Sherley Vazquez : March 2015

Lets Talk Concealer!

One of the BIGGEST things I get asked about is Concealer. Here are the most common questions I get:

Whats the best concealer?
How do I know its the right color?
Do I have to color correct before concealing?
Why is pinterest confusing me?
Will it crease on me?
Is this too light?
LASTLY, Whats the best drugstore concealer?

So here is the thing, I will be completely be upfront with you and tell you that I HAVE NOT tried EVERY concealer out on the market. Whether its high end or drugstore I haven't tried them all.

However I have tried many and I can speak for the ones I HAVE tried.

Now when I am talking about concealer I am talking about under eye concealing. I will do a separate blog on color correcting separately because that is WAY more in depth and I don't want to over whelm anyone with too much information.

As a reference point for y'all if you speak MAC language I am normally an NC25 or an NC30 when it comes to my foundation. TRANSLATION OF COLORS: its a medium warm tone. If you want to find out what tone you are take the Tone Wrist Test. (I don't know if that the actual name for it but thats what I'm calling it!)

Tone Wrist Test: Turn your wrist over so that your looking straight at your veins and check to see if your veins look either Blue or Green or BlueGreen.

Majority Blue that makes you cool toned
Majority Green that makes you warm toned
Majority Blue/Green that makes you neutral toned

So now that you know where I stand as far as foundation I will explain my concealer selection. I like to pick mine a shade maybe 2 shades lighter then my foundation. Reason being is because it gives me a more lifted and awaken look. I need all the help I can get specially since I barely sleep. I like to stick to the undertone of my foundation. Therefore my concealers are warm toned as well.

Now for the nitty gritty... Your probably asking me "Sherley what concealers do you use?" Well guys I'm glad you asked. When it comes to my personal taste I had 2 concealers that I like to call my holygrail concealers. Notice I used the word HAD. Thats because I recently came across a concealer that has blown me away. Its what I like to refer to Champagne quality makeup on a Beer budget. :)

So my NOW 3 Holy Grail Concealers for my under eye are:

MAC Pro Longwear Concealer & Im in the color NC20: $20.00

Tarte Smooth Operator Amazonian Clay Waterproof Concealer in the color Light: $22.00

Maybelline Face Studio Master Conceal in the color 20 Light: $8.99

Application:

Now when applying your concealer you can do the upside down triangle or do more of an upside down rainbow or just keep it within the under eye area ONLY. Its all depending on the way you want your under eye to look. For example a person with a wider face will not do the upside down triangle because it will make the face look wider. So try different ways to see what will look best and what YOU like. STAY AWAY from pinterest and their diagrams. They can be helpful but also they can be very damaging. So just play with it until YOU love what you see.

Tools:

As for what to use when applying concealer I personally like to use my ring finger. It really helps to warm up the product and for it blend in smoothly. Another great tool would be sponges. Of course by now everyone has heard of the Beauty Blender and yes that is an amazing tool to use when blending in concealer. I like to stick to using sponges or a really fluffy brush when I am working on clients. But again your preference is yours which is why I say mine is my fingers. When I recently purchased the Maybelline concealer that you see featured above I also purchased a brush from ELF. I decided to use the brush with the concealer to give both products a try all at one. You know kill 2 birds with 1 stone... and It was a dream. This is by far the best brush for blending concealer. here is a picture of it bellow.

NEW Maybelline Master Conceal & ELF Flawless Concealer Brush

Prevent Creasing

Now here is the trick that a lot of people don't know. In order to prevent ANY concealer from creasing you MUST set that concealer with a powder. Three of my favorites are MAC Emphasize Shaping Powder, Anastasia Beverly Hills Banana Powder(its yellow in tone so it will not work if your cool toned), & ELF High Definition Undereye Setting Powder. My Favorite brush to use when setting the under eye is the ELF Blush Brush. Yes Yes I know its supposed to be for blush but its so soft and it fits perfectly under the eye so to me its for the under eye.

MAC Emphasize $17.00

Anastasia Beverly Hills Banana Powder $14.00 (refill only)

ELF High Definition Undereye Setting Powder $3.00

ELF Blush Brush $3.00

FINAL TIP

Lastly this is very important. This is what has helped me with creasing & the longevity of my undereye concealer. I like to tackle one under eye at a time. I have found that by doing 1 eye at a time it had solidified my work. So for example I always start on my left ( i am a lefty!) so I apply my concealer then I tap it in with my finger OR blend in with the brush whatever is my mood. lol Once I have blended I quickly take my powder & blush brush and dip the brush in to the powder and instantly set it. Then I repeat on the right eye.

woooooo wow thats was a lot of info and I know it is so I do apologize if anyone is overwhelmed. I know I am and I am the one sitting her in my PJ's with a bun on my head and no makeup feeling flustered and hoping that atleast one of you that reads this can take something away with them. I hope this has helped even the slightest and if you have any questions or any products that you think i might like please don't be shy comment below or email me. Link to email me is below! :)

xoxo,
Sherley

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