MAC Alluring Aquatics Swatches: Goddess Of The Sea and Seduced By The Sea

Alluring Aquatics came out last week, seemingly hitting the UK shelves before the US, yadda yadda yadda. I’m going to give you the TL;DR version straight up – average MAC products, AMAZING PACKAGING. I could leave it there but that’s the general gist.

LOOK AT THIS SHIT. Each item in this collection is a shiny blue metallic packing, covered in 3d fake water droplets. FAKE WATER DROPLETS. I didn’t realise this until I opened it – I thought they were embossed somehow and when I opened the packaging I was like IS THIS REAL LIFE? If you’re a makeup collector you need at least one piece from this collection, man. It’s really, really cool. Like every woman my age who is pissed off that we actually have to be adults now and give a shit about things, I want to be a mermaid and this collection I feel helps a little with that. Is it cool enough to warrant the extremely cheeky price raise to £16.50 on the lipstick? If this collection wasn’t released on payday I may have had a different answer to that question, but I think yes.

 

L-R: Extra Dimension Blush in Seduced At Sea, Cremesheen lipstick in Goddess Of The Sea. More water droplet action, and the MAC logo is inlaid in some fancy blue pearlescent writing.

L-R: Blush in Seduced At Sea, cremesheen lipstick in Goddess Of The Sea

Goddess Of The Sea. I totally am the Goddess Of The Sea but I’d probably pick Illamasqua’s Apocalips for my official duties. Described as a ‘dark vibrant violet,’ I was expecting this to be a little less wearable and quite frankly darker. Not what I was expecting but lovely nonetheless. I do like the cremesheen formula so I expect I’ll get a good bit of wear out of this one.

Here I am wearing Seduced At Sea on the cheeks. Described as a ‘mid tone neutral plum’ which is quite frankly absolute bollocks. This more like a light, burnt orange to me. I wished when it arrived that I’d ordered the coral, but applied this is actually rather lovely. I’d apply with a light hand to avoid looking like an Oompa Loompa. A nice colour for medium skins or tanned lighter skins.

The products themselves are very nice – I love the extra dimension blushes and wish they were a permanent fixture because I would sop them up with a biscuit. They’re just lovely. And a cremesheen lipstick is always a winner. While I only got two items, I don’t think there is one overall standout from this collection. Everything is nice, wearable, something you’ll get use out of. That’s fine, but this collection in my opinion is outshined by the absolutely banging packaging.


Almost everything seems to be sold out at the moment, but will you be picking up anything from this collection?

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush in Diffused Heat

Is there anything new left to say about these blushes? No. But I’m going to talk about this one anyway. I skipped the fuss about the Ambient Lighting Powders when they were launched and even though I don’t normally get sucked into hype around new makeup releases (I think I may be the only beauty blogger on the planet who couldn’t give two shits about the Naked palettes) I jumped straight in and pre-ordered one of the Ambient Lighting Blushes.

The Ambient Lighting powders are subtle powders that supposedly give different effects - subtle glows and refined finishes - and the blushes follow on from that with each shade being mixed with a different Ambient Lighting powder. Hourglass says ‘the airy, lightweight powders contain optically transparent particles that amplify the colors to a multi-dimensional level—effectively reinventing the way you view blush…The result is a natural radiant finish with seamless, soft-focus and buildable color. ’ I decided could live with that, so I went ahead and ordered.

 

As pretty as the gold compact looks, I don’t love it. If feels kind of cheap and very lightweight – for a £28.00, I have to say I expected a little more heft. While I know it’s not all about the packaging, the reality of high-end products is very often the opposite – you’re paying a lot more money for the packaging. So I kind of wanted it to be a bit nicer feeling. Anyway, the blush itself is beautiful looking in the pan with a lovely marbled effect. Hourglass says this is a a ‘vibrant poppy blush combined with Diffused Light for a subtle halo effect.’ I don’t see where the poppy is coming from – this is a warm, slightly pinky peach to my eyes.  I like that this has a large enough vein of the Ambient Lighting powder running through it that I can put a small brush into for a subtle, glowy brow highlight if I want.

 

Swatched, this looks pretty unimpressive. I have to say, I was really disappointed when I went to swatch it on the back of my hand – I could see shimmer particles, and the colour wasn’t that impressive. I thought I’d spent a whole bunch of cash on what I could have gotten out of a £5 baked blush. But a hand swatch is not the same as a face swatch.

 

 

Ah, on the skin it is *such* a different story, friends. Somehow when you apply it with a brush, it just looks a lot more refined and less flat. It is a very lightweight powder and does kick up adust when you sweep your blush in the pan, so I was expecting to  have to apply a couple of layers, and you don’t need to, at least with this shade. Hourglass say on the site that ‘the cutting-edge formula means that its full potential is only displayed on application.’ You guys – I think this bullshit might actually be true. I don’t know what sorcery it is, but it looks much better on the face than I ever thought it could on the skin. Yeah, it's pretty subtle. But subtle blush is *good*, especially when it's got such a lovely finish.

 

 

 

I have to say that it is really a seamless blush – despite the shimmer particles I saw in my swatch, it almost melts into the skin and the finish looks, dare I say it, very natural. I’m always wary of foundation, blush and powder formulas that claim to be natural/seamless/subtle – are they so sheer looking they’re crap or are they so sheer looking they’re genius? I have to say with this one, it may be the latter. With that in mind, good formulas like this aren’t going to be something other people are going to really notice, and that’s a good thing or a bad thing, depending on your view. This is definitely one of those products that makes you look better but it’s really hard to put your finger on.

And just for  the record, a couple of other poorly-lit photos of me wearing it:

 

 

I…. don’t know how to gather my feelings for this blush properly. Do I think it’s bloody expensive? Yes. Do I think it lives up its claims? Yes, it actually does. The finish is  great, it’s really pretty, and I’ve been wearing it straight for two weeks. Would I spend £28 on another one? Well…. yes, but I probably couldn’t justify it to you! If you’re interested in a blush with a beautiful, subtle finish and you don’t mind paying the prices, Diffused Heat is great, although I have heard it’s one of the more pigmented colours in the range. If you’re not overly fussed, you prefer stronger pigmentation and/or you can’t get to somewhere where you can try these on your face, I would say you could probably skip them. I got mine online because I’m an impatient idiot, but if you are interested, I’d really, really recommend getting to a store to try these – because these are all differently swirled and are meant to be subtle, make sure you look at the one you’re actually physically buying to check the powder-blush ratio is right for you.

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powders cost £28.00 and I got mine from SpaceNK.

Sleek Blush By 3 in California

I hadn’t purchased a Sleek product for a very long time, but this cream blush trio from Sleek was always going to come home with me. I love peachy coral tones and I love cream blushes, but I’m also a big fan of Sleek’s powder blush formula and wanted to see if their cream formula stood up to that.





Housed in Sleek typically, er, sleek packaging, the palette is about half the size of Sleek’s eyeshadow palettes. You’re getting a pretty decent amount of blush here, kids.

L-R, The Surf, Newport Beach, The O.C

The Surf and The O.C are straight-up cream textures, while Newport Beach has shimmer to it – it’s somewhat-but-not-quite akin to NARS Orgasm with it’s pinky-goldness. Considering the other tones in the palette, it’s probably not going to suit most people who will buy it as a highlighter, but I like to apply it first and then add another colour in the centre to help give a softer, more diffused look.

Wearing Newport Beach with The Surf in the centre.

As you can see, pretty subtle on the skin. If you want craycray pigmentation, these aren’t the blushes for you. Generally that’s not what anyone wants from a blush and I love how these look on the skin.

These aren’t the most long lasting cream blushers – they don’t set like some do (probably for the best, given the packaging) but they’re decently pigmented, allowing you to work them nicely into the skin.  You’ll probably see a fade during the afternoon, but if you’re into the lovely natural look you can get from cream blushers, it’s not a biggie, plus it takes seconds to reapply with your fingertips.

All in all, there are better cream blushes out there – the Inglot AMC Cream Blush formula is pretty much the bomb – but if you’re into these shades, you could do a lot, lot worse for a tenner and the palette will last you forever.  This also appears to be a permanent addition to the Blush by 3 line up, so no need to stalk your Superdrug, where they’re available  for £9.99

Need tips on how to apply? Check out my ‘How to Apply Cream Blush’ post!

MAC Magnetic Nudes Collection: Autoerotique and Fairly Precious

As soon as I saw the promo images for the Magnetic Nudes collection, I knew that Autoerotique was coming home with me! I love a peach toned anything, and I LOVE a MAC blush. Blushes are one of my favourite items MAC do –I’ve never had a dud from them, the range is fantastic, the finishes are fab. I also love the one other Extra Dimension Skin Finish I have (Whisper of Gilt, holla!) and I picked 'Fairly Precious' from the collection in the hope it would become a new favourite for me.

MAC Extra Dimension Blush in Autoerotique.

MAC describes this as a “dirty coral rose.” That’s pretty bang on – I had it in my head it would be a little less red and a little more peach than it is. I’ve never tried this formula of blush before and in the pan, it almost looks like a plastic blush – it looks very hard and smooth! It’s a little stiffer than some blushers but still picks up well and blends onto the face. MAC also says this is “a liquid-powder blush with prismatic reflections.” Um… okay? I guess this is referring to how the blush is made, because there's nothing liquid about it - it's a powder blush.

MAC Extra Dimension Skinfinish in Fairly Precious

 

Again, MAC describes this as ‘liquid-powder.” I really have no idea what that is supposed to mean. This highlighter is “Peach with a dimensional pearly sheen.” Like other Extra Dimension Skinfinishes, this has a buildable shimmer and can really be piled on into a strong sheen on the face. If that ain’t your thang, it work well subtly applied too.

These are swatched fairly heavily here – there’s good pigmentation without them being crazy, a good thing in a blush in my opinion! The texture of Fairly Precious is smooth with no chunky glitter or shimmer and I had no problem with getting good payoff from Autoerotique despite how hard it looks in the pan.

 

 

I’m wearing both here and I love how they look! Fairly Precious is actually pretty pigmented on it’s own on my skin colouring - I actually wear this on it's own as a blush most of the time, but I do like to buff a little bit of Autoerotique in the middle which is how I'm wearing it here. I've been wearing one or the other of these pretty much since I recieved them, which is a good sign of them becoming favourites as I don't normally go more than two or three days without reaching for Sleek Suede blush.

According to the site, Autoerotique claims six hours of wear, and Fairly Precious claims ten hours of wear. I’d give it MAC on both of those – I can put these on at around 7am and they'll both be hanging on when I got home at 7pm. So long wearing, check. Gorgeous, check. Annoyingly limited edition, check.

Did you pick up anything from this collection? What are your favourite highlighters?

Quickie Review and LOTD: e.l.f Studio blush in Gotta Glow

e.l.f recently had one of their nifty 50% office sale (I picked up some of my favourite brushes which you can see here) and I decided to throw ‘Gotta Glow’ into my basket to see what all the fuss was about. Famed for being an inexpensive dupe for NARS Albatross which I was drooling over instore with Rachael recently, I was really excited to try it out. I love golden highlighters, and the ones I had before this were either a really warm, yellow gold or more of a champagne-gold, and this one is more of a white-gold.

 

 

You can really see where the NARS comparisons come in! The compact had a decent heft to it and doesn’t feel cheap. The small mirror is a little pointless in my opinion – I wish it took up the whole lid, but then I do like that you can see the product without opening the compact.

 

 

 

I’d click to enlarge those photos and see the product close up, but as you can see, it’s actually a really lovely and subtle highlighter! I was initially worried at first that it would be too ashy or chalky on the skin it kicks up a lot of powder when you swirl your brush in the pan, but luckily that didn’t translate on my cheek. I’ll hazard a guess you don’t get that with the NARS version but I don’t have a problem with it really, especially for the price point. It also builds quite nicely into a stronger highlight if you want to double it up on the inner corner of the eye.

All in all – a lovely highlighter and a lovely bargain! I’m tempted to try some more of e.l.f’s blush range if they’re all this pretty– any recommendations?

The studio blushes cost £3.50 from eyeslipsface.co.uk

Quickie Review and Swatches: Darling Girl Spectral Shifts

Darling Girl is a wonderful indie company with a huge range of amazing shadows and blushes – genuinely something for everyone! In my last order from them I got several of their ‘Spectral Shifts’:

“Spectral Shifts are silky, sheer, iridescent, multipurpose shades that can be used as eye shadow, face highlighters, or depending on your complexion, blush.  Don't let the colors fool you -- the shift makes them very wearable.”

I have to say that the description is spot on – these are super soft, finely milled shades with a beautiful lit-from-within look to them. Where they’re so fine, you can pack them on or use them as a soft wash, and they work really well layered other other products like eyeliners and eyeshadow.

 

L-R: Razzles, Mystique, April Showers, Ramblin’ Rose, Double Bubble.

My swatches are pretty poor compared to the ones on the site which show up the shifts beautifully, but I hope you can tell how pretty they are! Originally I wanted to get more pinky-peach colours so I could use them as highlighters but ended up falling in love with a couple of blue colours. Razzles is a really interesting periwinkle  colour with a reddish shift – I’m keen to use this in a smokey eye soon. Mystique is made up of soft cotton candy blue with a pink shift and is the most adorable colour – it layers over blues really well. April Showers looks lovely on the lid – very subtle indeed on it’s own but adds a little somethin’ somethin’ I really quite enjoy! Ramblin’ Rose is the one I would tell everyone to go buy – a dove grey colour with a reddish-pink shift, it’s an absolutely stunning eyeshadow – but Double Bubble is my absolute favourite – it’s so cheerful!

Here I’m wearing Mystique as an all-over cheek highlight for a ghostly sort of look. It’s not an everyday look by any means of course, but shows off the subtle glow you’ll get from the Spectral shifts.

This wonderful display of makeup artistry sis what happens when you do your makeup on the tube. Mascara splodges aside, I’m a bit in love with way April Showers looks on the lid. So subtle and yet so pretty! It reminds me of a softer, girlier version of one of my favourite Fyrinnae shades, Damn Paladins.

Available at darlinggirlcosmetics.com, a petit jar of these – which goes a long way! - will set you back a staggeringly measly $2.50!

Have you tried Darling Girl? What are your favourite highlighters?

Kiko Haul!

I’ve featured a few Kiko products on my blog before and from what I’ve tried, I really enjoy the brand. The range itself is pretty fabulous, is really reasonably priced, and they have lots of skincare and nail stuff as well as makeup, and rotating collections to keep things interesting. Everything here is from their ‘Fierce Spirit’ summer collection and was on sale, with the exception of the lip balm. The collections are often packaged really prettily, which is just a nice touch.

This whole lot cost me £22.60, with all the sale items being half price.  The blush was £6.90, the shadesticks and pigment were £2.50, and the Glow Touch Balm was £2.90. So even at full price, most things are really accessibly priced anyway. I had to stop myself going back for the other colour of Glow Touch, and the other Long Lasting Stick Eyeshadow and the summer body splashes!

 

Here’s what I got:

Clockwise from top left, Colour Explosion Multi Tone Blush in  03 Active Mauve, Long Lasting Stick Eyeshadows in 29 and 30, Glow Touch Lips and Cheeks in 03 Lucky Flamingo, Pigment Loose eyeshadow in 27 Beaming Beige, Kiss Balm Lip Balm in 01 Coconut.

L-R: Stick eyeshadow in 29 and 30, Glow Touch in Lucky Flamingo, Active Mauve colours 1, 2 and 3 and all the colours together.

Lucky Flamingo on the lips.

 

I’m super pleased with these products! The stick shadows are super vibrant in real life and don’t budge. I originally thought these were a different formula to the usual stick shadows as they take a while to set, but these are fabulous. The Glow Touch I am SO pleased with – this is genuinely pretty and comfortable on both lips and cheeks. Often dual-purpose products are horrible on one or the other, and this is lovely. I feel it won’t last long the cheeks (I only tried briefly) but it sure looks pretty.

The pigment I’m not stoked on – it’s pretty chunky and didn’t apply well wet or dry, but for £2.50 I’m not too bothered and I’m sure I’ll find a use for it. The blush however, is gorgeous. It’s a beautiful soft mauve and I really like the highlight shade in particular.

I haven’t swatched the lipbalm as it just comes off as a sheer gloss, but it was the scent that drew me in and I needed a new lip balm.There’s a whole bunch of buttery, fruity scented lipsticks in that collection that do have a colour pay off, each with a corresponding colour on the packaging so worth checking out if you like that type of lip product.

 

Well that’s my bargain haul! If you can’t get to the two Kiko stores in London you can shop their sale here: http://www.kikocosmetics.co.uk/sale.html

First Impressions: Bourjois Je T’aime Vintage/Little Round Pot Blusher in Rose d’Or

Apart from a recent ill-fated Healthy Mix purchase, my last Bourjois buy was way back in my first or second year of uni, when I like their clear blue minty gloss. For some reason a special offer piqued my interest recently and I picked up a few things, including this adorable looking little blush. It’s Bourjois’ 150th anniversary this year, and they’ve packaged three of their best-selling shades in adorable 1930’s style packaging. These colours are being referred to  as ‘Je T’aime Vintage Blushes’ but they’re same Little Round Pot ones as they normally have out.

I’m fascinated with history of makeup brands – cue nerdiness! - and the history of Bourjois is really interesting. Like most very old makeup brands, the creator Alexandre Napoleon Bourjois started out making stage makeup – day to day, normal people didn’t wear much or any makeup and it was mainly produced for actors. For a long time, if you wore rouge you were considered a whore! Blush, however, was one of the first products Bourjois made and it’s kind of cool that blushers are still such a key part of the brand today! I think some of the shades have been around for more than 100 years which to me is pretty darn cool.

Rather annoyingly the special packaging is just a sticker, which I think is a bit of a cop-out for your anniversary, Bourjois, but hey, that’s just me! It’s still adorable though and I will admit it’s what attracted me to product.

It comes with an adorable looking but useless brush – it’s very stiff, hard to hold and grabs way too much product. Only use if you want to look like an irritated, stripy clown. I don’t know why companies still do this.

I’ve not used these blushers for a long, long time – I remember my housemate used to have lots of them. They always gave her a lovely glow and never looked too much with her crazy hair colours, so I was expecting something sheer and pretty – your typical baked blusher, really. I don’t own NARS Orgasm but it this seems to be that type of shade – a bright pink with gold sheen. It’s actually pretty pigmented when you swipe it – more so than I was expecting.

On the skin, it’s just what I wanted. Subtle and pretty with a nice but not too disco-ball of a glow. It’s so small and compact it’s going straight into my everyday makeup bag – the brush, however, is going in the bin!

New Vlog: Illamasqua Favourites

The new Illamasqua collection launches today and I'm eyeing a fair few things from the line! The lovely green lipgloss in Shoot has got 'cult classic' written all over it and everyone is going nuts over the 'mini egg' polishes already - it's really hard to get indie polishes in the UK so unusual glitter finishes are pretty rare over here.

 

In light of the launch, I decided to film my favourite Illamasqua products. OK, it's mostly lip stuff, but what did you expect? My earrings which are rather rude and childish are by Gogo Philips at Topshop, FYI.

What are your Illamasqua favourites? Anything to recommend me that I can add to my horrendously long list?

My Top Five Favourite MAC Blushes

I do love me a MAC blush, I won’t lie! They don’t get as much love from me personally as they should, as they’re all kit blushes - I have four full palettes now and they’re hugely useful to me. These are my personal favourites that I like using on myself, though.

L-R:

MAC Harmony (Matte)

Everyone loves MAC Harmony – it’s a lovely contouring colour for paler skins, and it’s a pretty subtle contour on me which I really like. It does lean a little warm, but not too warm and I just find it really versatile. A MAC classic.

MAC Modern Mandarin (Satin)

From last years Tres Cheek collection, this is a beautiful bright, orange based blush. It’s got a lovely satin sheen that makes it much less scary on the cheeks. It’s just really brightening and pretty! I thought it was LE, but as of writing it’s still available on the website.

MAC Buff (Matte)

Oh Buff, how I love thee! It’s a beautifully natural colour on my cheeks when blended out. The website describes it as a “soft muted pinkish-peach,” but I see a little more brown in it. Either way, it’s a very natural, effortless and subtle colour and I use it a lot – it pretty much goes with every look.

MAC Mocha (Matte)

Ok, so Buff and Mocha look pretty similar here, but on the cheek they look much more different. MAC describes Mocha as a “soft plum-pink” and there’s certainly much more pink here than in Buff, and so does give a little more rosiness on the cheek. Again, really really easy colour to wear.

MAC Peaches (Sheertone)

I wouldn’t be being true to myself if I didn’t have a peach blusher in my MAC favourites as I have four or five in different finishes. Peaches is, as the name suggests, a straight up peach colour. I love, love, love a peach blush on my skin and this applies subtly, beautifully and really lifts my complexion. If I had to keep one MAC blush I’d be tempted by Peaches!



As you can see, I kind of prefer their more natural and neutral colours! What are your favourites MAC Blushes?

How To: Cream Blush

I love me some cream blush, I really do! I know most of you reading this will be up to speed with them and already know how to use them, but I’ve realised that a lot of non-makeup nerds aren’t sure how to use them. I love them and think they look beautiful so I thought I’d write a guide to them for anyone who wasn’t so sure. It’s a bit long, so grab yourself a cuppa and a biscuit first!

The product:



L-R: Silk Naturals Cream Blush in Tickle, NYX Blushables Crème Stick in Pink Flash, Darling Girl Sweet Cheeks Blush in U*SA*HA*NA, Inglot AMC Cream Blush in 80, Max Factor Soft Touch Creamy Blush in Soft Pink, MAC Cremeblend Blush in So Sweet, So Easy

Cream blushes are made by SO many companies these days –  you can see from above everyone from indie companies to higher end brands produce them.  If you click to enlarge the picture, you can somewhat tell than the formulas all vary; some are thicker and creamier than others, some may feel greasy, some have more shimmer, etc., so they’re just like powder blushers in that they differ so much from each other. They come in all type of packaging, from tubs to sticks to typical blush pans.

They are what it says on the tin – blushes with a creamy formula as opposed to powder blushes or cheek stains. While my particular favourites are the Inglot AMC Cream Blush range, in the UK street you can pick them up from Topshop, Max Factor, MAC, Bobbi Brown and Revlon as well as the pocket friendly Collection and MUA. So they’re very easy to get hold of these days!

L-R: Illamasqua Cream Pigment in Emerge, MAC Cream Colour Base in Move Star Red, Milani Color Perfect Lipstick in Rose Hip

Above are a few multi-purpose products that aren’t billed as blush but can easily be used as one! I had to include a lipstick because most lipsticks that aren’t matte will make a great cream blush! If you’ve never used cream blush and are not sure if they’re for you, pull out one of your lippies and give it a try.

Why use a cream blush?

Cream blushers melt into the skin as opposed to sitting on top of it, like a powder. For this reason they look can give a much more natural look and a lovely “skin-real” finish. Because they are creamy, they often give a nice dewy glow as well because they don’t dry down, so they’re perfect if you’ve got drier, older or dull-looking skin that needs some help radiance-wise. They’re best applied with (CLEAN!) fingers in my opinion as the heat of your skin really helps to work the product in to your face, so they’re great for travelling or if you know you’ll need to touch up as you won’t necessarily need to take a blush brush with you. Just as lipsticks can double up as cream blush, cream blushes can double as lip product too!

Is a cream blush right for me?

Sadly cream blushers can suck in that they often don’t wear as long as powder blushers because they often don’t set or dry down fully, so if you have particularly oily skin, they may not work for you – they’ll slip off your skin. It sounds obvious, but if you can test the product in store, do! If the blush is more of a cream-to-powder type, that may work better for oilier skins as it will set somewhat. If the blush feels very sheer or greasy, you know probably it’s not going to last well on you no matter what your skin type! Conversely, if you have very dry skin, a cream-to-powder formula may highlight any dry patches as much as a regular blush might, whereas while a more creamy one still may not last well on you, it may look better on your dry skin.

If you’ve bought cream blushers that don’t do it for you on thier own, I’d suggest setting them with different powder blushes or highlighters to get new colour combinations. They’re normally natural enough that you can do this without clownface happening.

How to use a cream blush:

First, get your foundation on. I’d recommend a foundation that wears pretty well and that will set on your face. If you’re using something like a BB cream or a tinted moisturizer that you have to set with powder because it feels tacky on the skin, I wouldn’t recommend wearing a cream blush with that foundation. It’s just going to mix up on your face, not blend in very well and make a gross mess.

Apply a small amount of your blush. I’m not an ‘apples of the cheeks’ person and prefer to apply my blush more on the backs of my cheeks, but put it directly on where you want your final flush to be!



NYC Blushables Crème Stick in Pink Flash.

When it’s on, start blending it in with your clean fingers until you’re happy with the colour:



The colour level is about where I want it, but the edges look a little bit harsh.  Take your foundation brush that you used to put your foundation on, and start to blend out the edges of the blush so there are no harsh lines. The foundation that’s left over on your blush is going to make blending it in super easy. If you’ve applied a bit too much colour, don’t panic! It can take a little bit of practice to determine how much you’ll need, so just pick up the excess with a clean sponge and carry on blending.

And you’re done!




This is why I love cream blush – it just looks so natural and slightly glowy. (It showed up a little brighter in real life – i was hard to capture on camera!) While I’m all about crazy eye and lip makeup, I want my skin to look good and I really think cream blushers make it look awesome.  Whether you powder or not is entirely up to you – it will make it last much longer, but it will take away the dewiness:



Inglot AMC Cream Blush in 81.

I’ve powdered over the swatch on the left – you can see none of the dewiness is coming through at all. I do often powder over cream blushers because you will still have the natural-looking flush and I don’t always mind sacrificing the dewiness – just make sure you pick a powder that is nice and light and not cakey (Which, you know, I recommend doing generally :/ Illamasqua’s Loose Powder in 010 is really awesome and smells like sweeties). If you want a little shimmer, try mixing a tiny bit of sparkly loose, pigment in with your powder when you’re setting it – something finely milled and not chunky. It won’t have the same natural glow but it won’t look flat either.

I realise not everyone will want to apply makeup with their fingers. Lots of makeup artists don’t like to use fingers on clients for hygiene reasons, some people might be germophobes or not want to get product on their hands.  Personally I keep a little bottle of hand sanitizer on my makeup desk, so I’m not bothered at all. But of course if you prefer, you can use a brush! Make sure you use a synthetic brush – they’ll soak up less product than a natural bristle brush so you’ll use less and it will be much easier to wash your brush! You can even use the brush to transfer the product to your face and then blend it in with your fingers so you’re keeping your hands from contaminating your product.



It’s even harder to tell how much to use when you’re using a brush, so just touch it to the product like I did above. That gave me this result, so it was plenty for this particular product:

MAC CCB in Move Star Red

What NOT to do:



Inglot AMC Cream Blush in 81.

See that? That’s a cream blush that I’ve blended in. It looks gross, right? What’s happened here is that I’ve put it over my foundation and powder. All this is going to do is make a nasty paste that won’t rub in any further! I’ve heard lots of tales from MUAs and online of people doing this, and I’m guessing it’s because they think it will last longer. If you must use powder, do it after you’ve applied your blush.  If you prefer a powder foundation, cream blushers may not work for you, although you can apply your blush first and then your foundation if you’re so inclined. If you’re not sure, make sure you’re hygienic when you’re testing your blush at home and then if it doesn’t work with your skin or preferred foundation routine, you can at least give it to a friend or women’s shelter instead of binning it!




Any questions, please just ask! I hope someone out there found this helpful and sorry to everyone who knew all this already ;p