Drugstore Blush Review

Good morning my sweet peas! Hope everyone is doing well. Today I decided to round up my more recent drugstore blush purchases to just have a good old fashioned chat about them. For reference, I have fair-light cool-toned combination skin.

The first is a Wet 'n Wild Color Icon Blush in Keep it Peachy. It was purchased at clearance from Walmart for $0.25. The only other Color Icon blush I had was Blazen' Berry, which I really enjoyed until it broke in the pan- the shimmer formula was way too soft. While this seems to be of a stiffer, matte formula, there is a lot of kick-up in the pan, and it is quite powdery.

Keep it Peachy is a matte powder peach, definitely on the more yellow side. I do prefer peach/corals like this in the Spring and Summer, because the color seems to glow off my skin. The product is simple, and easy to use, and I don't regret bringing it into my collection.

The next one is very similar, color-wise. This was another one I got from clearance ($6.50). It is the L'Oreal Paradise Enchanted blush in the shade 191, Fantastical. The formulation is a lot less pigmented than the Wet 'n Wild one. Though this blush is also peach, it is pinker with a more satin finish. I've been reaching for this one a lot lately, due to ease of use. I don't feel like I can over-do it with this blush. As for the scent, in the pan it is noticeable, but the peach scent is really light. I am very sensitive to smells and easily get headaches from them, but this one doesn't bother me at all. Nor does it linger once you apply it to the face.

Now that the more neutral, every-day blushes have been discussed, let's talk about the more unique blushes.

First is the Nyx Sweet Cheeks Matte blush in the shade Silence is Golden ($7.50). Once I found out that Nyx was releasing a yellow matte blush, but only in select places, I was intrigued. I asked people what they thought about yellow blush, but was met with incredulity. I scoured the internet for pictures and articles about yellow blush, hoping to see if it could work for me. With the release of Its Likely Makeup's Clown face palette, a quad of bright blushes- including yellow- I thought I was surely on the pulse of the yellow blush revolution.

No such revolution really took off, but I bought the Nyx blush and have pulled it out a couple of times. My own personal preference is to use this yellow blush with others (especially the two up-top), for an ombre blush effect, similar to what one would do with eyeshadow. That in particular has really been fun, and when used in that way, I do not regret purchasing it at all.

Our last blush is another clearance item, this time from Marshall's. After I purchased the yellow blush, I wanted to see if I could curate my own version of the ItsLikely clown quad. While I wasn't interested in the purple tones, there is a red one I thought I would give a go. It came to me in the form of Elf primer-infused blush in the shade Always Fiery. ($2.50)

This is a pure scarlet matte-blush. It is easy enough to use, blendable, and looks pretty "natural" on the skin, but I have not been reaching for it. I think when I apply it, it feels too cool-toned. Which I know, doesn't make much sense. But I feel because I am cool-toned, certain blushes read strange on my skin, and I just don't want to use them (see also: purple blush). I will certainly keep trying with the elf one, but I am just not that impressed.

And, now, onto the swatches! From top to bottom, it is: L'Oreal Fantastical, Nyx Silence is Golden, Elf Always Fiery, and Wet 'n Wild Keep it Peachy.

Anyway, hope you are all doing well! Thanks, as always, for reading.

The Red Edit: My Favorite Red Makeup Products! (+ swatches)

A while ago, I did a write-up on my favorite pink products. While I do have to add more to that list, I wanted to make a list of my favorite red products, considering Valentine's Day is just hours away. On one hand, I don't really care for the blatant commercialization of that day, but on the other hand, hearts, and pink and red, and prettiness! Okay, favorite red products coming up:

So, from left to right, top to bottom, we have the Maybelline Matte Bar Palette, the Wet 'n Wild Coloricon Blush in Blazen Berry, the Coastal Scents single Shadow in Baked Clay, and the Hard Candy Cashmere Silk demi-matte cream gloss in Tartufo. 

Then we have three shades from the Modern Renaissance palette: Red Ochre,  Venetian Red, and Love Letter. 

And finally, the shade Passion from the Norvina palette. 

Here is a shot of all the eyeshadows: Baked Clay, Red Ochre, Venetian Red, Love Letter, Passion, and Brickhouse (from the Maybelline palette). 

Baked Clay is a shade I use once in a while to brighten up my crease when I am using darker reds. It is the closest thing I have to a true red shade, and I keep it around because it blends so well with other colors. 

And while it took me time to figure out how to use and love the reds in the Modern Renaissance, I am really in love with Passion from Norvina. I have been using it in my outer corner constantly, and I think it's useful in the way that so many people loved and used Bitten from Makeup Geek. 

Finally, the shade Brickhouse is of such excellent quality and is so comparable to the other reds here. If you do not have many warm-toned mattes in your collection, and want an easy way to use mattes, I would strongly recommend the Maybelline palette. 

Our last two swatches our of the lip gloss and blush.

Tartufo (left) is like a glossy lip stain, and is the only way I have worn red tones on my lips. Other than that I tend to avoid true red products. Blazen (right) is a perfect shimmery brick blush, and its shimmer has a slight pale pink reflect. I highly recommend all of these products- I also think you can find the Hard Candy Cashere Silk glosses at half off, as Walmart is phasing them out. 

So there you have it! It really does surprise me how versatile red is as a color. I do feel that this year, more than any year before, I have embraced red colors.

Thanks so much for reading!

Wet 'n Wild Color Icon Blush in Blazen Berry: Swatches and Review

I believe this a new color offering from Wet 'n Wild. When I saw it at Walgreen's the other day, I was struck by how unique it looked. Clearly, it was berry-toned, but also a brick-red color? And shimmery? I knew that I had never used anything like it before, so for $2.49, I picked it up.

Let's look at some pictures!

The formula is really nice. Though it is shimmery and soft, it is not "wet" feeling, and very easy to blend. I don't even mind the little brush.

 We have a heavy finger swatch. In the picture below it is also blended out.

I was really struck at how the shimmer sheer out with the color, and how it was sheer but in a good way.

This is a really nice blush to also pair with highlighter.  In the picture below, I basically went ham and draped it all over my face, and then just applied Mac Snowflushed on top to see what would happen.

I don't hate it.

I have also been wearing this blush to work, but not in such a crazy way. It is quite easy to apply and I do feel it lasts a long time. Even though I am fair and have cool-toned skin, I think the blush works well on me. I think it also brings out the green tones in my eyes. 

I would highly recommend this blush and I think Wet 'n Wild introduced such a cool color and finish to their line. 

Thanks for reading!! 

Weekend Makeup Weirdness@_@

All of the looks you will see today are me just playing around and practicing with makeup.  None of the looks are great on their own, but I will still critique them and think about what I've learned from each.

Before I start, I should say that Monday was 10 degrees, and I think that even though my house is warm enough, the coldness is definitely disorienting. I've had a massive headache and sinus problems all day.

Alright, back to the program:

1. Lewk One: Yellow and Green

lololol just. what was I doing. 

So this weekend was all about getting crease colors throughout my entire crease, and not just the outer 3/4, as is the case with all my looks. Then, I blended in Looxi's Green Apple something matte, and Colourpop Team Captain on the outer corner. I used a yellow and green shimmer from the CP Good Sport Palette. 

The yellow is Clionadh's Maize, a formula which I really enjoy. I just wish I didn't put it on the lower lash line. 

The highlighter I am using is Shiro Milk-Light of Moon, a green iridescent highlighter. 

Overall, I am not going to replicate this look any time soon. I feel too much like a tropical bird.

Look #2: A Lavender look inspired by Makeup Mouse. 

I liked this look a lot more, but I didn't like how much product and blending it required. I am way too lazy. So, crease is Clionadh's Strawberry Mouse and Dose of Color's Blueberry Swirl. Lid was Give Me Glow Ride or Die, and outer corner was the dark purple from the BH Cosmetics' Zodiac Palette.

Inner corner was a highlighter- Looxi's Stripped, a pink/lavender iridescent. 

Overall, in the future I would probably due a more simple version of this look, just more toned down.

Look Three: Good and Gold

This was a really simple look using a loose pigment from Meech and Mia in Copper, and then two brown mattes from the Maybelline Lemonade palette. 

My entire brow bone looks glossy- something I rarely do- using Wet 'n Wild's loose highlighter in Written in the Stars (current favorite). 

The Maybelline mattes muddied together a bit, but I do like the warm and cool contrast of the shimmers.

Favorites?

Clionadh's Maize (though it had no business being shmeared all over the lower lash line), WnW's Written in the Stars,  and Meech and Mia's Copper.

Surprise fails?

Looxi's Stripped continues to underwhelm me, as both an inner corner highlight and highlighter on the face. I just don't get the intensity that I want and I don't know why 😣

Skin Care Review Round-Up

I have some recent skincare-related items to talk about! Let's get into it!

1.) Lucas' Pawpaw Treatment. I bought this on Amazon for $8.00, 25 g of product. I first learned about this from Kimberly Clark, and I must say I am a fan. My hands, fingers, and even scalp get cracked during the winter, so this balm provides a nice bit of relief. I also did some research- fermented papaya has anti-microbial properties. The pawpaw ointment is made of fermented papaya suspended in petroleum jelly. It is safe to use on the face and lips as well. I have found it to be fast absorbing, and I would probably repurchase. It also has a faint smell of papaya, which is nice. 

2.) Revlon Photo Ready Candid Foundation. 0.75 fl oz, for $11.00. I am a bit miffed that they couldn't sell 1 fl oz, like everyone else. But I have been using this foundation for about two months and I really like it. It is light, but not oily, and had medium coverage. It also is in a really convenient pump bottle, which is not re-usable, unfortunately. It does not contain any SPF, which is okay, because of the fourth item. I would probably repurchase this foundation. 

3.) Wet 'n Wild Coconut Primer Water, $5.00. I have used up about two or three bottles of the regular one in the past, but have since discontinued using it because I was converted to Mac Fix+. But because Wet 'n Wild came out with a coconut-scented one, I had to try it. To make this short: no, it does not smell as good as the Mac Coconut Fix+. It has a slight note of pineapple to it, too, it is overall more sour smelling. In terms of what it does for the face, I got the same results with the original formula, which is quite good. But, I would not repurchase. 

4.) The final item was purchased because of another one of my favorite bloggers, the Anti-Haul Blog. I was in need of a new SPF product, and I recently read her favorites of 2018, to see Australian Gold Tinted Sunscreen, SPF 50. According to her, it had a non-greasy finish, and held on to foundation well. 

Well, I have to agree. I am quite fair, and the tint just blends out. And it does wear foundation well. My biggest thing with SPF products is scent- if the scent is strong, I am just not going to use it. But the Australian Gold lotion has barely any scent, just slightly like oatmeal, which I am more than okay with.

Swatch time! 

We first have two unblended swatches of the Revlon Foundation, left, and the suncreen, right. For the foundation, I am the shade 110. 

And here is everything blended out!

So that's my round-up! Except for the primer water, I am a huge fan of all these finds. Let me know your thoughts on them as well.

Thanks for reading!

Teeny Flower Eye Art

Last night for some reason I remembered how flower graphic eye art was a thing for a while. Though that trend calmed down, I thought it was a reasonably easy and pretty thing for me to practice.

The only thing I was missing was a paint palette/colorful liquid liners. As I somewhat expected, the Wet 'n Wild paint palettes were on sale at Walmart, and I bought the Brights one for a dollar. Woo! I set most of my products with the BH Cosmetics Back to Brazil palette, except for the white, which I used the Nyx Milk crayon.

Here are my results:

So I primed my eye with Mac paint pot in Painterely. I set my brown bone and crease with neutral shades from the Maybelline Lemonade palette.

I then lined my eyes with the L'Oreal Paradise Liquid liner. I then made my wing green by placing the green shade from the Wet 'n Wild paint palette, and then dark green to light green eyeshadow on top to set it.

I then made the flowers, beginning with the red. This was a bit time consuming, and I had to use a very steady hand. I did not  do anymore than I had to because I was afraid of ruining it.

What cinches it and makes the flowers look like flowers is the orange/yellow in the center, as well as the dashes of light green for leaves.

Overall, I would definitely do this look again. I probably won't try to make the end of my wing green, and instead just make a solid black wing for greater contrast. 

The biggest thing was selecting the right brushes, which had to be small enough to such small details. And of course...lots of practice:

Thanks for reading!  

(❦ ᴗ ❦ ✿)

Beauty Bookmark 4: Chartreuse is the New...Blue? (text post)

It's has been a while, hasn't it? I caught myself a nice little cold this past week, and spent the weekend recovering from it. I've sort of been out of the makeup/beauty sphere for as long as I've been in this funk, so naturally I missed a couple of things.

I hope you don't mind that I am opting to not include any pictures of these releases. Most of my bookmarks come from the Trendmood account, but to keep reposting pictures seems redundant. It's also time consuming and I am a very lazy person.

The last beauty purchase I made was actually one of those magnetic sewing containers, which I am going to repurpose as a z-palette. Other than that, I have not added anything to my collection. But after browsing Instagram, I have bookmarked some things. Lessgo.

1. Ace Beaute's Flair palette ($39.00). I anti-hauled this brand in the past because- as much as I liked their release- I was not convinced of the value. They just put out this new palette that contains a chartreuse, as well as rich blues, oranges, reds, and berries. Now, I am strongly tempted to make a dupe post on this, but the only thing I would not be able to dupe are the three blue shadows, because I don't own any. And if you take those away, you are left with an expanded version of their Classical Paradise palette. With that in mind, I know I personally won't be getting this, though I can honestly say the palette looks beautiful, and it's definitely inspiring.

2. Wet 'n Wild's Four New Dupe Palettes. Allegedly, these are dupes for Prism, Soft Glam, Lila (ND), and the Tropical palette (ND). To be honest, I have tried this formula and the shimmers are nothing compared to the older, softer formula. They're not bad, though, and I do think it's great that they are bringing fun color options to the drugstore. Keep on keeping on, Wet 'n Wild.

3. I also bookmarked the new The Tribe palette from Juvia's place. Another bright light green! This seems to be a color we are going to see a lot, which I think is interesting. For me, this type of color seems like either a lid or a transition color, like yellow. I have my own version of it from the BH Cosmetics Back to Brazil palette, and I have a couple of greens, browns, golds, and oranges, so this palette would be a bit redundant.

However, another interesting thing Juvia's Place is doing is making mini palettes. Now that I find to be quite, quite promising. I remember saying a while back how I wished their palettes were smaller. Hmmmmm.....looks like I was not the only one. The downside is they seem to be downsizing the palettes in order of their releases, so they're starting with the first palette they introduced, The Nubian, a super neutral palette. Like, super, super neutral. So while I love the idea of mini palettes, I know I will have to wait until Juvia's releases a more colorful one. I just hope they don't do what Natasha Denona sometimes does with their mini versions, which is to take all the interesting shades out and make a repetitive little shrug of a palette (like their mini Star palette.) Fingers crossed.

4. Physician's Formula has two or three new palettes coming out that are part of the Butter line. They seem to have a nice balance of neutral and color, but I will be skipping only because I don't know what the formula is like (of the butter ones) and I don't need any of the colors.

5. Christmas palettes- ones that feature green and red. So far, Give Me Glow, Linda Hallberg, and Pat McGrath Labs all have these types, but as festive as they are, I would be the type of person to enjoy them during the holiday, and then move on to something else when the festivities are over. The nice thing about the Give Me Glow Christmas Morning Palette is that you can take the shadows out, and replace them as needed, which is useful. I am also obsessed with silver for some reason, and need it on my eyelids, so if Give Me Glow can sell Santa's Sleigh as a single I would be much obliged.

6. Finally, we'll end with a very general overview of whatever the hell Colourpop is doing. Their release reminds me of the Fairy Oddparents episode where Timmy accidentally released all the Anti-Fairies into the world. Yes, Colourpop's swarm of supershock shadows are, in my mind, anti-fairies. I have no doubt that the colors and quality are good- I've read plenty of reviews. But when a release is so numerous and massive, I have no recourse but to just ignore it. I'm the type of person to just buy something when I am looking for something specific, so if CP has that, then fine. But they don't now. Is there is a reason why Colourpop is not selling a silver pressed shadow? We need to talk, CP. Don't be an anti-fairy.

Okay, I did not mean for this post to be so rambly. There is plenty I missed, like a Pizza Palette, but honestly if I don't see the potential in it, I am not going to post about it.

P.S. If I do get gift money for Christmas this year, a small little part of me is debating whether I should get a Pat McGrath palette. I know that would be super ridiculous. I know. But still....

Okay, now I'm going. Thanks for reading.

What I Wore on my Face Today

Today a couple of weird events unfolded. Rather than get into all of them, one of them I will comment on- my eyeshadow choices.

There was a choice, yes, but one I thought I'd only make when I am channeling old Hollywood glamour (imagine I rolled the rrrs here) - grey eyeshadow.

What I was going for was some kind of sultry look with minimal(ish) color and shadow.

So. I am not a huge fan of this picture because you don't see the front of my eyes and the blending going on there. Whatever. I went in with a light grey matte from a Covergirl Quad, and then I used Nabla Wild Child in the crease, outer corner, and the lid. I finally took a dark grey almost matte black from the BH Cosmetics Zodiac palette in the outer corner.

I used to be afraid of grey shadow. But now I really like the idea of it, and how grey can look like a natural shadow on the face.

What else? The highlight is a mix. I first applied (with a light hand) Mac Snowflushed, and then over that I used Wet 'n Wild The Sweetest Bling, a pale cool-toned pink.

Would I do this look again? Yeah, I would! Though I love shimmers and different colors, there is something classic about a grey smokey situation that I would replicate.

To be "fun" though, I would pair the Nabla shadow with a Nabla highlighter. I have the shade Millennium-  technically an eyeshadow- but I would use it on my face. I think that would be neat.

Other than that, nothing of real importance to note. I am doing terribly with my shopping my lip stash challenge so far....

Thanks for reading!

Wet 'n Wild Bloom Time: Review and Swatches

Hello! November is nearly over, and winter is soon upon us. But Wet 'n Wild is keeping the spring alive, it seems, with two new highlighter releases.

Their Megaglo Highlighter line is one of the best drugstore lines I know of. These highlighters are imprinted with a flower design, and have a mostly consistent quality.

A couple of days ago I put Bloom Time- a brand new release for the brand- on my wish list, and it just so happens I stumbled upon it at my local CVS.

As with all these powders, Bloom Time contains 5.4 g of product and costs $4.99.

This is what it looks like in the pan:

It appears to be a pale frosty light orange/peach. However, when swatched on my skin, the powder appears a lot warmer. It becomes a light warm pink with a light gold, almost silver, reflect:

  

On the left we have one swipe of the product, and then on the right it is blended out. 

Here we also have some blurry-ish photos to show the intense pale gold reflect. 

I also have comparison swatches. On the left is Precious Petals, the original shade in the line and the one with the best reported quality. In the center is Bloom Time, and to the right is Sweetest Bling, a pale cool-toned gold. 

 Precious Petals and The Sweetest Bling have excellent formulas, and I feel Bloom Time is no different.  The formula is a little powdery, but in a good way. It does not emphasize texture on the skin, and glides over my skin.

Like the other highlighters from Wet 'n Wild, Bloom Time definitely rivals my more high-end ones. I don't have anything else like it in my collection, aside from Lilac Geode from Becca, which is a touch more purple. I love that it adds a bit of color and glow to my face without being obvious. It's just really, really pretty, and makes me feel like I'm wearing the last bits of springtime sunshine.

I definitely recommend picking this one up!

Thanks for reading! （✿ ͡◕ ᴗ◕)つ━━✫・*。

Wet 'n Wild Platinum Bar Highlighter in Winter Bloom: First Impressions and Swatches

Look what I found at Walgreen's today! Wet 'n Wild, for the holidays, has released an expanded line of their Gold Bar Highlighter from last year. I picked up the lightest one, Platinum Bar, aka Winter Bloom, to try out. It cost $5.00.

 The packaging is a little unwieldy, and was hard for me to open with my nails. Unfortunately, when I tried to use the end of my highlighting brush as a lever, it scraped a bit of the product.

The mirror is useful, but difficult to slide out. The product information sticker was over the grip, so I couldn't slide the mirror out without peeling off that sticker.

Winter Bloom is a very pale gold. At first I was afraid it would be too similar to some highlighters in my collection, but I do think it is distinct.

 From top to bottom we have finger swatches of the entire pan mixed together, than just the star, and then without the star.

In the below pic, I compared Winter Bloom (top) to Full Moon from Physician's Formula Butter Palette (middle), and Kat Vom D's Thundercrunch (bottom)

Below we have some uncomfortably close pictures of my most bare face with the product applied to my browbone and cheeks. It went on very intensely, so I wonder how it will perform with a base that is already primed with translucent powder.

Overall, I think the color is a good match for me. The formula is very smooth and the finish is very intense and shiny. I look forward to using more of this highlighter!

The Pink Edit: My Favorite Pink Products, at Different Price Points!

Greetings!

I am very excited to present to you today's post on my favorite pink products. Pink is a very relaxing, sweet color, especially cool-toned pinks. So let's jump right in, from left to right, top to bottom.

1.) Boardwalk Marshmallow Clouds, by Bath and Body Works, $14.50, but I bought it on sale for about $8.00. The packaging of this container is pink, but I am including it in this post because the scent embodies pink. Described as "whipped vanilla, marshmallow meringue, white magnolia, and sandalwood," it is very sweet without being too cloying, and I have been wearing it all summer. The only problem is that it is not very long lasting, so I do have to reapply it 2-3 times during the day. I really do enjoy the scent! 

2.) The Norvina Palette, ABH. $42. I knew that I was going to get this palette as soon as I saw it. I have also been using this constantly all summer. The color scheme works for me, and I just love the rose and purple tones that come out of it. 

3.)  Maybelline Sensational Shine Compulsion in Taupe Seduction, $6.00. Another lip product in Maybelline's line called "Taupe," and not really Taupe. This is a cool-toned rose that gives an intense shine. It is definitely worth picking up. 

4.) Bite Beauty Matte Creme Lip Crayon, sample (full size $24) in Glace. I received this from Sephora as a birthday gift, and I honestly did not expect to love this. I thought I had this problem of Bite lip products wearing too warm on me, but this one does not disappoint. It's just...pretty. 

5.) Covergirl Eyeshadow Quad in Blooming Blushes, ~$7.00. I have a review on this coming up on the blog, but I will say the stand out shade in that quad is the pink. It is a cool-toned pink that is super soft and shows up well on my skin.

6.) Looxi Beauty Highlighter in Stripped, $7.50. This is an  iridescent cool-toned pink that, as a highlighter, wears smoothly on the skin.

7.) Looxi Beauty Eyeshadow in Tesla, $5.00. I have been on the hunt for a pink frosty eyeshadow and I don't think I will ever come across one as unique as Tesla. The pink is on the bubblegum side, and it is duochrome with a blue and green reflect. It is a gorgeous shadow!

8.)  Wet 'n Wild Megaglo Highlighter in the Sweetest Bling, $2.49. This is a limited edition highlighter Wet 'n Wild had on clearance. Original price was about $5.00. Now it can be found on Amazon for $10. I would not recommend buying that, though, because currently WnW sells Botanic Dream, which I've read is similar. Still, this is a gorgeous icy pink highlighter.

9.) Wet 'n Wild Zodiac Limited Edition Lipgloss, Cancer $2.50. I purchased this because it's my sign! I was a little scared because I was not sure how it would appear on my lips, but it is not stark white at all. It is a subtle pearly gloss and I would highly recommend it!

Onto the swatches~

From left to right, Maybelline Taupe Seduction, Bite Beauty Glace, Looxi Stripped, Looxi Tesla, Wet 'n Wild Cancer

What are your favorite pink-products?

Thanks for reading! (＾• ω •＾)