blush week 03

Getting into a blush rut can be frustrating when you have as large a blush collection as I do. They taunt me and feel neglected as I continually reach for my Chanel powders and beloved Tarte Exposed, and so when I was reshuffling my Daily Tray I pulled out 5 bright shades to get myself back into loving my blushes once more. I may throw a different shade in between these, but will wear all 5 of them in the coming week or two and then report back with some snaps to share with you.

 

I told you they were bright! I don’t know what made me reach for my crème blushes, but I suppose they are lovely to use in summer to create a dewy cheek look with ease. I tend to use my Real Techniques Stippling Brush to apply all of these blushes, and save my NP Set blush brush* more my more muted powder blushes. I just bought the gorgeous Savvy Cheek Balm in Blissful Blush for $3 from Priceline after seeing it in their most recent catalogue, and I’ve already used it and recommend you grab one to try it out! It’s really pigmented and in such cute wind up style packaging.

I remember my excitement at grabbing the Revlon Photoready Cream blushes, and the shades Flushed and Coral Reef worked much better on me than the pale and sheer Pinched which I sort of regret buying. I haven’t used these in so long, but I know that Tine from Beautyholics Anonymous likes them and I trust her opinion, so back into the rotation they go for me!

 

I adore the YSL Crème de Blush formula, but this bright pink Fuschia Temptation is so strong that I have to be careful about what looks I use it with lest I look like a clown. It is such a happy shade and I’m looking forward to wearing it soon! I’ve only got 3 of the YSL Crème de Blush’s, I look forward to the day a new shade in this formula enters my collection. The lonesome powder blush in my week of cheek is the MAC Archie’s Girls blush that I hunted with all of my might – Prom Princess, from the Veronica section. This is a brilliant colour and I am so happy to bust this out again, I think it will look great with a nice glossy magenta lip.

Now for the swatches!

 

The cream blushes look really dewy, but most dry down to a powdery finish which I top with Maybelline Dream Matte powder anyway. They still give a great glow to the cheek, but mattifying them helps them last longer and tones down the shine on my face during the heat of Melbourne.

Which of these shades would you wear first?

What blush shades do you return to all the time? (I’d love to check them out!)

Emma @ emmabovarybeauty

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.