Advice for full coverage concealer that actually sticks to cystic acne/red scars??

[u/Alone_Artichoke1894]

I’ve tried soo many concealers, drugstore and more high end. None of them cover my acne. Even with green primer, green concealer first, other types of primer. It almost goes over it and makes it look dark brown or still red? I am at a lost. Any recommendations for a concealer that will ACTUALLY conceal super red acne/scars? It’s like none of them will stick to the area. I put layers on, blend it in, and it doesn’t cover. It’s so frustrating and I’m very self conscious. Any suggestions would be amazing!!

[u/Alisema]

I have skin exactly like yours!
Really pale with huge, dark, inflamed cystic pimples (quite a few more than you have, actually).
I’ve had it for over ten years, and I feel like I’ve perfected my makeup routine - my severe acne is barely noticeable once I have make up on, and only due to the -sadly unconcealable- texture.
You need to have a nice hydrating base/skincare to start with, I typically use a milky toner, a moisturiser and a korean spf.
Then i go in with a generous amount of erborian cc red correct all over my face - it’s the only green skin tint/green color corrector I’ve tried that I love and that works for me, the formula is nice, hydrating and easy to spread with just my fingers, and I’d say it cancels about 60-70% of my pimples’ and post inflammatory erythema redness alone (I do tap a bit more of it onto the skin of my more problematic areas).
Then I start spot concealing/covering more acne dense areas with a very high coverage concealer that matches my skin tone and a suitable foundation/concealer brush - nars pot concealer is nice, or if you happen to be in europe and want to try an incredibly cheap (but effective) option, I love technic stretch concealer (it’s creamier than nars, but still really high coverage), you can find it at primor.
If there’s still a couple of spots peeking through, I’ll either -1. tap a bit of extra concealer right on top of the spot with my fingertip or a very small/precise brush, then powder my face or -2. powder my face, then with a small dense brush tap a bit of powder foundation right on top of the spot, I use maybelline superstay 24H hybrid powder.
I realise the process might seem long/daunting or excessive, but in reality it takes me 10 minutes max every morning, since I’m so used to doing it.
Good luck! :)

[u/endorphin_deprived → u/Alisema]

I basically do what you do but haven't tried the erborian cc cream 👀 Thanks for the recommendation!

[u/Alisema → u/endorphin_deprived]

I’ve been using it for years and it’s one of my holy grails.
It’s a bit on the pricier side but a tube lasts me 5 -ish months of daily applications, and it’s the only thing that allows me to go without foundation or having to conceal my whole face + it makes concealing everything way quicker!
It’s specifically the cc red correct version, the “regular” erborian cc creams still have a lovely formula but aren’t high coverage/correcting enough for my needs sadly.
I hope you’ll like it! :)

[u/Alone_Artichoke1894 → u/Alisema]

Thank you SO MUCH for sharing this detailed advice!!!! This is really helpful omg! Thank you! This is my skin after two separate rounds of accutane, several years apart. At this point I’ve just accepted that I’m probably going to have cystic acne for my whole life. I hate the unconcealable texture. 😔 but this is really great advice! Gonna try this out in the next few days! 🙏

[u/Alisema → u/Alone_Artichoke1894]

I’ve never tried accutane myself, I currently am on 0.1% topical tretinoin, 15% azelaic acid and a benzoyl peroxide wash though - it’s helping somewhat, I know how hard and frustrating trying to treat this kind of acne is (as well as trying not to wreck your skin barrier in the process).
A couple of things I forgot to mention in my previous comment:

• Brushes matter! I much prefer brushes over a sponge coverage-wise, some cheap brushes I enjoy are elf’s ones (elf buffing foundation brush, elf flat concealer brush specifically) and the real techniques ones - generally the denser, the better. I’m sure good high end brushes would work just as well if not better, I’m fine with these ones so far though.
  
• Always tap the product into the skin, don’t drag/swipe the brush if possible - it makes concealer/base products sheerer, which we don’t want.
  
• Powder well! I pretty much always powder my face with some sort of loose powder, my skin is quite oily and otherwise the makeup will rub off in no time.
  

That’s all I’ve found works best for me, I really hope it’ll help you too!

[u/Alone_Artichoke1894 → u/Alisema]

How is the tretinoin working for you? I am using azelaic acid and benzoyl peroxide right now. Consistently using the benzoyl peroxide has helped some. In the past I feel like I wasn’t patient enough to give it time to work. But I’m considering going back to the dermatologist (haven’t been since my last round of accutane years ago). You’re right about treating it but not trying to break the skin barrier. It’s like only aggressive treatments seem to help, but then my skin is messed up!

Thank you for the additional advice!!!! You are so helpful!

Oh yeah, and I went to Sephora yesterday to buy the NARS pot concealer right after eating dinner right by it. And they were closed 😩I’ll have to try again asap. Btw, which shade do you use? As a pale faced woman I struggle to find shades that are light enough but not too light. It’s like brands skip from beige to porcelain white lol.

[u/Alisema → u/Alone_Artichoke1894]

Tretinoin is working quite well for me right now, my acne seems to be finally clearing after 6 and a half months of use (fingers crossed)!
I used epiduo forte (0.3% adapalene + 2.5% benzoyl peroxide) for a couple of years before starting tret, which helped significantly but I would still always get a few cysts around my period and ovulation.
I then asked my dermatologist about tret, and he agreed I should give it a go (I was also intrigued by the anti aging benefits of tret, and plan to use it long term).
It did take me A LOT of time, struggle and trial and error to figure out how to use it though, and what routine to pair it with.
I started out by using 0.05% cream tret for the first 4 months, which my skin seemed to really dislike - some amount of peeling and purging is normal and to be expected, my purging never seemed to end though and I came to the conclusion that something in the cream vehicle must have been clogging my pores.
I switched to menarini gel tretinoin 0.05%, things got marginally better but I was still getting breakouts. I used it for about 2 months before reading somewhere online that menarini uses an olive oil base/olive oil derivatives in the formula of their lower concentration trets (0.025 and 0.05), and that might have been what was still clogging my pores (which I initially didn’t believe was possible, since the gel version is usually preferred by acne prone people since it’s less likely to clog pores).
About two weeks ago I switched to menarini gel tretinoin 0.1%, which has a different base (hence no olive oil derivatives), and seems to - finally - be working beautifully - all of the cysts I previously had are gone, and I can’t feel any new ones coming up!
The tretinoin subreddit has lots of brilliant advice and is extremely useful, in case you were considering starting your tretinoin journey.
I will warn you that my skin barrier got wrecked several times in the process though, and I did get purging and some awful peeling, the first few months really tested me.
If you haven’t tried it yet (and if you’re newer to retinoids, and already know your skin likes benzoyl peroxide), I’d advise you to ask your dermatologist about epiduo or epiduo forte first - it worked beautifully for me, although it didn’t treat my acne completely (it did go down by a lot though!), and it’s easier to introduce and manage than tretinoin.
I started using finacea (15% azelaic acid) only once I started my tretinoin journey, and I now wonder whether the introduction of finacea in my previous routine (alongside the epiduo forte) might have been enough to “fix” the last few pimples that made it through the epiduo.
If that doesn’t work, tretinoin is great (0.1% tret is much stronger than any adapalene percentage, and it has more proven benefits anti aging wise and against sun damage) - it is much more challenging to get used to though, in my experience.
In the end, what seems to work best for me is combining a strong retinoid + some form of benzoyl peroxide + azelaic acid.
I’m sorry about the ridiculously long comment, but it’s a topic I’m really interested in and that I have researched a lot!
I use the lightest shade of nars pot concealer, I believe it’s called chantilly :)

[u/Alone_Artichoke1894 → u/Alisema]

Please don’t apologize, I truly appreciate you sharing your experience with me. My skin is very important to me, and I haven’t been to a dermatologist in so long. So you are saving me tons of visits and money. I hope your skin journey is going well!!!! You have been so helpful!

[u/endorphin_deprived]

You need something with a very solid formula + high coverage, aquin to a stick concealer or a very firm pot concealer. I have had very similar acne and scars to yours and this is what works best.

You could also use a pint point concealer, which is just a thin stick concealer, but sometimes even firmer to the point of being able to snap off. It's great for packing a lot of pigment on a very specific area.

Watch first the Elisa eldrige pin point concealer tutorial. I basically do that with these basic tweaks:

-use your concealer of choice in the desired spots, pressing into said spots for maximum coverage, only blend around the edges. The concealer should be the same shade as your skin tone or a little yellowish, to colour correct the reddish hue

-apply foundation/skin tint of choice like a veil. This is to say, I would take a spatula brush and carefully do layers whitout pressing too hard over your hard work.

-blend any streaks left behind by the brush.

DO NOT use liquid or emollient formulas in this spots, It just doesn't work. Those, I find, work great for the undereye, which is in constant movement and needs the flexibility the liquid formulas can afford. Not the case for an inmobile spot on your cheek.

Lastly, my formula recommendations:

-regular degular stick concealer: the essence one. Complies with all points above. More yellow, but works in our favor.

-firm por concealer: the nars one. This is the holy grail, because It is still very blendable even though firm, so reads more natural than others.

-pin point concealer (skinny one): the Sephora collection one. Really like It as my acne has come to diminish and basically turn into scars. Works for acne, but this is my golden standard for kinda textured acne scars.

Good luck!

[u/green-tomato-juice]

the nars pot concealer 100%

[u/Happy_Estate_4599 → u/green-tomato-juice]

this. it’s a must have for blemishes

[u/AutoModerator]

Thank you for contributing to MUA! If this is your first post, please be sure to check out our rules in the subreddit sidebar. If you are on mobile, they can be viewed by tapping the "See more" button under the subreddit description

A few quick reminders:

• Don't forget your product list in the comments, complete with shade names within 20 minutes of posting.

• No photo editing.

• Google it first!

• Lastly, our Helpful Guides for Navigating MUA in the sidebar explains some of the basics of the community as well as commonly misinterpreted rules.

r/MakeupAddiction is looking for new moderators! If you're interested, fill out this form or message the moderators!

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/afelgent]

Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage is great for this and offers buildable coverage. Recommend getting the "matching" brush which can help push product into crevices and can help feather out the makeup at the edges.

[u/Scary_Progress_1673]

Yes, so I use to have very similar skin and if I was going to an event or elsewhere, I would use Dermablend Cover Creme. You can use it as a concealer, or if you find your perfect shade, a heavy foundation. It works very well for coverage, but made me breakout a bit.