Concealer Shmealer...

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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There is a kind of beauty in imperfection.- Conrad Hall

Book Review: "Between Now & Never" By Laura Johnston

Between Now & Never by Laura Johnston
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Between Now & Never

****I was gifted with an ARC of this book for my honest review****

So where to begin? hmm lets start with how much I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. I loved it from beginning to end. Plot twist doesn't even begin to explain what happens in this book. Like WOAH! I will not give anything away of course but wow what a great read. At the time when I got this book I was in need of a contemporary read and I got that and more. Cody & Juliana's journey together & seperate was what really made me appreciate this book. I love a good lovey story but when you have actual character development between the 2 and actual real life conflict that they must both get through on their own emotionally thats when the story really draws me in. Those are the best in my opinion. So often today contemporary love stories are so focused on getting the couple together but don't give them actual conflict and situations that they must grow from.

This book gave me everything that I look for in a contemporary read. Conflict, character development of both characters separately and together and a plot twist to give you whiplash. Thank you for letting me read this book and I hope everyone read this book because it was pretty much amazing!!! My only question would be what does Cody do with the memory card. But other then that i love love love it!

A favorite quote of mine from the book was:

"The major problem with falling is this: Its rarely a pain-free experience."

Thank you again for letting me read this!


*This book will be available on March 31, 2015. CLICK HERE to preorder the e-book now!

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"I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go in the other room and read a book"-Groucho Marx

Book Review: "Where The Road Takes Me" by Jay Mclean

Where the Road Takes Me by Jay McLean
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

**I was gifted with an ARC of this book for my honest review**

WOW... So I was able to finish this book in about 2 or 3 days. This book pulled me in from the prologue. THE PROLOGUE people. I couldn't put it down. But of course we do need sleep as human beings and I am a mom of 2 kids so life happens.

So lets talk my thoughts before I started this book. I thought it would be about this couple that just go on the road together. That they just up & left for the purpose of just wanting to. Which did intrigue me I love very random spur of the moment events like that in a book. But to my surprise that wasn't the case and it was actually SO much better.

The conflict and the whole story within itself is so consuming. You feel for Chloe and for Blake and even Josh. I loved their way of clicking. How people so different and in different places in their life can still find a common ground was so beautiful. You appreciate everything. There were times when Chloe really did make me upset but at the same its part of her story. We cant ask for perfect characters. They wouldn't be lovable if they were perfect. Its the imperfections that make them more approachable or in this case relatable. I loved this whole story and Blake wow... He has became a new Book Boyfriend to add to my list. I have no shame in saying that. Thank you for that epilogue. Nowadays so many books either don't have an epilogue or leave with this rushed ending that your kind of left with questions and I didn't feel that at all. I was completely happy with it. Thank you for letting me read this.

I definitley recommend adding this book to your "TO BE READ" list... as a matter of fact if you CLICK HERE you will be taken to the contest entry to win a copy of this book. SOOO WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!!!!

sherley vazquez

View all my reviews

**this book will be released on February 10, 2015.

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"May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view."- Edward Abbey

Q&A fun!

Thought a really fun way for readers to get to know me would be to just plainly do a Q&A.. so here it is!

1. How tall are you? well all my life I thought I was 5’2 and turns out I am only 5 foot… so yes a fabulous 5 feet tall! 2. How old are you? I am 27 years old!

3. When's your birthday? My birthday is December 13th

4. Zodiac sign? I am a sagittarius

5. Favorite food? I just plainly love food i don’t necessarily have a favorite. But I guess I can say I love pastas, shrimp, chicken. I am from the south & right now I am dreaming of some baked mac & cheese and fried chicken a roll & sweet tea from Minnies Uptown Restaurant in Columbus GA. AMAZE-BALLS!!!

6. Ever been in love? I am right now & married to him too!

7. Ever had a terrible breakup? i don’t believe I have ever had a terrible break up. I have had a break up in the past and it was with my husband when we first started dating years & years ago but it wasn’t terrible really.

8. Are you still friends with any of your exes? I married my ex… lol

9. Any tattoos? yes I do! i have a total of 6 tattoos. My forearm, wrist, feets, & my side.

10. Any piercings? i have my ears pierced and belly button that i have had for years now… lol

11. Favorite show? as of right now i have a few i can’t just narrow it down to one but my top is of course Game of Thrones, Once Upon a Time, The Originals, & Reign

12. Favorite movie? my favorite movie… hmmmmm. This is truly a hard one because I am a big movie lover. I love too many movies but if i have to name a few that come to mind right now. I guess Divergent was pretty bad ass (also an amazing book series) & The Fault In Our Stars, Perks of Being a Wallflower, Superbad & Catching Fire. I have too many to name honestly. I can't just pick one...

13. Besides your favorite movie, what movies could you watch over and over and still love? uhhhhhh… First off any Harry Potter film & I could watch Silver Linings Playbook over & over again. Also Hocus Pocus & Nightmare Before Christmas. Sweet Home Alabama (DUH!) Mean Girls (sorry! LOL!)

14. Favorite actor? well lets see… my favorite actress which i think a lot of my friends already know is Jennifer Lawrence. She is sooo damn talented and from when I first saw her in Poker House i just was just in awe of how amazing she was and such a young age. A favorite actor of mine would have to be Peter Dinklage and I selfishly say that because he portrays Tyrion in Game of Thrones and his portrayal deserves an award. I have never loved a character so much from the first moment I was introduced to them in the first season and he did that. He made me love Tyrion from the beginning and i still do.

15. Favorite talk show host? Ellen DUH! lol

16. Favorite bands? Mumford & sons, Imagine Dragons, Bastille, Kings of Leon, Young The Giant, The Neighborhood, American Authors, Passion Pit, AFI, its honestly too many!

17. Favorite song? so right now I am kinda jamming out to Twenty Pilots “Car Radio”

18. What is your song of the week? “What you wanted” by One Republic

19. First concert? Oh goodness kind of embarassing but my first concert was a B2K concert years ago and that was my last one too… haven’t been to another but i want to sooo bad!!! 20. Who would you like to see in concert? Mumford & sons & Imagine Dragons & Ellie Goulding

21. Quality you look for in a partner? Funny

22. Where do you go when you’re sad? ummm no where in particular. I guess I turn to my books.

23. How long does it take you to get ready in the morning? it all depends on where I’m going. If I’m just taking my daughter to school then just 5 minutes but if i actually got somewhere to run errands and i want to look a bit more put together then maybe 30 minutes.

24. Ever been in a physical fight? uhhhhhh. yes! lol

25. Turn on? pretty teeth lol

26. Turn off? stench… if you stink i just can’t!

27. Last book you read? The last book I thoroughly enjoyed & fully read was The Mortal Instruments City of Heavenly Fire.

28. The book you’re currently reading? ok so this is embarrassing. I have a total of 3 books that I’m currently reading which are the 6th book in the Vampire Academy series Last Sacrifice. An Abundance of Katherines by John Green & and Forbidden. 

29. Last person you talked to? hmmm… my BFF Mary. and it was about books! lol

30. The relationship between you and the person you last texted? My bff and fellow book clubie & my Parabatai lol

31. Something you miss? all my family back home… all of them!!!

32. Place you want to visit? Egypt… Please & thank you in advance!

33. Last time you hung out with anyone? What did you do? well this past weekend my friend Brit invited me over for dinner and its was absolutely AMAZING... dat peach cobbler dou...lol

34. What are three things on your bucket list? Go to a Music Festival. Go to Egypt & visit Universal Studios to go visit Hogwarts & Diagonally!

35. What is your biggest pet peeve? Liars…

36. How many languages can you speak? 2… english & spanish

37. Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego? hahaha i always watched this show and always wanted to say she was in Egypt!

38. Your proudest moment? when i became a mom to 2 amazing little monsters lol!

39. Happiest day of your life? i can’t just pick 1 day thats the happiest day of my life… I have too many to choose from but my kids being born when i got married and when i have done something that people have doubted me about... :)

40. Favorite Authors? this goes to 2 people and I like to refer to them as my king & queen of authors and thats John Green & Cassandra Clare.

Hope y'all have enjoyed getting a little insight into my life...

Xoxo,

Sherley

"One must always be careful with books & whats inside them, for words have the power to change us."

Cassandra Clare

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Hello Blog-osphere!

So where do I begin?! I went back & forth trying to figure out what my first blog & just overall what my blog should even be about. 

• First there was: "should it be about makeup?!" No as much as I do love my beauty products & enjoy doing my beauty vlogging on my Youtube channel (you can click on my Logo up top & subscribe by the way. shameless plug?! heck yes!) :)

• Then there was:"should it be about my second love fashion?!" as much as I am follower & love of all things fashion no I don't think so. I really want something that will make my blog different. There are plenty of fashion blogs out there!

• There was also:"should it be on my books?!" no I'm not an author however I have an immense love for my books. See we have an understanding. They tell me their stories & I simply take those stories in and cherish them. I am a part of that Harry Potter generation & I have a very special place in my heart for those books & honestly every other book i have read since then. They are truly my escape! But still I didn't want it to be on just my books because again there are plenty of book blogs out there. Don't believe me?! google it! I actually read a good bit of them myself! :) 

Then it hit me. My blog will be about all of those things & more. Since my blog will be about me & all things I LOVE then it will be different because indeed we are all different. I'm not sure if this will be a popular blog or if anyone will even read this. But I do hope that for whatever audience I am attracting here that y'all enjoy this! 

So since you are here reading this I guess I should introduce myself. My name is Sherley & I am 27 years old. I am a wife to Paul & mother to 2 kids... My daughter Angelina is 5 years old & my son William is 3 years old. My husband is military which makes me an Army Wife which I'm proud of but sometimes don't wish to be defaulted into just that category. I am more then just that. I am originally from this little island that you may have heard of called Puerto Rico. My mother is Puerto Rican & my father is Dominican. Mix those 2 ingredients together and I guess you can say you get ME! My father joined the military when I was young so we moved from that tiny island to the US. We were stationed in Ft. Benning GA and although I have moved around a good bit my husband & I last resided in Alabama. I am hispanic but southern raised. I do have a southern twang which I personally don't notice. I am now in the Northern most state. I am a stay at home mom & as much as I miss working I can say that I have also enjoyed staying home with my kids. 

I recently started my own Youtube Beauty channel. I have really enjoyed doing my "how to" videos. I used to free-lance back home but when a lot of my clients found out I was leaving they all asked if I could start a channel. I pondered for a long time because I didn't think I would be good at it. I am still not great but I can feel the progress in my videos. But I want my channel to be about a lot of things besides beauty. Like books & fashion & just life! I want women to feel like putting on makeup is not about hiding but accentuating the features you love most about themselves!
I am actually about to film another quick little tutorial & another video on Top Spring Drugstore Blushes & High end blushes  

Anyways enough about that...

This is probably getting extremely LONG so I will end this with just a few books that I am reading this month. I am reading An Abundance of Katherines by the genius author John Green & after I'm finished with that I will be re-reading The Mortal Instruments: City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare. 

*just doing a little thing called "johning" while reading An Abundance of Katherines

Yes you heard that right re-reading... the last & final book to that series is coming out on the 27th of this month so why not read the book prior to the finale to refresh my memory specially since its been close to a year since i last read it. 

If I don't get to post before May 11th then HAPPY MOTHERS DAY to all you mommy's out there! hope you know how amazing & great you are & thank you for all you do! 

Welp  y'all that's all I have for today! hope you have an amazing rest of the week.

Xoxo,
Sherley
"Some infinities are bigger then other infinities..."-John Green

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