Best: Overall

The original secret camouflage concealer palette has long been a favourite of ours, so we couldn’t wait to get our hands on this new, next-generation double-ended stick. One side houses creamy, illuminating coverage with light-reflecting pearl pigments that creates the illusion of a much brighter eye area and leaves skin silky soft thanks to hydrating squalene. Flip the stick over and there’s a matte, full coverage, and highly pigmented formulation perfect for covering up out-of-the-blue breakouts and other imperfections. It’s two winning concealers in one.

Best: For cover-up

This cult classic might be the priciest of the bunch, but it’s also the pot that’s going to outlast them all too. You need the tiniest amount of this intense-coverage product – once you master how to use it, it will leave you with a flawless complexion, no matter how many imperfections you woke up with. We found it best to apply with a concealer brush on the back of the hand first, so you don’t make the mistake of over-applying (easily done), and it also helps you to warm up the thick, heavily pigmented coverage to make it easily workable. For days you want more sheer coverage, we found it mixed well with our primer too. Expect it to stay put all day, even after a sweaty workout.

Best: For a natural finish

Reach for this flexible concealer if you’re looking for a light, buildable formula that you can layer without creasing. It’s Glossier, so it looks to enhance your natural skin rather than cover it up, but it creates enough depth for problematic areas. The silky-soft formula leaves a luminous finish that we found especially good at brightening the undereye. It’s also our favourite to be used on its own for foundation-free days.

Best: For eye cream and concealer in one

This skincare-infused concealer is like a hydrating eye cream with natural-looking coverage. As the name suggests, it’s packed with moisture-boosting hyaluronic acid, which plumps and smooths fine lines under the delicate eye area. The silky, weightless formula glides on for light coverage that’s buildable and leaves the under-eye brighter, but it works well on other imperfections too. We found the built-in blending brush handy for the handbag and touching up on the go. It’s a skincare/make-up hybrid that works.

Best: All-rounder

A make-up-artist favourite, this medium- to full-coverage product has a natural matte finish but still feels super lightweight on the skin. Its fluid texture makes it easy to work – so much so we like to keep it simple and blend it in effortlessly with our fingertips. Whether you need it to erase fatigue or mask an unexpected spot, it does so while staying in place all day. Not much will shift it, as we found it didn’t budge when tested on a hot day during a sweaty workout. We’d forgotten how brilliant this classic truly is.

Best: For dark circles

If it’s dark circles you want to conceal, turn to one of the new colour-correcting formulas in this range. Top make-up artists use contrasting colours to neutralise imperfections in the skin – think back to art lessons on the colour wheel. These work in the same way, erasing discolouration with a hydrating, light texture. Use sparingly for the best results, on its own for a natural look, or as a base with a formula that matches your skintone layered over for serious dark circles. If you’re looking for a replacement for the Becca under eye brightening corrector, this is it.

Read our full review of the Fenty Beauty bright fix eye brightener

Best: For a matte finish

New to the beauty shelves, this high-coverage concealer with a matte finish has some serious staying power. Expect it to naturally cover up capillaries around the nose, pigmentation, redness, breakouts and darkness around the eye area, and for it not to budge all day. We found the thick texture works best with a concealer brush and warmed up on the back of the hand. Although the brand claims it’s hydrating, this isn’t for those with skin on the dry side.

Best: For full coverage

Just as the name suggests, this is much more than a generous concealer and can be used for contouring and highlighting too. It’s full coverage that still manages to look natural and dewy even on a dry skin type, thanks to the hydrating hyaluronic acid formulation. It erases signs of a late night, as well as other forms of discolouration including pigmentation and redness, and will be your best friend when unexpected breakouts occur. It feels surprisingly weightless for such heavy coverage and didn’t even melt off on a hot summer day. Impressive.

Best: For eye brightening

A true beauty icon – this gold click-pen needs no introduction. Yes, technically it’s not a concealer, it’s a highlighter, but what’s in a name when it masks a late night so well. And it seems we’re in good company, as since it broke beauty ground when it launched in the early 1990s, A-listers have consistently raved about it. Its popularity has seen many poorer copycat imitations, but nothing reflects light as naturally as this sheer to medium “filter” for dark circles. Rediscovering this classic, we found it worked best over our base and we liked to apply it to the inner corners for an extra, wide-awake touch.

Best: Value

This high street beauty hero is the number-one-selling concealer in 21 countries including the UK, and we can see why so many people still love it, with its consistent rave reviews from consumers, make-up artists and beauty editors alike. We put it back on trial to see if it still packs the same punch against the latest formulations, and it’s easily our favourite purse-friendly option. The cushion-tip applicator, combined with the light, easy-to-blend texture, doesn’t sit in fine lines and blurs dark shadows well. Expect it to conceal redness and blemishes too.