by Colleen
Summer…long days lounging at the beach, barbecues, short summer dresses, bikinis, shorts, does all this make you a bit wary about showing some skin? Are you like me with spider veins slowly creeping their way down your legs year after year? Here are my tips to get your legs looking flawless for those moments when you need them to look extra special.
HOW TO COVER UP SPIDER VEINS
To cover up spider veins on the legs, the first thing to do to camouflage them is to give them a tan! Of course, I’m not suggesting you run out and burn yourself at the beach! I mean some self-tanner. My preferred way to do this is with a gradual self-tanner like Jergens Natural Glow plus firming daily moisturizer because you can never go wrong when you gradually build up the color. No time? Then tan yourself overnight with the self-tanning mousse from St Tropez or if you are really pressed for time try the St Tropez Express self-tanning mousse for some color in one hour. This will also help to camouflage larger veins and stretch marks as the tanner has some yellow to it and hides the blueness in the veins.
BEFORE
Next step is to make sure to moisturize. I like this spray moisturizer from Vaseline. It absorbs quickly leaving the skin moisturized but not sticky or greasy (which would make the makeup slide off) and smells fresh. Moisturizing is like the primer you use under your makeup, it provides a smoother base.
Choosing the right concealer is the trickiest part. It needs to be thick enough to cover and it needs to match your leg’s skin tone. This concealer will be darker than the one you use on your face as you may already have a tan or you did a self tan. It is best to go the store to choose when your legs are already tanned so you can match the skin tone. I like a concealer that is dry in texture because you don’t want it sliding off or rubbing off.
The best concealers for this are densely pigmented and have a peach tone to counteract the blue/purple tone of the veins. Here I am using Laura Mercier high coverage concealer in a shade much darker than I use on my face. You only need a little bit and then using a blending brush or a damp BeautyBlender or your fingers to blend very well. To cover very stubborn veins, you may have to go over the area several times in order to cover. I don’t recommend trying to follow each vein with a pinpoint concealer as it will be too obvious. It’s best to blend over the entire area and pay close attention to add a little more to the veins that still show through. For all over coverage I highly recommend MAC Face and Body foundation which is a product I use on photoshoots if I need to cover a large area of the body. It is also water resistant.
It doesn’t have to be absolutely perfect as no one is holding a magnifying glass to your legs( at least I hope not!) The important thing is to blend well so as not to give away your secret!
Once you have the area covered I recommend trying Prtty Peashun an amazing firming and highlighting body moisturizer. Legs look longer and sexier with a little sheen to them. Enriched with jojoba, avocado, and pomelo and without parabens it moisturizes and leaves a glow to the skin which also helps to camouflage imperfections. It comes in five shades and here I’m using medium which has a golden hue to it.
Concentrate the shine along the tops of the thigh muscle and along the shin bone for maximum elongation. It’s a trick we use for photoshoots, like highlighting but for the body.
Here’s the finished look, camouflaged, tanned and ready for summer.
Some other great concealers for camouflaging leg imperfections.