Best Makeup For Acne Scars According To Our Pro Team

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‘How to get rid of spots’ is one of the most popular skincare search terms on Google and plenty of brands offer blemish busting formulas – we love Kate Somerville’s EradiKate Blemish Spot Treatment. While a lot of focus is put on rebalancing your skin and preventing further breakouts, what about the scars that are left behind?

While most people might not even notice them, acne scars, and any other kind of scarring for that matter, can affect some people’s self confidence. We asked a couple of expert makeup artists what tricks they employ to camouflage scarring…

Concealer vs. Foundation

“For acne scarring what I would recommend using a medium to light coverage foundation to even out your skin tone and then work with a full coverage matte concealer to camouflage the affected areas,” says makeup artist Valeria Ferreira. In terms of light coverage foundations, try By Terry’s new Hyaluronic Hydra Foundation SPF 30, which offers a deceivingly impressive amount of coverage considering the lightweight texture. 

“I would also advise to have a few different concealer shades as your acne scars have different tones and what you are looking for is to neutralise those tones,” adds Valeria. Look to Surratt’s Perfectionniste Concealer Palette and Laura Mercier’s iconic Secret Camouflage Concealer, both of which contain a heavy duty corrector and concealer. A palette with a larger scope of shades can be helpful if your scarring has more of a red-brown tone. 

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Sponges vs. Brushes

From squidgy sponge squares to precision brushes, there are plenty of ways to apply your makeup and most of us have our own technique perfected, but when it comes to seamlessly disguising scarrings is there an optimum way? 

“A brush will give you a lot more control over the coverage which is so important for a seamless finish,” states the makeup artist maestro Terry de Gunzburg. “My Tool Expert Dual Ended Brush is a fabulous multipurpose brush, the smaller end is used for liquid and primers and the larger end for powder and bronzer.”

Valeria is also pro-brush and relies on, “a pointy eyeliner or lip brush to do what I call micro-concealing”. (For those not au fait with this technique, Valeria uses the brush to gently blend small dots of formula that she has applied to the area to achieve a smoother finish.)

“I finish by using clean fingers to press product into the skin,” adds Valeria. This helps to warm up the product and achieve that second skin, well-blended finish. 

Minimal vs. Maximal

Both Terry and Valeria also agree that sometimes distraction is the best method of disguise. Rather than opting for a minimalist nude or natural shade of lipstick, why not go for a punchier pop of colour.

“A red lip always helps to distract from skin,” says Terry. And, from Chantecaille’s Lip Chic in Amaryllis to Charlotte Tilbury’s Hot Lips in Carina’s Love, not forgetting By Terry’s Lip Expert in My Red, there are plenty of bright hues to choose from.