The Makeup Artist Trick That Covers Up Age Spots So Naturally 

With age comes some pretty gratifying things: wisdom, confidence, self-awareness, maturity. Ask most individuals, and they'll tell you with each passing year, they feel they've come into their own more—able to master more tasks, accumulate skills, and feel better about where they are in life.

And for beauty fans? Well, ideally, better at doing makeup that feels like them, naturally. And while nailing down your signature makeup style is no small victory, there are concerns that do come up as well.

In fact, there are several common makeup woes I continually get asked about—specifically surrounding mature skin. Then there are age spots. Ah, yes, dark spots, sun spots, age spots: Whatever moniker you title them, they can be frustrating to cover up, especially in a way that doesn't feel like you're wearing a full face of makeup.

Even as someone who is too young to muster complaints of "aging skin," I have a constellation of discoloration from post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation. And on days when I don't want to slide on a soft wash of tinted moisturizer or CC cream, they still cause me pangs of self-consciousness. This is all to say: I get the struggle of wanting to cover up dark spots in a way that's effective and natural-looking.

So when Patinkin offered me this tip, I was floored, to say the least.

"It's all about the brush you use and how you blend," she says. "Choose a concealer that's either a close match to your foundation color or your skin tone, and then, using a fine-tipped brush like my Pin Point Liner, tap the product on top, being careful not to cover outside of the discoloration. Give the product a couple of seconds to oxidize and thicken up a bit, and then wipe the makeup brush clean on a dry washcloth and gently feather around the edges only."