick is (almost) as good as a full night’s sleep

No matter how hard I try to prevent them, those dark under-eye circles just pop up randomly and make me look more tired, dehydrated, and drained than I actually feel. And so I’ve tried everything in order to hide them—including an acupressure trick, a snail slime under-eye patch, and an artfully placed warm compress in order to quash the issue. Nothing has fully satisfied me.

The easiest (and quickest) method in the book, though, is dabbing on some concealer. But not just any ol’ concealer—the #keytosuccess is to essentially color-correct the problem by choosing a concealer in the perfect shade that makes those dark circles a thing of the past. Basically, you’ve gotta be strategic.

“Concealer alone works well to cover minimal dark circles,” says Gabriel De Santino, makeup artist and CEO of Gabriel Cosmetics. “To get the best coverage, I’d suggest a shade or two lighter than your skin tone for the under-eye area—this will conceal and also brighten your eyes.” Just don’t go too light, or your magic trick will reveal itself.

But the real secret is to pair your concealer with a color corrector. These are essentially a magic eraser for dark under-eye circles and work to directly offset the unwanted shade in the area by using an opposite color. “When dark circles are major, I often use a concealer paired with a color corrector,” says De Santino. “If your circles have a green undertone, you can balance with peach or pink; yellow will neutralize blue and purple tones; and green works well to mask red and pink tones.” All you have to do is tap that color corrector underneath your eyes, dab some concealer on top, and voila: dark circles who?

Shop color-correcting palettes

Stila Correct & Perfect All-In-One Color Correcting Palette $45

Cover FX Correct Click Color Corrector $18

Marc Jacobs Beauty Cover(t) Stick Color Corrector $42

Maybelline Master Camo Color Correcting Palette $6

NYX Professional Makeup Color Correcting Palette $12

Algenist Reveal Concentrated Color Correcting Drops $38

For the rest of your face, swipe on an on-trend sheer foundation. And top your look off with a tinted lip balm on your pout and you’re good to go.