The thing about concealers is they can either give you the flawless, blemish-less glow of a newborn cherub, or make you look like the Crypt Keeper after a weekend bender in the desert. Because unlike the junior-high version of you, who could slather on the heaviest, driest makeup without looking like a corpse, newly aging (sorry—maturing) you has a bunch of fine lines that need special treatment, namely in the form of hella hydration.
MORE: The 7 Best Retinols for Super Dry, Sensitive Skin
Sad fact: As soon as we enter our 20s, our cell turnover rate starts slowing down, resulting in drier, more-wrinkled skin. Fun, right? And sure, you can—and should—add a retinol to your nightly skin-care routine to help halt the decline (we love the Avene Retrinal .1 Intensive Cream for sensitive skin and Neutrogena Rapid Wrinkle Repair Regenerating Cream for all other skin types), prevention only goes so far. At some point, you’ve gotta accept your creases for what they are, and choose concealers that work with your skin, not against.
And that’s where hydrating, serum-based concealers come in. Formulas that contain fine-line plumpers, like hyaluronic acid, and intense hydrators, like glycerin, make lines look and feel a little less prominent, while also preventing the concealer from settling into creases. Basically, you can only benefit from using a hydrating concealer. So to get you started on your glow-y skin journey, we rounded up the ten best concealers for anyone over the age of omg-is-that-a-wrinkle?!
