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Beauty Expert Shares How To Get An 'Instant Facelift' Using A Brightening Concealer: 'So Simple, So Easy'

May 28, 2025 by Lisa Cupido
shefinds | Beauty
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There’s more than one way to apply concealer for a beautiful, lifted effect, but if a pro has never shared their secrets with you, it would be nearly impossible to know it.

If you’re still purchasing concealers that are a perfect match for your skin tone so that you can use them to cancel out darkness under the eyes, keep it up — that’s the makeup tip that will never die. But consider expanding your use of concealer to include areas of the face you may have never thought about concealing.

Makeup Artist Jackie King shows us how to use a brightening concealer — aka highlighter — to get “an instant facelift.” According to King, this technique is “so simple, so easy,” and after seeing her work her magic, we believe her.

https://www.tiktok.com/@jackie_king23/video/7471264912317238574

Here’s how she achieves a glowing lift using just one product and a makeup brush that blends well.

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1. First, Purchase a Brightening Concealer

 


A brightening concealer is different from the everyday concealer that you use to cancel out pigmentation on your skin or under your eyes. It shouldn’t be the same shade as your skin, but lighter and brighter. Think of it as a highlighter, but in a stick format that’s simple to apply. There are a number of brightening concealers from which to choose, so find one that suits your skin tone (warm or cool).

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Apply Brightening Concealer in a Strategic Way

 


King doesn’t just dab some brightening concealer on random spots of her face and hope for the best — her method is strategic. To create a lifted look, she applies a line of concealer from the outer corner of her eye up and upward, then from the outer bottom of her nose (and upward), and finally from the top lip corner and, you guessed it, outward.

 


The final step is important: take a makeup brush and blend the highlighter with upward strokes, but not so much that it vanishes from your skin, which would defeat the purpose of application. As we see on King, the effect is natural, luminous, and lifted — and it didn’t take a lot of makeup to achieve.

Author:

Lisa Fogarty is a lifestyle writer and reporter based in New York who covers health, wellness, relationships, sex, beauty, and parenting.

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