4 Mistakes Everyone Makes When Covering Up Tattoos With Makeup

At a certain point, most tattoo-owners will need to cover up their skin. It might be to fit a certain image at work, to avoid unwanted conversations around family members, or simply because you regret your ink but haven't gotten around to going for a professional tattoo coverup. Luckily, most tattoos can adequately be hidden with makeup. And if you avoid the most common mistakes that many people fall into when covering their tattoos, people won't have any idea that your ink is there! 

To find out what not to do when covering tattoos with makeup, Glam spoke exclusively to licensed esthetician and professional makeup artist Jade Griffin of Queen Productions. Griffin, who's on both Facebook and TikTok, suggests there are four main habits to avoid if your goal is to hide your ink: using covering products that don't match your skin tone; forgetting to use color correctors on more colorful tattoos; skipping your primer; and not finishing off the process with a good setting powder. As long as you steer clear of these errors, you can make your tattoo all but disappear with a little foundation or concealer. 

Covering your tattoos yourself is a delicate art that requires consideration into the colors you're working with, and that goes for both your foundation or concealer but also the colors of your tattoo. In our exclusive chat, Jade Griffin emphasizes the importance of using products that match your skin tone, regardless of what tattoo you're trying to cover. "Choose a concealer that matches your skin or is slightly lighter for better blending," she says. While it may be okay to go a shade lighter with your concealer, you don't want to go darker. 

If you're trying to hide a particularly colorful tattoo, it's important to introduce a color corrector, since foundation or concealer alone may not be enough. "Use a color corrector like orange or red to neutralize the tattoo's color before applying concealer," Griffin suggests. Color correcting can help with a variety of skin issues, so it's a no-brainer for tattoos where too much color is the problem!

Try to think of covering up your tattoo as any other makeup look. You wouldn't skip primer or setting products when applying regular makeup to your face, so why would you skip them when hiding your tattoos? "Not using primer can lead to uneven coverage and poor adhesion," Jade Griffin explains exclusively to Glam. "Apply primer to create a smooth base and help the makeup go on evenly."

When it comes to setting products, the point isn't so much that they create even coverage, but that they maintain that coverage as you go about your day. "Use a translucent setting powder to lock in the coverage and prevent smudging," Griffin suggests, warning that if you forget this step, you could end up with streaks that draw more attention to your tattoo. Setting powder itself can take a minute to master, but as long as you avoid the common setting powder mistake of using too much product, this will serve as the perfect finishing touch to your tattoo coverage.