Coral Cream Blushes

I clearly have an obsession with cream blush, no other make up product excites me more. Powder blush IS lovely, but the consistency of a cream ignites a more youthful appearance making it more desirable.

Coral is the PERFECT summer shade, whether it be on your cheeks, lips or nails. It's a flattering shade for every skin tone and here are a few I have to show you...

1. Nars - Cactus Flower
2. Bobbi Brown Pot Rouge - Calypso Coral
3. Illamasqua - Rude
   

See swatch comparisons below in the same order listed:

Here's a mini review on all of them:

• Nars 'Cactus Flower' - The darkest of the 3, it's a true coral shade almost leaning towards the red family. It has tiny flecks of gold which aren't that noticeable once blended as they are very finely milled. The consistency is quite creamy yet dry - it doesn't feel sticky or greasy once you touch it. The pigmentation is out of this world, a little goes a long way. It looks perfect teamed with a gold based highlighter. This lasts all day on me and I never set it with powder.

• Bobbi Brown 'Calypso Coral' - This is a true bright coral with a tiny bit of pink, it has no shimmer or glitter making it look very natural. It's slightly greasy once you touch it but it blends away leaving a natural finish. It's highly pigmented, with great colour payoff. The colour is buildable depending on the brightness you want to achieve. I apply this with a stippling brush like the Mac 187, it lasts all day and is a multi purpose product that can also be worn on the lips.

• Illamasqua - 'Rude' - This is the palest of the 3, it's a milky coral that is ever so creamy. It's slightly greasy so it leaves a dewy finish to the cheeks once applied - it looks great on lips too. This doesn't last all day on my cheeks due to the consistency but I don't mind reapplying as I love the colour so much.

Which is my favourite? Don't do this to me, they are all my favourites for different reasons! :)

What's your favourite coral cream blush?

If you are in the US, I would recommend you check out the new NYC cream blushes for dupes, as they look totally gorgeous, check out detailed swatches & reviews HERE from Ebru.

Disclaimer: I was sent the Illamasqua 'Rude' for review purposes

Decluttering!

A little bit of lipstick, a palette of eyeshadow, a pot of concealer here and there can become annoying particularly when they pop up in the wrong places. I hate clutter with a passion and really can't stand looking at too much makeup.

Yes there are pretty boxes and baskets to store them in, but really... Do you need that much space? No bueno.

Here's my organised mess! The current storage solution is utterly horrible, as it looks way too cluttered because of the acrylic see through drawers. It will NOT be like this for much longer. Seriously looking at it makes me want to cover it up with a white cloth! :)

I will be buying a distressed white dressing table very soon and will only keep whatever makeup I can fit into it's drawers, I certainly do not want to clutter the top of the table. I want to keep it as empty and as calm as possible. Good luck to me!

Let's pretend all my make up disappeared and I was only allowed to buy 15 items which is ridiculous, it was going to be 10 items but seriously that's just absurd. This is what I would go out and buy:

1. Bourjois 10hr sleep effect foundation
2. Bobbi Brown creamy concealer
3. YSL touche eclat
4. Chanel Bronze Universel
5. Benefit Moon beam.
6. Mac Moon River mineralised highlighter/blush.
7. Mac Ripe Peach blush
8. ELF Pink Lemonade all over color stick
9. Bobbi Brown Calypso Coral pot rouge for lips and cheeks
10. Mac Creme d'nude lipstick
11. Mac Pink Lemonade lipglass
12. Urban Decay Book of shadows palette
13. Mac blacktrack fluidline
14. L'oreal Voluminous mascara
15. Benefit Speed brow - brow gel

What 15 items would you repurchase if all your make up dissapeared?

FYI: I will show you what my new setup looks like once it's complete! :)

Body Shop baked makeup and more!

I just about made it to the Body Shop event yesterday, *claps for leaving the decorating* the star of everything on display was clearly the baked make up. I always attend the Body Shop events as I have a soft spot for them as I grew up with most of their products and still shop from them regularly.


The immediate eye catchers are the face products resembling Macs mineralised skin finishes and blushes. They are slow baked for 24 hours in Italy on terracotta discs which can be used wet or dry. There are 2 shades of bronzer and blush available.

My shade in the bronzers is the Golden Bronze as I have a olive/tanned complexion, the Warm Glow is for fairer shades but I found that it makes a great highlight on my skin. These bronzers are glittery, but they are quite finely milled, I wouldn't recommend applying them all over the face as a standard matte bronzer as the shimmer can look a bit odd in direct sunlight. However, as just a cheek product they are beautiful. Chase Aston the make up artist applied some on me and my cheeks looked beautiful if I do say so myself! :)

Bronzer price: £14.00

Blush Price: £12.00

The blushers are very pretty, the Petal shade I found to be more pigmented than the Coral shade. They have 2 sides, a highlight and a blush side which can also be used mixed together. I personally prefer the coral shade mixed together as it looks quite subtle with a tint of colour.

There are 8 eyeshadow shades available, the only one that stood out to me was the 2nd one in the 1st row which is called Quartz. The pink is like a paler version of Mac's 'Stars n Rockets' e/s with the same duo chrome finish, the darker side is a Aubergine shade with hints of pink.

Eye colour price: £9.50

Would I recommend them? I would say check out the bronzers and see if you can stand the shimmer in them, the blushers are pretty depending on the shades you like, the eye shadows are quick and easy to apply with your fingers just like the shimmer cubes. I do think they are overpriced for what they are as they are not high end products but they are quality, I would suggest keeping an eye on discounted offers and promotions.

Available: July 2010

Being the skincare freak that I am, something else grabbed my attention, TBS are also revamping their vitamin C line. They are introducing a new product called 'facial radiance powder mix' which is a serum you mix and use morning & night for 10 days to see an improvement in skin tone. I have used it last night and this morning and will keep you up to date if any thing miraculous happens.

I also popped into Space NK and picked up a contoured blush brush for £8 on sale from £16.

And.... I also popped into H&M and picked up these jewellery pieces, I wore the yellow ones yesterday and they looked so hot! The angular earrings and cool ring is also pretty hot too. The necklace is for my hubby..

Hope you are having a wonderful weekend! Will you be checking any of these items out? X

Disclaimer: All Body Shop products mentioned were provided for review purposes. Honest opinion as always yada yada yada.

China Glaze - Peachy Keen

The first time I wore this it was SO streaky and hard to apply. This time round I used a base coat (Caviar Nails Inc) and it was fine, but I did use 3 coats to achieve this level of opaqueness.

The colour is peach with a slight neon feel to it which is almost impossible to capture on camera. For some reason this reminds me of the 80's, I really love this colour as it's perfect for Summer!

Yep, I cut my nails SO short and I can't wait for them to grow back..

Have you tried 'Peachy Keen' and do you think the colour is worth the effort?

Speed Brow - Let's talk eyebrows!

I'm quite lucky that I don't have to do much to my eyebrows to get them looking decent. I just pluck away some stray hairs on the end, but I did once practically pluck everything away as a teenager until I had this weird thin line which looked absolutely disgusting... Oh the shame!

My eyebrow style is natural, I don't like very arched or structured brows that look harsh, very thin or very thick brows. It's best to have them quite full with a slight arch to lift your face. There's no right or wrong brow shape but the way God created them is obviously what's best. Do not shave them off and draw them on higher!

If you need to fill in your eyebrows with powder or pencil, make sure it looks soft and natural - I would recommend a powder e/s like 'Brun' or 'Cork' from Mac to fill them in and maybe a wax or gel to keep them in place.

I first used Benefit's clear eyebrow gel years ago just to tame my eyebrows which has been discontinued, I then tried Elf's clear eyebrow gel which was a complete waste of money as it did not hold. I have also tried Mac's clear eyebrow gel which was nice but didn't hold very well. I have also tried Vaseline or hairspray applied onto a mascara wand which did help but nothing to write home about. I went into Benefit a couple of days ago and saw that they still do an eyebrow gel with the same formula but a tinted version.

Meet Benefit's 'Speed Brow' eyebrow gel which claims to tint, tame and set eyebrows in record time... I have been wanting it for AGES!

The colour is "neutral" which is basically clear with a tiny brown tint which would suit almost everybody. FYI: My mum is blonde and this also works for her.

BEFORE: Here are my eyebrows naturally with some foundation I manage to apply onto them accidentally whilst rubbing it in. The hairs are quite long and manage to look down which is tres annoying.

AFTER: Here they are with the speed brow applied, the slight tint helps to get rid of the foundation residue and make them look sharper and obviously tamed, I have worn this everyday for the past 3 days and omg do they hold? my eyebrows stay in shape the whole day and they don't feel crispy when I touch them!

I recommend this if you like eyebrow gels and want one that holds! The only bad thing is the tube is quite small so I'm not sure how long this will last me as I use it everyday.

Price: £12

What do you use for your eyebrows?

Sweet and Punchy..

I really love this LE colour from 'To the beach' as it compliments my hazel eyes, it IS a bit of a scary colour to wear but once you tone it down with different shades of brown it becomes quite wearable. I wore it out last night with a black skirt and top. I kept my accessories wooden and tan coloured to tie everything together.

I think it's VERY important not to go crazy with your outfit when wearing such a bright look on your eyes, as then you enter the territory of it looking cheap.

1. Mac 'Sweet & Punchy' e/s all over the lid and slightly in the crease
2. Mac 'Cork' e/s in the crease
3. Mac 'Brun' to define crease and outer V.
4. Mac 'Brun' on inner half of lower lashline and outer half of upper lash line.
5. Benefit 'Eye Bright' on waterline, inner corners of the eye and brow bone to highlight
6. YSL Faux Cils mascara.

FYI: With this look I wore Mac 'Peachstock' lipstick with Nars 'Sertao' blush to ensure focus was on my eye area.

Would you wear something as bright as this?

Palette Crazy?

I'm a bit of an organisational freak.

I can't stand different sized eye shadows in my drawer, I would rather them be all the same size or the same brand and keep them in a palette. A bit too much? Maybe.

It seems that most beauty brands are picking up on the palette frenzy that Mac kind of started. Other brands which have large or custom palette options include Make Up Forever, Nars, Urban Decay, Too Faced, Coastal scents, Bobbi Brown, Inglot and Shu Uemura. I mean, even I made a custom lip palette.

I received a surprise parcel from Coco Beau the other day. It's an exclusive palette consisting of 16 eye shadows, 4 blushes and 2 lipsticks which is called "The Garden Girl Palette" and manufactured by Bee Luscious Cosmetics.

Pretty?

It's rather large, almost double the size of a Mac palette.

There are a variety of colours and finishes including matte, soft sheen and sparkly eye shadows.

Here are the 4 blushes and 2 lip colours.

Here are all of the eye shadows swatches, if you want a full list of the names and finishes, click HERE.

My favourites are:

• Eggplant (sheer satin eyeshadow)
• Distressed Khaki (dimensional shadow)
• Neo Plum (mineral eyeshadow)
  

Neo Plum is really similar to Urban Decays 'Mayhem' which is my favourite purple ever!

Here are swatches of the blushes and 2 lipsticks below. Sparkling rose looks suspiciously similar to Nars Orgasm and doesn't 'Coral Sun' look amazing?

Price: £67.50

What do I think?

The Good: The pigmentation of all of the colours are amazing, non chalky and easy to blend. They really do look like colours you would find in a garden and there are plenty of colour combinations to choose from. Good value for money for so many eye shadows including blush and lip colours.

The Bad: I don't like the logo that has been stuck onto the front as it makes it look cheap - an engraved or printed logo would have looked much smarter. I would have liked to have seen some neutral browns and highlight colours too as it would have made it more versatile. I also don't like the embossed design on the matte colours.

Would I recommend it? Yes, if you are palette crazy or if you are just getting into makeup as this would be a great kit without spending too much money. But, technically, if you already own a variety of colours, you don't need to be greedy and get this too unless you need it!.

Are you crazy about palettes?

Disclaimer: This product was sent to me for consideration for review, I did not get paid to blog about it and I am not affiliated with the brand or company. Do I even need to say that it's my honest opinion as always? Just did.

Freebie Alert!

Gotta love magazine freebies.

Grab July's edition of Glamour magazine out today for £2 in the UK and get yourself a free FULL SIZE Benefit 'Eye Bright', 'It Stick' or 'Bad Gal eyeliner'.

I grabbed all 3 of course, I even got 2 extras of the 'Eye Bright' as it's a staple product I use everyday.

Original Prices for these items are:

• Benefit - Eye Bright £14.00
• Benefit - Conceal It Stick £17.00
• Benefit - Bad Gal eyeliner £14.00

Worth a total value of £45!

Here are some quick swatches.

All 3 are very creamy and blendable! I have never used the "It Stick" or "Bad Gal" eyeliner so I really can't recommend them but spending £2 is a good way to test them if you are curious. However, I would definitely recommend the "Eye Bright", read my review HERE.

Will you be buying Glamour magazine for a freebie?

My Sweetie Pie

The apple of my eye!

PINK - Powder Blushes

My mission recently has been to discover the perfect pink blush. I struck gold with "Ripe Peach" blush ombre in the peach sector and now all my focus has been on different shades and textures of pink.

Here's 5 to lust over..

• MAC Tippy LE (Beauty powder blush) on the left
• Mac Dollymix (Sheertone shimmer) on the right.

Both of these have been compared to each other as Tippy was limited edition with the Hello Kitty collection, however as you can see, Tippy is more cool toned as opposed to Dollymix which is more warm toned and Rosy. Dollymix is also sheerer than Tippy but still pigmented.

• NARS Angelika

This is a cool toned medium pink with finely milled silver sparkles.

• MAC Moon River LE mineralised grand duo on the left
• MAC Well Dressed (Satin) on the right.

Both of these blush colours look quite similar in tone, but Well dressed is slightly darker, it's a satin so it has a soft sheen with no glitter. However, Moon River is very glittery which I use it as a highlight, I can see it working as a blush for fairer skins.

Here are the swatches for comparison!

• To be honest I NEVER wear Tippy, it's far too pigmented on me and it just looks way too much. I do think however it will get some use when I am uber tanned.
• Dollymix doesn't look that special in the pot but when applied looks beautiful. It has a soft sheen and applies really pigmented but still manages to look natural, I would however recommend a light hand.
• Well Dressed is a perfect blush for those who don't like to wear blush. Even though I love blush I do tend to skip it in my routine sometimes. When I wear this I don't feel like I need a highlighter as the soft sheen adds a nice glow.
• Moon River is a sparkly icy pale pink, it's probably the most used powder blush in my collection. I tend to use the lighter side as a highlighter, and the darker side as a blush when I want my cheeks to glow, it will look really pretty and stand out more on fairer tones of skin.

My Favourites?

I love Well Dressed for everyday, Dollymix is for when I want the perfect pink cheeks and Moon River is my perfect pink toned highlighter that doubles as a blush. Sadly Angelika and Tippy don't get a lot of love.

The conclusion? Yes, I have struck gold with Well Dressed and Dollymix and they are my perfect pink blushes! *Claps*

What's your favourite pink blush?