The Fail-Proof Way To Cover Up A Zit

It is a cruel, cruel trick of Mother Nature that when you most desperately want to cover something up, it's the hardest to do so. Case in point: zits. When you get a big, honkin', fully erupted pimple, it's actually more difficult to mask than it would be at any other stage. That's because it's not a flat surface, so the skin is pulled tight and concealer slides off the blemish. It's one of the most epically frustrating makeup conundrums.

In a recent sit-down with Urban Decay founder Wende Zomnir, she blew our minds by casually dropping this genius tip in our laps: Try Primer Potion. Zomnir says whenever she has a pimple, she puts a small dab of the brand's cult-classic shadow primer on it, and then dabs on her concealer.

"A blemish pulls the skin, making it hard to cover evenly," she explains. "Primer Potion puts [skin's texture] back to velvety, so it can be covered up." That velvety texture is what allows the concealer to grab onto the skin, rather than sliding off the taut, shiny surface. Zomnir swears this makes hiding a pimple much more effective. Excuse us — we've got some priming to do.

Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion, $20, available at Nordstrom.