The Festive Concealer Blunder That Could Make You Look Like a 'Squid'—Here's What You Need to Know!

WITH the festive season in full swing, our social calendars are packed, our sleep schedules are non-existent, and our reliance on concealer is at an all-time high.

But if you’ve been piling on the product to hide the evidence of last night’s party, you might be doing more harm than good.

Katie has revealed the common concealer mistake that she often notices on makeup usersCredit: tiktok/@katiejanehughes

According to makeup artist Katie Jane Hughes , the very technique that most people will think is brightening their eyes is actually making them look like a “squid.”

The pro, who boasts 1.2 million followers on TikTok, recently saw her advice go viral with 1.8 million views after she called out the starkness of modern concealer trends.

If you’ve noticed your under-eyes looking flat, or not quite right in the photos, there is a simple trick to fix this.

For years, the “triangles of light” and heavy, full-coverage swipes have dominated our feeds.

But Katie warns that taking your concealer too close to the lower lash line is the ultimate beauty faux pas.

“Applying your concealer this close to your lash line is gonna crease, it’s gonna make your eyes look a bit like a squid,” she explains in the video.

By erasing the natural shadows and colours immediately under your eye, you lose the dimension that makes your eyes look like eyes.

The result? A “starkness” that flattens the face and, most devastatingly for the party season, makes fine lines and wrinkles 20 times more apparent.

So, if we aren’t swiping it right up to our lashes, where is it supposed to go? Katie suggests a much more targeted approach:

Instead of a blanket coating, focus the product only on the “trough area” – the deepest part of the hollow under your eye.

Katie’s biggest hack is to work the product into the bristles of a dense brush on the back of your hand first.

She then urges people to not leave any product sitting on the surface of the bristles as this turns your brush into a “retouching tool” rather than a shovel.

By leaving a tiny bit of your natural skin tone near the lashes, you maintain the definition of your eye shape.

If you’ve already gone too far and realised your under-eyes look like a flat white mask, don’t panic.

Katie suggests “warming it back up” with a bit of bronzer.

Using a touch of warmth in the area you’ve over-brightened can mimic natural shadows and save you from the dreaded squid-look just before you head out the door.

“Starkness is the word we don’t want in makeup,” Katie concludes.

“We want blended and soft and natural.”

The video, which was shared on 24 November, has gained 829 comments.

One wrote: “All my undereye is purple, I need as much coverage as possible.”

To which Katie suggested: “You need to try and find a concealer that has a peachy under gel and if the coverage is right for the area, you shouldn’t need to colour correct.”

Katie showed how there was a clear difference between the different techniquesCredit: tiktok/@katiejanehughes

Another complimented Katie, and wrote: “You taught me how to prime a brush and it changed the game for me!”

A third added: “This makes SOOOO much sense, I feel so weird with concealer up until the lash line, and I do have dark circles.”