Berlin, 1873. An opera baritone who performed as Raphael Carlo gave up singing to become a chemist, and Ludwig Leichner opened a factory at Schutzenstrasse 31. He sold greasepaint in round sticks, so actors could build up colour and cover their skin under gas light and, later, electric light. By 1903 the range ran to nearly 80 shades. Nobody called it concealer yet, but the idea was there: a stick of colour that hides what a bright light would show.

 

Charlotte Tilbury comes from that same backstage tradition. She is a British makeup artist who moved from Ibiza at nine, trained at the Glauca Rossi School of Makeup and worked on campaigns for Tom Ford and Burberry before launching her brand in 2013. Puig bought a majority stake in 2020, and she stayed on as Chairman, President and Chief Creative Officer. The release describes a brand built on more than 27 years of editorial, runway, couture and red-carpet work, and that shows in how she thinks about light. A Charlotte Tilbury concealer is designed the way a stage face is: for how skin reads from a distance and up close.

 

The trick is to decide what you are hiding before you pick a tube. Beautiful Skin Medium to Full Coverage Radiant Concealer comes in 17 colours and is my pick for under the eyes, where you want brightness over a flat finish. Airbrush Flawless Long-Wear Blur Concealer has 34 colours and is better for spots, redness and the edges of the nose.

 

The two Magic Vanish correctors, the Color Corrector and the Under-Eye Corrector, sit under either one and cancel darkness before you cover it. Hollywood Flawless Filter is the brand's glow booster with sheer coverage, inspired by social media filters, and Charlotte's Beautiful Skin Foundation is the skin-first base. The Hollywood Beauty Light Wand and Contour Wand are for the last touch of light and shadow, and the Airbrush Matte Bronzer, the Matte Beauty Blush Wand and the Beauty Highlighter Wand sit with them for the rest of the face.

Look at your concealer in the bathroom mirror, then again in a car window. If the under-eye area looks bright and solid in one and chalky in the other, the problem is usually what sits beneath it, not the concealer itself.

 

That is why the base matters. Magic Cream is the hero moisturizer of the brand, and the Invisible UV Flawless Primer SPF 50 goes over it so the day is protected before any makeup goes on. Letting both settle for a few minutes stops concealer from grabbing on dry patches. Charlotte's Magic Eye Cream with Retinol is the prep step I would add if concealer keeps creasing.

 

Airbrush Flawless Foundation is the smooth, even-skin base, and Airbrush Flawless Finish is the powder that sets it. I find that a foundation in the same family as the concealer blends more quietly than mixing houses, though it is not a rule. Two setting sprays cover both moods: Airbrush Flawless Hydrating & Waterproof Setting Spray for dry or dewy skin, and Airbrush Flawless Matte Setting Spray for people who shine by noon.

 

Two brushes finish the routine, the Powder & Sculpt Brush and the Beautiful Skin Bronzer Brush. Neither one is essential for concealer, but the Powder & Sculpt shape is handy for pressing powder into the small area under the eye.

 

A pairing I like: Magic Cream, then the SPF 50 primer, then a thin layer of Beautiful Skin Radiant Concealer. It feels like getting dressed in layers.

 

What I would skip: the matte setting spray over a full under-eye concealer on a dry day. It will draw every line you were covering.

Test a concealer on the crease of your eye, not the back of your hand. The hand barely moves, while the eye area folds a hundred times a day, and that is where a formula proves itself.

 

Dior's Forever Skin Correct Concealer is the one I would look at first if you want a correcting formula from a fashion house. Yves Saint Laurent's Touche Éclat All-Over Brightening Concealer Pen is the brightening pen, made for a fast lift on a tired morning. Armani Beauty's Luminous Silk Hydrating Face and Under-Eye Concealer is named for the finish it promises.

 

Laura Mercier's Real Flawless Weightless Perfecting Serum Concealer is for lighter coverage with a fluid feel. Westman Atelier's Vital Skincare Concealer and Kosas's Revealer Super Creamy + Brightening Concealer are the skincare-minded pair, and both promise a creamy feel right in the name. NARS's Radiant Creamy Concealer is a third creamy option, and Victoria Beckham Beauty's The Concealer Pen is the sleekest of the group.

 

Put any of these next to the Charlotte Tilbury tubes from the first grid and compare the applicators too. A doe-foot wand, a pen and a cushion each lay down a different amount of product.

 

What I would skip: switching concealer mid-week because of a single bad morning. Weather, sleep and skin prep change the result, so give a formula three or four wears before you decide.

Correction goes in two layers, the corrector first and the concealer on top. Tap the corrector only where the shadow is, and keep it thin. Too much colour just turns into a different kind of shadow.

 

Bobbi Brown's Skin Long-Wearing Color Corrector Stick is the simple, easy-to-carry version. Givenchy's Prisme Libre Skin-Caring Color Corrector is a liquid you can build slowly. Huda Beauty's #FauxFilter Brightening Under Eye Color Corrector and ONE/SIZE by Patrick Starrr's Ultimate Color Corrector Stain are the brighter, more playful pair: a corrector and a stain.

 

Then the powders. Laura Mercier's Secret Brightening Under Eye Setting Powder is aimed at the eye area by name. Hourglass's Veil Translucent Setting Powder, NARS's Light Reflecting Loose Setting Powder and Charlotte Tilbury's Airbrush Flawless Blur Loose Setting Powder are for the rest of the face, and I like using a tiny amount of either under the eyes with a small, soft brush.

 

A light hand with powder is the whole game. Press it in, wait a minute, and look up in the mirror to check for creasing before you leave the house.

 

What I would skip: a thick layer of loose powder over a corrector on dry skin. It drags the colour into lines.

Honestly, the one to try first is the Beautiful Skin Radiant Concealer under the eyes, with a Magic Vanish corrector only if you need it. I would use the Airbrush Flawless Blur Concealer for spots and redness, and leave the rest of the range, the wands and the brushes, until you know what you actually reach for.

 

That is how a backstage artist works: one careful layer, checked in the light you will actually be standing in. Leichner's actors had greasepaint and gas lamps. You have a mirror by the window and a few minutes.

 

For something lighter under the eyes, my guide to water based concealer looks at how each one wears.

If your skin is dry before it is uneven, I also looked at Charlotte Tilbury Magic Water Cream and the glow creams beside it.