DIY: Make-up for Men: Cover-up

Many men wear make-up; most of you just don't know it yet. On a bad face day, you can't just Photoshop that pimple off of the tip of your nose and have your facade match the impeccable handsomeness of your new Belvest suit. I have a closet full of impeccably handsome clothes, and, lamentably, my fair share of bad face days. Luckily, having practiced concealing and blending with and on the women in my life, and having worked backstage at a handful of fashion shows, I have got a quick technique down pat. I've enlisted the help of my friend Michael Shaeffer, full-time menswear designer and part-time Brooklyn caveman, to demonstrate my easy-peasy technique.

bare-faced Mike

Mike has a blemish: a popped pimple, unmasked even by his jungly beard.

Here's what you do.

Squeeze a tiny amount of cover-up on the fleshy part of your hand. I use MAC select cover-up: it's handy, it's light, yet it conceals blemishes very effectively. Find the one that matches your skin tone the best. If you can't grapple with the idea of wearing cosmetics, try using tinted creams with benzoyl peroxide or tea tree oil and tell your gullible, delusional self it's medicine and not make-up.

Rub it around, warming it up with your finger. Use your ring finger to apply the product; this is the finger that would exert the least amount of pressure.

Dab the concealer, a little at a time, on the area to be covered. Start at the center of the blemish and take time to blend around it to make it appear as even as possible. Look in the mirror twice to make sure you don't look as if you have a glob of flesh-colored paste smeared on your cheek.

And smile, you are now obscenely handsome.

The idea is to have the product on as lightly as possible, and with the blemish gone, walk into your day electrified, forgetting you've got anything on your face.