Peach Blush Perfection

Getting stuck in a blush rut is pretty frustrating for a #blushfiend - I love so many different blushes but often stick to my neutral loves and neglect the other colour families that should be thrown in every now and again. The ease of a neutral that goes with everything is tempting, but each time I lay a peachy powder across my apples I am reminded of just why these blushes are so darn popular.

All of these are quite pigmented peach shades, all with different shade leanings (some are more pink-toned, whereas orange shines through in others!) The Luma Cosmetics blush in Soft Peach* is the latest to enter my stash but don't let the 'soft' name fool you - this ginormous blush pan packs a punch and needs a light hand to apply without looking a bit crazy. The same can be said for TheBalm's Hot Mama which is the shimmeriest of this bunch, perhaps of my whole collection? (I try to buff the shimmer out for glowier cheeks #HotTip)

MAC Springsheen is the most orange-toned, a rusty sort of peach that I was once afraid of using on my fair skin before true #blushfiend bravery set in years ago. I think the fact that it is a sort-of neutral rusty peach is what redeems it in my eyes, ya know? A shade that needs no redemption is Clinique's Peach Pop*, a shade that consistently impresses every time I swipe some colour from the gorgeous embossed petal pan. More often than not this is the blush that sparks a blush upheaval in the ranks and pushes my neutral blushes aside, which as I mentioned earlier is no mean feat...

Saving the best for last, my beautiful Illamasqua Sophie*. When this hit my desk many moons ago I knew not how hard I'd fall for this stunner - in the pan she appears awkwardly glittery and dry, but on the cheeks she blends and brightens with an ease that makes me sigh every.single.time. It's the pink tones in this that make this so amazing I think, and it really cemented the fact that Illamasqua know how to knock it out of the park with their blushes!

I'm off to scan my blush drawers for more peachy goodness...hit me up with your favourite peach shades, lest I slide on back to my overloved Tarte Exposed...
Emma x

*Provided for consideration. Honesty, always.

5 Blushes I'm Currently Loving

What need is there to come up with a reason to wax lyrical about my recent blush loves? I don’t need much of a push to chatter on about my favourite beauty product, so I’ve rounded up the five I’ve been wearing in recent months to share with you all.

As I’ve mentioned previously, the bulk of my makeup stash has been packed away and unpacking it has fallen by the wayside as we busy ourselves with house renovations and setting up our first home together. The ‘lazy-day’ cheek shade that I’m sure you’ve all heard me rave about is the Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Exposed, which is a simply amazing rosy neutral that lasts all day and looks amazing on. If I feel like something a bit brighter that lasts all day, I turn to my Chanel Joues Contraste in Pink Explosion or Frivole. My only two Chanel JC’s, I have fallen in love with the formula this year and can’t wait to pick up the new shade Accent from the upcoming holiday collection. It’s meant to be a really pretty shimmery neutral pink shade, and from the limited promo images out there I just know I’m going to be picking it up when it launches in Australia. Okay, blush swoon over, back to the point of the post! (Moral of that tangent? Go and buy a Chanel JC!) 

The only cream blush I’ve been wearing lately is the newly released Ice Bomb crème blush from essence, the solo cheek shade from the Me & My Ice Cream collection. The gorgeous apricot shade blends like a dream, and though I’m upset that the packaging of mine has cracked, I’m still really happy to have picked up this bargain blush! The last and possibly most random blush shade I’ve been wearing is the MAC Mineralize blush in Gentle, a plummy pink shade with gold shimmer. I use a light hand with this as it has the tendency to make me look a bit too flushed, but the shimmery effect is really flattering on my cheeks.

What blushes have you been wearing lately? Any shades or formulas I need to check out?

Emma @ emmabovarybeauty x

Blush Week 02

Any time I feel as though I am in a blush rut, I set myself a challenge to use a different blush each day for a whole week. I find blush week really helps me to dive into my overflowing blush drawer to try shades that haven’t graced my face in a while. I pulled out a few favourites as well as some as yet unloved new shades for this second blush week round, and I hope you enjoy peeking into what I wore last week!

Prom Princess was the first to hit my cheeks, the mid tone pink berry Veronica shade from the MAC Archie’s Girls collection was well worth the hunt. I have been wearing Cream Soda from the Betty side of the collection more often than this pink shade, so I made an effort to put the satin finish onto my apples first off the bat. I tend to wear toned down lip shades when I use this so that I don’t look overdone, I prefer to keep this the star of the show with lots of mascara.

 

I really wanted to incorporate a cream blush into the mix this blush week, and the best cream blush I own is definitely Powdery Rose from YSL’s Crème de Blush range. I use the Samantha Chapman for Real Techniques Stippling Brush to apply this and I think it does a perfect job of blending it seamlessly into my cheeks. I think the benefit of cream blushes are definitely how great and seamless the finish can be if applied correctly, and the YSL pots are simply perfection for me, as I love that these are a crème to powder and don’t look too dewy without losing the glow.

Of course, during a blush week a moment of weakness is a definite possibility. I thought it would be a case of me reaching for Tarte Exposed (are you getting sick of me mentioning it yet?) but it turned out that L’Oreal The Muse’s Blush was what I gravitated towards without meaning to. The peach shade is really easy to wear and I love how large the pan is, I wish this Project Runway range was available in Australia but unfortunately I bought this from overseas (specifically from Lilladylife’s blog sale!)

Thursday saw me tired and with sore feet as I spent the day teaching and the night working retail, so I was pleased at the pretty flush that Laura Mercier’s Rose Desire left on my cheeks. I’ll be honest and say that I tend to reach for the eyeshadows in the Lingerie palette more than the two cheek shades that sit aside it, but now that I know how pretty Rose Desire is on my fair skin tone I think I will be wearing it a lot more often. Having said that, I will just drop in a mention of how amazing LM palettes are in general- very, very amazing. Highly recommend that you snatch up any you come across, as they sell out quite quickly (as Sleep and Water can attest to!)

Friday was another all day all night work day, and I leant on Rimmel’s Autumn Catwalk blush which is an old favourite of mine that is highly underrated. I’ve seen quite a few US bloggers/Youtubers mentions this line of blushes and I think that they are seriously impressive. The packaging is slimline and the colour of Autumn Catwalk is so lovely (I mix the three shades together, for reference) I am itching to get my hands on other shades from this range, perhaps I will turn to eBay or have a gander at ASOS as I know they stock some Rimmel goodies.

I had been chatting with Sarah from More than Adored and I managed to talk her into buying one of the Illamasqua Blush Duo’s* that I posted about here. I decided to take Ambition* out for a spin and wow, I had forgotten how pretty this shimmery blush is! I love the glow it gives my face and the muted berry tone of it is so pretty in pan and on cheek. I am pretty much a sucker for all things Illamasqua and this is a lot easier to throw on than some of the brighter shades, which my early mornings have appreciated.

To round up the week, I decided to take one of my brand new blushes for a spin! TheBalm’s Frat Boy is described as a peachy apricot and I think it is really pretty on the cheek. It reminds me of NYX Peach but perhaps a tad nicer on? I’m still undecided but either way I really like this, and the slimline pans the TheBalm are famous for really are awesome for storing and travel.

Are you as obsessed with blushes as I am?

What blushes have you been wearing lately? .

 

*Provided for consideration. Honesty, always

 

The Blush Files : 7 Days of Blush (evidence from a blush fiend)

My obsession with blush has been well documented (just take a look inside my overspilling blush drawer to see!) and those who have gone shopping with me in the past have adamantly labelled me a blush fiend. Some people have a penchant for beautiful lip products (see Norlin and her wonderful #lippyaday challenge!) while others have a skincare stash to rival their local Kit Cosmetics. My soft spot is definitely for those pretty pans of colour that warm up my face, and I find them the most fun aspect of makeup application. I challenged myself a while back to wear a different blush pan each day for a week, to get used to rotating what I wear and to get Tarte Exposed out of my clawing hands for once! Here are the spoils of my challenge, which was a success!

 

As well as my rosy neutrals, I threw a few brighter pinks into the mix for the week to give my cheeks a good pop of colour. Chanel’s Pink Explosion was naturally involved, and I love the shade stippled on with my Samantha Chapman for Real Techniques Stippling Brush. Truth be told, I absolutely love using that brush for the majority of my blushes, whether cream, powder, pigmented or not. BYS Pink Velvet was another pink that got a turn, I adore the BYS blush formula and even the packaging is sturdy (especially when compared to their lipstick casings) Illamasqua’s Naked Rose is one of my favourite blushes, and the matte dusty pink looks great against pale skin like mine.

 

Milani Berry Amore is a shade that took me a while to get used to, but the gold veining really works when used with a light hand. I did cheat slightly during the challenge, as I used my staple blush on one of the days where I was running out of the door to work. Tarte Exposed is a neutral rosy blush that is too beautiful for words, Chris bought it via eBay for me as a Christmas gift and I fall more in love with it every day. See, blush fiend!

 I also tried out my Korres Pink Zeas May blush for the first time, and really like the wearable pink shade. The final choice for my 7 day challenge was a mix of two Bourjois shades, I first applied Rose D’Or before topping my cheekbones and the apples with Lune D’Or, just to play around with it and see if I could change the shades up a bit.

 

So, has my status of a blush fiend been upheld, or do I need to do more to convince you, dear readers? Which blush shade would you nab from this loot given the chance?

 

*All of these blush pans were bought by me, or given as gifts from my fiancé. He knows the way to my heart is through my chipmunk cheeks ;P Honesty,always.