Life's a peach so swipe on some blush and enjoy it!

Happy Valentine's Day girls! I'm having so much fun posting these blush-overview-type posts. It really forces me to dig deep and find the blushes that I haven't used in a while. 

If I'm ever in a pinch (which reminds me I want MAC's Pinch O' Peach) and only have a few minutes to get ready, I usually like to apply a peachy shade of blush. I find they're the most natural looking on my extremely warm (okay fine, extremely yellow) skin. That isn't the only time I use these blushes, but I find they're always a safe choice. I'm sure I'm forgetting a few, but I think I managed to get the bulk of my peach/coral blushes into the photo. 

1. Shu Uemura Glow On Blush in P Peach 47

2. NARS Gilda 

3. Lorac Blush in Peach

4. elf Peachy Keen

5. NARS Torrid

6. Benefit Sugarbomb 

7. elf Candid Coral

8. Anna Sui Face Color Accent in 300 

9. MAC blush in Melba

10. MAC mineralize blush in Utterly Game (LE)

11. Laura Mercier Second Skin Cheek Colour in Lush Nectarine 

Because I find the above photos a bit of a jumbled mess, I decided to show you which are my most and least used peachy/coral blushes. 

Least Used:

7. elf Candid Coral

4. elf Peachy Keen

5. NARS Torrid

6. Benefit Sugarbomb

Most Used:

1. Shu Uemura P Peach 47

8. Anna Sui 300

10. MAC Utterly Game

3. Lorac Peach*

11. Laura Mercier Lush Nectarine 

*this one requires the most blending though so I don't use it if I'm in a hurry

I feel it's worth mentioning that even if your skin tone is on the cooler side, don't be afraid of the peaches. My skin is as yellow as they come and I still love to wear bright bubblegum and cool-toned pink blushes.

If you have a similar skin tone to me or are just a bit darker, I highly recommend the Anna Sui blush in the shade 300. Love, love, love it. It's sheer but pigmented enough. This blush is such a joy to apply. I usually like to buff and blend my blush until my arm is tired, but this blush just gives the most beautiful flush without all of the buffing and blending. The colour is very buildable so no need to worry about the fact that it's slightly sheer. It also has a light rose scent. It isn't a strong scent so I can't see it being a problem for those of you who prefer unscented products. I have only been using this blush for a few weeks so my opinion could change (and if it does, I'll be sure to update you) but for now I'm incredibly pleased and impressed with this blush. 

Are you a fan of peach/coral blushes? Any favourites? 

Peace, love & lots of chocolate covered kisses

Elise x

Bronzers: Kissed by the Sun

1. Stila Sun spf 15 Bronzing Powder in Shade 01

2. Hard Candy So Baked Bronzer in Hula Hula

3. Cargo Matte Medium 

4. NARS Laguna (poor thing always gets dropped)

5. MAC Bronzing Powder in Golden

6. Clinique True Bronze Pressed Powder Bronzer in 02 Sunkissed

7. bareMinerals All-Over Face Colour in Faux Tan

Ignore the '5' in the middle of Hard Candy Hula Hula. 

I would fix it but I'm using paint and it's a jpeg so let's just pretend that isn't there :)

My bronzers really look like they've been through a lot but that's actually a lie. I rarely use bronzer so these poor little gems probably feel a bit neglected. My favourites are NARS Laguna and Cargo's medium matte bronzer. Now that I look at the swatches, the Clinique and Hard Candy bronzer actually look really pretty. I must have something against Clinique cosmetics. I never seem to want to use them. Hopefully that changes soon because I don't like wasting money. 

I rarely use the MAC bronzing powder. For some reason it's just really difficult to work with. I can swirl my brush in there a few times and still end up with no product on the brush. I remember trying the tester at the MAC counter and it had the same problem. At the time, I thought it was because there was too much oil in the tester from customers' fingers poking around in it. However, I now know it wasn't just the tester. I even scraped off the top layer with a mascara spoolie brush but that didn't seem to help. If you a have medium to dark skin tone, I would definitely suggest going a shade (or two) up. 

The reason I love the Cargo and NARS bronzer so much is because they never look orange on me.  I'm really pale and many bronzers have a tendency to look orange and harsh on my skin. The MAC bronzer in Golden is also good about never turning orange on me, but as I said, it isn't the easiest product to work with. Faux Tan by bareMinerals is beautiful but a little dark for me. It's very pigmented so it's actually a great price for a believable and natural looking faux tan. 

Do you have a favourite bronzer?

xx

Elise

Comparison: NARS Madly & Douceur

In all photos: NARS Madly is on the left, NARS Douceur is on the right

Sorry about the post overload from me, but I've been impatiently waiting for the Superbowl to begin so I've been in a blogging mood.

I was at a NARS counter the other day and they were still selling Douceur (a limited edition blush from the Fall 2010 collection). I know there are still people wondering about the difference between Madly and Douceur so I thought I would attempt to take a few photos that would clearly illustrate the fact that Douceur isn't just a matte version of Madly. 

They are both neutral blushes, but they actually aren't that similar. On me, Madly is more of a tawny-beige with a subtle shimmer. It is very highly pigmented and blends easily. If you swirl your finger in a MAC sheertone blush, that is what Madly feels like. Douceur is a dusty neutral rose shade. It isn't nearly as pigmented as Madly (although I do find that in the beginning the colour payoff was minimal but now that I've had it for a while, my brush can pick up a lot more product). If you are familiar with what a MAC sheertone shimmer blush feels, that's more or less the texture of Douceur.

Are they both must haves? I think you can probably get away with just one or the other. I would probably suggest NARS Madly. I feel it has the ability to work for a greater number of people since Douceur isn't as pigmented. When I first got Douceur, I thought it was a great shade. Now that I've had them both for quite some time, I feel Madly is the slightly more flattering and unique shade. 

I hope that was helpful!

Elise x