Favourite Blushers - High end and High street

Hey guys!  So keeping to the blusher theme that I seem to have set this week (Blush Collection), I thought I'd write a post for you on my favourite high end, and high street blush.

On the left we have NYX blusher in Pinched, and on the right, the famous NARS blush in Orgasm.

(backs of the packaging)

Again NYX on the left, NARS on the right :)

My Thoughts

So you may notice a theme here, how similar are these blushers!  Some might even say that the NYX blush is a dupe for the NARS blush ;)  There is definitely a difference in quality, but it's not a big difference.  They're both a beautiful rose gold coloured blush, the both blend really well, I'd say (other than the obvious cost difference) one of the main differences is how fine the product is.  As a result of that, the NARS is more blendable, but there's really not a lot in it.  If you can't afford the NARS one (I think it was just over £20), definitely go for the NYX Pinched one - you won't regret either :)

Do you have either of these and love them?

My Blush Collection

Hey guys!  Soo.... it occurred to me the other day that I have quite a few blushers now... and as you'll all know, it takes for-ever to get through a blusher!  So, with that in mind to go along with 'No-buy October' I'm adding 'No-buy Blusher' to the mix until I've used up at least 3 of them (this will NOT be easy!)

(after writing this post I realised I missed 3 blushers out! whoops!)

The Collection

You'll have to ignore the bronzer at the bottom (I couldn't get the blush out of the palette)

From left to right: 

1. NARS orgasm

2. MAC mineralized skin finish in Blonde

3. Smashbox in Chiffon

4. MAC (highlighter) in 'Hey Sailor' - it's a blush, lets face it

5. Chanel in Orchid Rose

6. Benefit Dandylion

7. NYX in Pinched

8. Collection creme blush in Peaches and Cream

9. MUA mosaic blush in English Rose

10. FashionistA blush in London

(the blushes I missed off my list/photo/collection are 'Benefit Georgia, Revlon creme blush in Pinched, a Maybelline creme blush)

There are a lot of winners here - generally the 3 I forgot, I forgot for a reason, I don't like them, so we'll focus on the ones I do like :)

As you'll know (if you read my blog) the NARS Orgasm blush is a new one for me, and I love, love, love it!  I'm a great fan of rose-gold, and especially rose-gold blushers.  The colour is beautiful, so pretty and blends really nicely.  The MAC msf in Blonde was a keen favourite of mine, don't get me wrong, I still love it, but there are others I'm preferring right now.  I love that it's got a build in highlighter, it's such a pretty colour.  Funny story about the Smashbox blush, I'd gone to get the Chanel Spring season blush (the stripy one) but nearly feinted when I saw how much it was (like, £45!) so I decided to toddle over to Smashbox who were next to Chanel and see what they had to offer instead, I picked this one up for £18, much more reasonable :)  The MAC highlighter in Hey Sailor is another funny one.  At this point, I didn't have an actual highlighter, so I thought I'd try this one.  Thinking that the colours were just sprayed on, I was very very surprised when I found out/realised they go all the way down... which means, it's more effective as a blush than a highlight, so just had to re-purpose that one.

Chanel in Orchid Rose, now this is a stunning blusher, the quality is fantastic, it's buildable and gives a lovely natural glow, one of my favourites.  Benefit's dandylion... hmm... it's pretty but it just lacks... va va voom!  It's just not one I reach for, and probably is one I should throw out, as it's ooooold!  NYX in Pinched is a super pretty rose-gold blush, I really can't recommend it enough.  If you can get hold of it, whether it's in your local store, or on ebay for those of us in the UK, then get it.  It's a great blush, and you won't regret spending a few pounds/dollars on it :) Collection cream blush, I like it, it's not my favourite, but it has great colour payoff and it's really blendable.  Plus, it's under £5 so it's a bargain too!    MUA mosaic blush in English Rose - beautiful, works both as a tinted highlighter and a blusher - just sweeps across the cheeks for a beautiful glow.  Finally, the FashionistA blush in London, this is quite a new one to me too, and I really love it.  It's a beautiful soft coral colour, it blends well and is just so lovely :) 

It's worth mentioning that the pigmentation on all of these blushers is great, and none of them have made me break out at all.

Have you tried any of these?  Which is your favourite?

NYX Blusher in Pinched

Hey guys, another one here as a result of my makeup swap with the lovely WheatenBeauty1 :)

So, this was a request I made as a result of seeing MissGlamorazzi's wonderful video on the Products she would repurchase which you can find here.  She was wearing a beautiful pink blush by NYX and since it was time for a swap, I added it to my list :)  So without further ado, here's the pics, and my thoughts below :)

My Thoughts

I love, love, love it!  Such a great recommendation (on that note, she also recommended the Maybelline One by One, which she'd seen in someone elses video, which I then bought, and now love!) - it's such a pretty pink and has a subtle gold shimmer.  It isn't too soft, so it doesn't splodge all over your face, which I hate, it's really blendable and gives a really beautiful soft glow.  I can see this making it into my September favourites :)

What's your favourite NYX product?

Pixi3 out

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Collection blush and highlight cream duo

Hey guys, another post for you today, yay!  So, I picked this up at Superdrug the other day and I have to say I really love it :)  

I'm very hit and miss with cream blushers because I find that they either take off the foundation underneath and add no pigmentation or they're too pigmented and dark and just look silly on me.  Aaaanyway, on with the pics and my thoughts below :)

Collection blush and highlight in Peaches and Cream

My Thoughts

I really like this - Collection have done themselves proud once again :)  You can see the difference between when you've just put it on and blended it.  Now, bear in mind that the blended swatch above is without foundation underneath - it blends even better then - that above swatch was also using a lot of product :)  The highlight is very natural and subtle once blended and looks really pretty :)  Superdrug is selling this for around £2.50 right now as an introductory offer, not sure how long that's for, but if you want to try it I'd grab it now before it's gone or more expensive :) 

What's your favourite cream blush?

Pixi3 out

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Revlon Photoready Creme blush

Hey guys!  How about this rain then eh?  So miserable!  Well, on that happy note, I'm sitting here, a bit poorly and with a cup of tea - writing a lovely review for you guys :p  A few weeks ago I bought the new Revlon Photoready Creme blush in Pinched.  Here's the pics :D

My Thoughts

The creme blush is a lovely natural looking colour (it looks a bit darker in my pics than it actually is).  It's a nice consistency and blends really well.  There's no real scent to it.  What I don't like about it is when you blend it, it takes off the foundation you have underneath leaving you with a patch of skin.... weird.  Also, when you blend it in, it becomes really sheer, so you don't have colour on your cheeks, but a bland bit of skin that looks silly :p  It's not something I plan on using much, in fact I may end up adding it to a blog sale to see if someone else has better luck with it :p  Other colours may be better, but I'm not very impressed with this one.

Pixi3 out

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Sleek Contour and Blush palette

Hey guys!  Hope you're all having a wonderful day?

I have another item for you today that's only just coming out.  So, you know how the Sleek contour palette is impossible to get hold of?  Well, they're re-releasing it as a trio with a blush!  I picked up one in the colour 'fair' (372) the other day - the third item in it is a blusher and what I really love, is that the one in the 'fair' palette is rose gold!!! Here's some pics and a review :)

Using all 3 - bronzer for contour, blusher on apples of cheeks, and highlighter on cheekbones in different lights

My Thoughts

Are you planning on picking up one of these?  I'm pretty sure they're going to sell out fast!!!  I wish I knew what the other colour blushers were going to be - but all I can say for now about this, is I seriously love it!  The highlight is so pretty, and adds just the right amount of sparkle.  The blusher compliments my skin perfectly, adding a lovely pink/gold shimmer - and the bronzer, works really well with my pale skin - I can see this replacing my Barry M bronzer as my 'go-to', as much because, as because it's so handing having all three together.  I love this and I'm super glad I managed to find one before they sell out nationally, much like the original contour palette.

Pixi3 out
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MAC Mineralize Skin Finish - Blonde

Hey everyone, today's post is about the fabulous MAC Mineralize Skin Finish (part of their Naturally collection) in Blonde.  Now, I believe this was limited edition, but from what I can gather they bring this back quite often, like, the last couple of years.  So fear not, should you love this, just wait six months or so, and hopefully they'll re-release it again :)

But for the moment, here's all the lovely pics :)

The darker colour (on the left on my hand) is the one I use for a blush on the apples of my cheeks, and then the far right colour (the lightest on my hand) is the one I use as a highlighter - I love, love, love this blusher, it's so pretty and really good if you have fair skin :)  Keep your eyes peeled for the next time they release it :) I'll try to keep you posted :)

Have you tried this before?  What did/do you think?

Pixi3 out

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Chanel and Smashbox Haul (and MAC, and L'Oreal)

Hey guys - I just wanted to share a few things with you that I've bought recently, I've done a Haul video to go with these too which you can check out below :)

So the first purchase I was and still am, super excited about! It's the Chanel single eyeshadow in Fauve (90). Lots of the youtube beauty guru's I follow have raved about this colour so I felt it was worth a trip to Chanel to pick up :) And I'll tell you what, it does not disappoint! It's the most beautiful colour, and depending on the lighting, depends on what colour it looks like. It's got brown, mauve and taupe in it.

The swatch on the left (above) is a dry swatch, and the one on the right is a wet swatch. The left one doesn't really do it justice, it's a stunning colour and I just can't get enough of it :)

Also from Chanel, I bought their Le Vernis Nail Colour in 521 Rose Cache, I do have quite mixed feelings about this colour. It's my first Chanel nail polish, and before judging the entire line, I will try other colours first. With this one, I had to apply it 3 times before I couldn't see my nail colour underneath, so I was a bit disappointed, but that could be the colour itself because it is very nude, which is what I was going for :) It's a bit orangy in the pic but, nice to see it on the nails too :)

Ok - on to Smashbox :) Really pleased to see them here in the UK and in Cardiff, hadn't seen them here before so I was very happy about that :) I'd initially gone to Chanel to buy their new Spring 2012 blusher, howerver, it was £45 and as amazing as it was, I just didn't want to spend that much money on it, so I decided to get a smashbox blusher instead :) It's in the colour Chiffon - it's a beautiful peach toned blush with tiny teeny sparkly bits in - but not too many :) The blush was about £18. The Chanel nail varnish was £17.50 and the eye shadow single was ..... £22 I think!

Since I bought those, I've also been back to visit MAC to pick up the Mineralize Skinfinish blush in Blonde - on launch day here in the UK! So excited! It's so so so pretty, you've basically got 4 pinks running through it from darker to light - the lighest one I'm tending to use as a highlight on the top of my cheekbones, and the darker side as the actual blush, it's actually really nice on top of my Chanel blush in number 18 Orchid Rose or on top of the Smashbox blush. This cost... £22 I think - maybe 50p less, but there abouts.

Then, today I had to pick up a new liquid eye liner as it seems my cat has hidden my Chanel one. And by that, I mean that I chucked the eyeliner on the bed, then went to pack it away later and it was gone. My cat is notorious for throwing things on the floor, then playing with them until they're hidden from hooman sight :) So, as I can't find it, I thought I'd grab the opportunity to try a new one, whoop! I picked up a L'Oreal Perfect Thin Super Liner in Intense Black, it has a foam applicator which I love love love! This takes me back to an old Max Factor one I used to use, so I was really happy with that. I applied it on top of the gel liner I was wearing when I got home and it's still going strong with no bleeding etc so I'm really happy with it. I think it was about £7-8, so watch this space for a proper review on it :)

That's it for now, thanks for reading :)

Here's the video

Pixi3

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