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Concealer

Lines under the eye, and what to put on them

The counterintuitive answer: a lined under-eye looks better with less on it than with more.

Side profile of a senior woman wearing glasses and a hat

Short answer

On a lined under-eye, less product reads better than more — the lines show because of the product sitting in them, not because the shadow is visible. Use a sheer-to-light flexible formula on the inner corner only, hydrate first, and set with almost nothing.

By Brijon M. · Last updated October 2, 2026

Our picks at a glance

Our picks at a glance, ranked. Select a row to read that product's full write-up.
#ProductBest forPrice
1
Cosmetic products arranged in a simple display in neutral tones

jane iredale Active Light Under-Eye Concealer

Top of this page specifically because it is the least product.

Best overall for lined under-eyes
2
Cosmetic products arranged in a simple display in neutral tones

Trinny London Eye BFF Serum Concealer

The best option if you want actual coverage without the penalty.

Best with light coverage
3
Cosmetic products arranged in a simple display in neutral tones

Clinique Even Better All-Over Concealer + Eraser

Light-to-medium, hydrating, fragrance-free, and the cushion applicator deposits less than a doe-foot — which on a lined under-eye is the feature that matters most.

Best everyday option
4
Cosmetic products arranged in a simple display in neutral tones

NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer

When the shadow genuinely needs covering and lines are the secondary concern, this is the most forgiving medium-coverage option.

Best when you need more coverage
5
A plain white cosmetic jar photographed on a neutral studio background

Bobbi Brown Creamy Corrector

The indirect route, and often the most effective one.

Best way to use less concealer
6
A plain white cosmetic jar photographed on a neutral studio background

Hourglass Veil Translucent Setting Powder

If you set at all, milling is the only thing that matters, and this is about as fine as the category gets.

Best powder, used sparingly

Prices live on Amazon and change constantly, so this site does not print a number it cannot verify. Every button goes to the current listing.

Why this is hard over 50

There is a trade-off under the eye that nobody states plainly, so here it is. You can cover the shadow, or you can keep the lines from showing, and past a certain amount of product you cannot do both. Every additional layer of coverage is additional material available to sit in a line and make it more visible.

Which means the question is not 'which concealer hides wrinkles' — none do — but which trade-off do you prefer. For most people with a genuinely lined under-eye, a slightly visible shadow with smooth skin reads better than a fully covered shadow with pigment sitting in four lines. That is a judgment about what looks better, and it is worth making deliberately rather than defaulting to maximum coverage.

Three things help on the keep-the-lines-down side of the trade. Hydration, because a well-hydrated line is shallower and the skin either side is plumper. Flexibility, because a formula that moves with the skin does not break along a fold. And restraint with powder, because powder in a line turns a soft crease into a defined pale channel.

One thing does not help, despite being the standard recommendation: a blurring primer under the eye. A film plus a concealer plus powder is three layers on the thinnest, most mobile skin on your face, and that stack creases more than concealer alone. The fine lines primer page says the same thing from the other direction.

And one thing helps more than any product: where the light is coming from. Under-eye lines read hardest under overhead light. If you are judging your own face in a bathroom with a ceiling light, you are seeing the worst version of it, and adjusting your makeup to that version leads to using more product than daylight requires.

The picks in full

Cosmetic products arranged in a simple display in neutral tones
Best overall for lined under-eyes

jane iredale Active Light Under-Eye Concealer

concealer · Mid price band

A sheer, brightening under-eye concealer in a click pen.

Top of this page specifically because it is the least product. It is a sheer brightening formula rather than a covering one, so it lifts the inner corner where shadow is deepest while putting almost nothing on the skin to sit in a line. On a genuinely lined under-eye this consistently reads better than a well-matched medium-coverage concealer does.

How it handles

Click-pen with a brush tip.

What to know

It does not cover. If you have pronounced dark circles, this will brighten them rather than hide them, and you may want more.

Cosmetic products arranged in a simple display in neutral tones
Best with light coverage

Trinny London Eye BFF Serum Concealer

concealer · Premium price band

A serum-textured concealer with light-to-medium coverage, formulated with vitamin C and hyaluronic acid.

The best option if you want actual coverage without the penalty. Serum-textured and formulated with hyaluronic acid, so it never fully sets and stays slightly hydrating — which means when the skin folds, the product folds too instead of breaking along the line. The texture also lets you place a very small amount precisely.

How it handles

Wide stackable pot with a doe-foot wand — easier to grip than a slim pen.

What to know

Light-to-medium at premium price, and because it never fully sets it can transfer onto the lower lid if over-applied.

Cosmetic products arranged in a simple display in neutral tones
Best everyday option

Clinique Even Better All-Over Concealer + Eraser

concealer · Mid price band

A light-to-medium concealer with a hydrating, natural finish.

Light-to-medium, hydrating, fragrance-free, and the cushion applicator deposits less than a doe-foot — which on a lined under-eye is the feature that matters most. It is also the easiest of these to buy and re-buy, and a fresh concealer creases less than an old one.

How it handles

Click-pen with a cushion applicator.

What to know

Not enough coverage for pronounced circles. The click pen needs a firm thumb press.

Cosmetic products arranged in a simple display in neutral tones
Best when you need more coverage

NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer

concealer · Premium price band

A creamy medium-coverage concealer with a radiant finish and a broad shade range.

When the shadow genuinely needs covering and lines are the secondary concern, this is the most forgiving medium-coverage option. It stays creamy rather than setting hard, and the radiant finish returns a little light rather than drying to a flat patch — a flat matte patch is what makes lines read sharpest.

How it handles

Click-pen with a built-in doe-foot. The click mechanism needs a firm thumb press.

What to know

Medium coverage is more material than a lined under-eye wants. Apply thin, set with almost nothing, and expect to press it back once in a long day.

A plain white cosmetic jar photographed on a neutral studio background
Best way to use less concealer

Bobbi Brown Creamy Corrector

color corrector · Premium price band

A peach- and pink-toned corrector pot for neutralizing blue-gray under-eye shadow before concealer goes on.

The indirect route, and often the most effective one. A peach-toned corrector neutralizes the blue-gray cast of under-eye shadow, which means the concealer over the top only has to even out tone rather than cancel color — so you need noticeably less of it. Less concealer is the whole goal on this page.

How it handles

Screw-top pot — it needs a finger or a brush, and two hands to open.

What to know

The screw-top pot needs two hands and a fingertip or brush. It is an extra step, which is a real cost if simplicity matters to you.

A plain white cosmetic jar photographed on a neutral studio background
Best powder, used sparingly

Hourglass Veil Translucent Setting Powder

setting powder · Premium price band

A very finely milled translucent powder with a low-weight, soft-focus finish.

If you set at all, milling is the only thing that matters, and this is about as fine as the category gets. A trace amount controls movement without sitting visibly in a line. The difference between this and a coarse powder on a lined under-eye is immediately obvious.

How it handles

Jar with a sifter.

What to know

Loose powder in a sifter jar — spill-prone. And on a lined under-eye, the right amount of any powder is very nearly none.

Hydrating the under-eye so lines read softer

This does more for how an under-eye looks than the concealer does, and most of it is timing rather than product.

Use something emollient, not just a humectant. A hyaluronic acid serum alone can leave thin skin feeling tighter in dry air, because it pulls water up with nothing holding it in. An eye cream or light moisturizer with an oil or fatty component is the better choice under makeup.

Apply it below the lash line, not on the lid. On the lid it stops eyeshadow adhering, and it has nothing useful to do up there.

Wait. Two minutes minimum, twenty is better. Concealer over wet eye cream will not stay where you put it.

Pat it in with a fingertip, moving inward toward the nose rather than outward. There is no technical reason this matters hugely, but outward dragging on skin this thin is worth avoiding as a habit.

Overnight matters more than morning. The most useful hydration for an under-eye happens while you sleep. A richer product at night and a lighter one under makeup is the sequence that works.

The honest trade-off, stated plainly

This site tries not to imply that products do things they cannot, so here is the position in full.

No concealer reduces a wrinkle. A concealer covers a color difference. Those are separate problems that happen in the same place, and the product that solves one tends to worsen the other, because coverage requires material and material collects in folds.

What you can reasonably achieve on a lined under-eye is: the shadow looking lighter rather than gone, the skin looking hydrated rather than dry, and no visible lines of pigment by mid-afternoon. That is a good outcome and it is achievable with a small amount of a flexible product.

What you cannot achieve is a smooth under-eye. Any product sold on that promise is either describing a photograph taken in diffused light, or relying on you not comparing the before and after in daylight.

There is one more option that belongs in an honest page: wearing nothing there. A number of people with pronounced under-eye lines look better with a well-hydrated bare under-eye and their makeup effort spent on brows and lashes instead. That is not giving up; it is spending the attention where it returns more.

What we'd skip

Blurring primer under the eye. A film plus concealer plus powder is three layers on the most mobile skin on your face, and the stack creases more than concealer alone.

Full-coverage concealer on a lined under-eye. Maximum material in the place least able to carry it.

Baking. A photography technique for young skin that leaves a dry, heavy patch on mature skin.

Judging your under-eye under a bathroom ceiling light. Overhead light is the harshest possible angle for this area, and makeup corrected to that view is heavier than daylight needs.

Questions people ask

What concealer is best for under-eye wrinkles?

The least you can get away with. jane iredale Active Light is sheer and brightening rather than covering, which on a lined under-eye usually reads better than a medium-coverage concealer. Trinny London Eye BFF if you want some actual coverage.

Does concealer make under-eye wrinkles look worse?

Too much of it does, yes — the lines show because product is sitting in them. A small amount of a flexible, hydrating formula on the inner corner only is the version that does not.

Should I use eye cream before concealer?

Yes, and the timing is the whole trick: at least two minutes beforehand, ideally twenty, applied below the lash line. Hydrated skin creases less sharply, but concealer over wet eye cream will not stay put.

Is it better to wear no concealer if I have under-eye lines?

For some people, genuinely yes. A well-hydrated bare under-eye with the makeup effort spent on brows and lashes can read better than a covered under-eye with pigment in four lines. It is worth trying for a week before assuming otherwise.

What finish is best for a lined under-eye?

Radiant or satin — never flat matte. A matte patch on thin skin reads dry, and dryness makes lines read sharper. A finish that returns a little light softens the whole area.

Where this comes from

How this page was put together. Picks are chosen by reading formulas, ingredient lists, packaging and dispensing design, and the reported experience of people with mature skin. Primer & Poise does not operate a laboratory, does not run a tester panel, and does not claim professional cosmetology, esthetics or medical credentials. Where a figure or a claim could not be verified, this page says so instead of filling the gap. Read the full selection method.

Sources