Flower Beauty Blush Bomb in the shade Nectar: Review and Swatches

This has been the year of cream blushes for me. Despite the fact that I have historically been afraid of blush and cream products, I have found that certain cream color products do, in fact, work- and work well. This is certainly true of a new product from Flower Beauty, The Blush Bomb Color Drops. When I saw Temptalia review them favorably (she was the only one at the time who even featured the product), I knew I had to try one.

I picked up the shade Nectar for $9.99.

The blush is housed in a squeeze tube and has a really cool applicator- the nozzle is entirely transparent. 

It contains 0.3 oz of product, and the tube was definitely smaller than I thought it would be. However, the drops are quite concentrated and you only need a little bit. 

Nectar is a very orange-leaning peach. I think it is quite unique to the berry and mauve tones already in my collection. 

Blended out:

I will say that I personally prefer using a synthetic blush brush to blend out the product after I dot a little on my face- and if I have to build up, I will. When I first tried it out, I used my fingers, but I found that a brush creates a more even effect.

On the face, the finish is not matte, but not overly luminous. Moderately dewy, if you will. And with my combination skin, this stuff lasted the entire work day on my face.

In short- I highly recommend this product. While I can't definitely say it is a dupe for any Glossier Cloud Paints (because I have not purchased any), the Flower Beauty is an affordable option that also gives you a better deal. While Glossier Cloud Paints equal to $54.00/fl oz, Flower Beauty clocks in at $33/fl oz. Make of that what you will.

I am very excited to continue using this for the summer!

Thanks for reading! 🌞

My Blush Collection and Swatches, pt 1.

I only recently started collecting blushes this year. Before, I had no idea what to do with blushes and would dread using them. However, once I got the hang of blush placement and stopped worrying about the apples of my cheeks, blush became fun.

Today I am going to share some of blush collection. I also bought the Tarina Tarantino Dollskin blush palette a few months ago off of ebay, but I will save that for another post.

From left to right on my arm, we have:
1._ Fyrinnae blush in Mesmerize
2._Makeup Geek blush in Puppy Love
3._ Flower Beauty Blush in Sweet Pea
4._ Nyx Baked Blush (+ Illuminator + Bronzer) in Chiffon

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Let's start with Fyrinnae's Mesmerize. I do not use this often, but I did buy this for its strong purple tone. Besides this, I do not own many purple blushes, and one can see that it is quite pigmented. A little goes a long way, which is why I wish I had a pressed version of this, rather than loose. It makes using it a little difficult.

Next, is Puppy Love. Very pigmented formula and is a little dark for me. I find it hard to blend on my skin. It still is a beautiful rose brown color that I use when I want to avoid pinks. 

Speaking of pinks, Sweet Pea by Flower Beauty is a perfect pink for me. It is buildable formulation, and very easy to apply. 

Last is a weird one, Chiffon by Nyx.  I found these in my local CVS, on the very bottom of the Nyx display. Its packaging is a little bulky, but I do like the product itself. It does give off a lot of shimmer, and works well with highlighter that has already been applied. The color of the powder itself is a very sheer rose-brown.

I read online about a blush application technique for working with more pigmented blushes. It was suggested that you mix the pigmented blush a little with a more sheer one to "dilute" the pigmented one a bit. For me, mixing Chiffon and Puppy Love is perfect, especially with Chiffon's lighter and more powdery formula. 

As far as favorites goes, it really depends on my mood. All four blushes are  useful to me, depending on the season and weather. 

June Favorites and Regrets

As June is nearing its last week, I thought I would share my favorites and regrets for this month. 

Favorites:

1.) Milani Strobelight in Afterglow. I purchased this having read Temptalia's glowing review of this highlighter, and the fact that it is a dupe for the Makeup Forever Profusion highlighter....at $30 less. It is a gorgeous product, with a very intense cool-toned reflect. 

2.) Flower Beauty Blush in Sweat Pea. For me, this is a really easy to use, low maintenance blush. One swipe gives just enough color. 

3.) Shiseido Oil-Free Bronzer in 1 Light. I bought this from Amazon at $10, partly because my Butter Bronzer from Physician's Formula shattered in my bag. It is a little more red-toned than the butter bronzer, and long lasting. 

From top to bottom: Proton, Shi. Bronzer, Milani Strobelight, and Flower Blush.

4.) Life's Entropy cream contour stick in Proton. Speaking of easy, this product also gives me a nice and subtle contour with minimal effort, perfect for my morning routine. It's a nice grey-toned taupe. I wish it was a tad bit darker, but perhaps this will be even better for the winter. 

5.) Elf blending eyebrush. Blending eye brushes are important, but many times they are too large. I was really happy to find this brush because it is smaller, and I can be more precise and have more control over blending. 

6.) June Sephora gift, Caudalie duo. I chose this over the Tarte gift, which included the lip paint, which I am not a fan of. This is a nice skin care duo, and yes the smell of the product is rather earthy (actually reminds me of Demeter's Thunderstorm), I don't mind it. I would never buy full size of either product, but I don't mind them.

Regrets:

1.) Holika Holika Gudetama makeup sponge. This was not a total fail, but it was a disappointment. As soon as I opened the packaging, I could smell a sweet fragrance coming from the sponge. I was eager to try it out, so- just as I do with every sponge- I dampened it by running it under the sink. Immediately it soaked up the water, foamed up, I squeezed out whatever was making the bubbles, and then the scent was gone. Not entirely sure what happened. Not only that, but the sponge itself is very dense, and not as pleasant to use as my ecotools ones. Still, because I love Gudetama, I still keep it to look at! 

 2. Just the Basics Facial Towelettes. I used to buy the Simple Miscellar Water wipes, but those are very expensive. Instead, I purchased these and soak them in miscellar water before using. Still, I really hate the fragrance of these wipes and wish they were even more basic and simply unscented.

3. L'Oreal Infallible pro-matte foundation. Dries waaaay too quickly. Color is slightly too pink for me, but now I just use this is a spot concealer.