NEW! Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush Palette!

O M G  - when I heard about hourglass coming out with ANOTHER one of their infamous ambient palettes, I had to hop on it! Sephora was having an exclusive VIB rouge sale before it officially came out in October, so I hopped on to pick one (or two :P) up!

Here's your exclusive, first look at the palette. Now I already own one in radiant magenta and have used it for quite some time. The effortless, finely milled texture makes it so easy to apply and gives a somewhat 'airbrushed' finish. It looks so natural without looking chalky.

So you can imagine my excitement to pick up this cute little palette with THREE more colors - two that i've been fawning over! -- luminous flush and mood exposure!

Alright let's get into the picture + swatches for you!

Luminous Flush, Incandescent Electra, Mood Exposure 

Each little blush is .116oz, the original blush is .15oz and the lighting powder is .35oz for comparison! 

Swatches of Luminous Flush (top) - described as a champagne rose

Incandescent Electra (middle) - described as a cool peach

Mood Exposure (bottom) - described as a soft plum

The palette comes out, I believe October 1 and is an amazing addition to your makeup stash if you've been looking to try out these awesome blushes! It's a great travel item too because its sleek, compact yet gives you many choices of color! At $58, it may be steep, but IMO beats paying for ONE blush at $35!  Definitely definitely go check it out! You will love this --- PS. it would be great for a holiday present ;P…. just sayin' <3 

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Hourglass Ambient Powder Blush in Radiant Magenta

Hi dollfaces! So I ordered the Hourglass Ambient Lighting blush in Radiant Magenta when Sephora was doing an exclusive VIB sale. I debated getting the other ones, but I decided this one caught my eye the most.

Here is my pretty little blush in Radiant Magenta. The site described this color as a 'golden fuchsia' and its a gorgeous medium pink that leans warm (although it shows on my face as more of a cool pink). Although it has that beautiful golden veining, the shimmer is not overpowering… in fact it looks almost more like a satin finish blush rather than one that is very glittery.

These are very reminiscent of the Hourglass' Ambient Lighting Powders as they feel so soft and silky. They have very finely milled powders that go on effortlessly, blends easily and are very buildable.

To the left is the hourglass blush. I LOVE the packaging and everything about it! (although the font is eh!). To the right is the ambient powder just for comparison purposes :) Their blushes are .15oz and the powder is .35oz

The right side is just a slight wash of color and the left is the color built up. As you can see, you can make the color very natural or very pigmented depending on the look you are going for!

Overall, this blush is lovely. Although not entirely unique (as I have many blush colors in a similar shade!), the blendability and the way it performs is what makes this product worth checking out :)

You can purchase these blushes for $35 online at the hourglass website or at sephora on 2/21.
Will you be picking any up!??!

xoxo

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Benefit Lollitint Swatches + Review

Ever since I ordered this when it first came out, I have used this NONSTOP. I think this has got to be my favorite benefit stain I own (lol and i own all of them!). They describe this as a 'candy-orchid tinted lip + cheek stain' and I think the color is on point. It is definitely a GORGEOUS cool toned pinky purple color. With my crazy obsession with everything orchid color, this definitely doesn't fall short!

As a cheek stain, this is beyond gorgeous. Its a non sticky, thin liquid product that dries down quickly (so you must work quickly!) It works best when you apply the product one cheek at a time, or else you'll end up with a lovely marked stain on your face that you may not have intended on :P It is definitely buildable so you can have this color as natural or as deep as you'd like!

The product leaves the most gorgeous orchid pink color on my cheeks and lasts throughout the whole day without any need of touch ups.

On lips, it can be drying as it doesn't provide any hydration (which I did not expect since its a stain). The way I like to use it is dab it over my bare lips and apply a clear balm or gloss on top. Makes the wonderful color stand out and look effortless!

Here is the product 'blended out' after 15ish seconds of it sitting on my hand. As you can see, it leaves a gorgeous stain, but you must work quickly! 

Here is the product blended out!

Basically, I've been so in love! I've been using this product nonstop this past month and don't see myself stopping anytime soon! haha :) It's just so effortless and perfect :) Definitely my favorite of all the stains (with chachatint closely behind!) 

You can (and definitely need to… haha!) purchase this for $30 online at benefit, sephora or ulta website or in store at sephoras, ultas, benefit beauty counters and stores :)  

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Nars Adult Content Cheek Palette

Ok, did the name not make you giggle with embarrassment? Nars has some of the funniest, raunchiest, inappropriate, yet giggle worthy names.. and this one doesn't disappoint either.

Here is the palette in my hand for size reference :)

Not only was I drawn in by the name, but I was also drawn in by the fact that three of my favorite Nars blushes were placed in one palette. This palette is the same size as the 'foreplay' palette which was a cheek palette that was the 'deconstruction of orgasm. You can see my review and swatches here.

In this palette are:
Deep Throat - a natural peach with shimmer
Zen - described as a 'neutral beige' - but it is more of a soft brown color on my skin
Desire - cotton candy pink
Miss Liberty - peach beige highlighter color with shimmer

Man, I can't get over how much I love this palette because Deep Throat, Zen and Desire are three of my absolute favorite blushes from Nars. The color of Deep throat gives the perfect sheen of color on your face for an every day look, Desire is perfect for a night out, with a fun, cute pink -- to an intense hawwwwt pink, and Zen has always been my go to lazy 'contour and blush' color in one. Miss Liberty is just an extra goodie that you get as a fun highlighter that has some shimmer and glitter.

Below are the colors and swatches. In the palette going clockwise from top left: Zen, Miss Liberty, Deep Throat and Desire.

I adore this palette!!!!

I purchased mine from Nordstrom here for $49. :) 

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Nars Foreplay Palette

If you know me, you know I absolutely ADORE Nars' blushes. They are by far my favorite cheek products evar in this WORLD! So it is not surprising that I went cray cray over the New Sephora Exclusive Nars Cheek palette in Foreplay. Sephora's last exclusive cheek product was the Danmari and I LOVED that to death!

This awesome palette comes with 4 shades. Orgasm and 3 other colors. The idea behind this palette is that it is the deconstruction of Orgasm - so it has a matte pink, matte peach and a golden highlight color. What a unique and fun concept. Love when there is a story behind a product!

It says it's .36oz which is just bigger than the bronzer powder. I haven't seen any swatches of this product as it just launched recently, but I have (of COURSE) already ordered it to share with you guys my thoughts.

So for now, I leave you with a picture of the product and the link to the site!

Til I receive my pretty cheek products ;)

Happy July <3

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Tarte Amazonian Clay 12 hour Blush Review

I get a lot of questions about the Tarte Blush and if I've tried it... and my answer to people is always Yes!!! so I figured why not just post a lil ol' review on it so that way for any of my future makeup lovers that may have a similar question about this product, hopefully this review can answer it for you! :)







I have two (actually 3 but one is not pictured) Tarte blushes that I've had for months and months. I have one in a pretty pink (mid way between baby and barbie lol) called Dollface that I received as a gift (not sure if it was last christmas or my birthday) from one of my closest friends in the cyber world, Wendy, aka BentleyBlonde. Maybe about a month after that, I picked up the now extremely coveted Exposed.

First off, I would like to say that.. YES. I love them. The problem is, I really love my Nars Blushes as well, so when it comes down to which one to pick up when I'm getting ready - I tend to go with the oldie but goodie Nars. Although the Tarte may be better in comparison, sometimes it's hard to make the switch!!!!

Here is Dollface. It's a wonderful pink, perfect for an everyday pinky look. It is a nice matte medium pink that gives you the perfect "flushed" look.

Here is Exposed. Everyone and their mamas love this color and I definitely know why. It's very similar to my Douceur and Zen by Nars but it has a bit more of a pinky color in it. It is a nice pinkish brown matte color that is light enough to dual as a bronzer and blush. It gives that effortless look that has people questioning, "damn do her cheeks look amazing and contoured naturally? or does she have on some blush?" (lol).

I do have this in Adored as well, but it has glitter in it, so I don't tend to pick it up. I'm also unsure (I got it a while ago) how the glitters transfer on to the face.

Here are the swatches:

L-R Heavily Swatched Dollface, Heavily Swatched Exposed, One swipe Dollface, One swipe Exposed
PS. I don't know what that scratch is from in the one swipe dollface lol

And now for my breakdown:

Texture: At first touch, it's a bit hard and chalky. I'm not going to lie, I was hesitant in picking it up because of the way it felt when I swatched it. I realized though the hard texture is so that you do waste any product when you're picking it up. Don't be deceived though, the product is WONDERFUL when it is applied with a brush onto your skin. It is way different than my initial thoughts of when I first swatched it in store.

Pigmentation: At first touch, it's just like any normal blush, but it is incredibly buildable which I love. You will see in the swatches above that one swipe can be done for a nice light touch of color or a couple swipes could be used for a darker, night out look.

Lasting Power: I will have to say this is the product that wins them all. Without any sort of cream product underneath, it is by far the longest lasting powder blush I have tried. By the end of the night, my Nars products would have been off my face, leaving me nice and pale (unless I have a cream product underneath it), but the Tarte blush really lasts. When I wore it at 7am to go student teaching and by the time I got home around 7:30pm - I could still see remnants of color on my face. I mean it's not like when I put it at 7am, but the color is still there.

Who would this be good for: I have quite dry cheeks and it works fine for my skin. It actually claims that it could work for all skin types - and I'll be honest, I don't doubt it:

For oily skin types, Amazonian clay minimizes oil in and around pores to balance skin and keep product in place. Those with dry skin will benefit from the clay's nourishing and hydrating properties, which naturally restore skin's moisture. Combination skin types can rely on its ability to zero in on skin concerns and deliver benefits to restore complexion harmony.  

Price: Price is a bit steep at $25 per piece, but I'll be honest, I haven't made near dent on either of these blushes, and I've had them for quite a while AND used the quite a bit. In fact, you can still see the original tarte design on it, which to me... is kinda crazy!

Overall: Would make an excellent purchase an investment. This proves to be an extremely versatile product that I really believe that this can work for anyone. I would highly recommend it 100% to anyone.
              Pros: Everything. Long lasting-ness, color payoff, good for all skin types

              Cons: Price, not sure how the glitter-y colors would look on skin. 

You can purchase it here at sephora.com

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