Milani Coming Up Roses Powder Blushes: Review & Swatches

Hello everyone! Sorry for the lack of posts over the weekend. I was home visiting family for my mom's birthday. But I'm back today with some new make-up to share: two of Milani's adorable Coming Up Roses blushes!

I am a sucker for adorable make-up, so naturally I cannot resist blushes with a 3D rose design on them. I think Milani's products are generally good quality, but a lot of their packaging looks extremely dated to me, so I was happy to see them release some fun-looking new products. The presentation is the main draw here, but that doesn't count for much if the product itself doesn't deliver. Thankfully though, the blushes are actually quite nice! Of the four shades available, I picked up two: Bella Rosa, a petal pink and Flora Passion, a neutral coral. Both blushes are completely matte with no sheen or shimmer.

 Bella Rosa

Flora Passion

L to R: Bella Rosa, Flora Passion

Bella Rossa is less pigmented and feels a bit more powdery than Flora Passion, but it still blends well and the color is very buildable. Flora Passion is a dream to work with and is a great shade of coral that is neither too warm or too cool, which should make it flattering on a variety of skintones and undertones. Flora Passion is my favorite of the two, but both are really lovely blushes and some of the most adorable drugstore make-up I have seen in a long time!

If you're looking for some great matte blushes or a fun budget beauty buy, definitely check these out! They retail for around six bucks each, depending on where you buy.

Have you picked up any of the Coming Up Roses blushes? What are some of your favorite Milani products? I like their baked eyeshadows and liquid liner!

NARS Boys Don't Cry High Voltage Blush: Review & Swatches

I have an enduring love affair with bright blushes. Blush is the one thing (other than nail polish, of course) that I feel virtually naked without. Or, more accurately, I'm so pale that I look like a corpse without it, but I digress. It's no secret that NARS makes some of the best, most beloved blushes on the market today and one of their new, limited-edition blushes, Boys Don't Cry, has been screaming my name. It's bright, it's bold and the fact that it shares a name with a song by one of my favorite bands, The Cure, sure doesn't hurt.

NARS describes Boys Don't Cry, part of their recent collaboration with designer Pierre Hardy, as a "pink grapefruit" shade, which I'd say is pretty spot-on. It's an intense coral with reddish undertones and it is all kinds of gorgeous!

Unblended (left) and blended (right).

 



This is an incredibly rich and densely pigmented blush. It looks even more vibrant on the skin than it does in the pan. The gold pattern is an overspray, so the blush itself is actually matte. The texture is very finely milled and blendable, which is essential when you have a blush as bright as this one. You'll definitely need to employ a light hand but so long as you only get a tap or two of powder on you're brush, the formula allows for smooth sailing from there.

At $41, this is pricier than NARS' standard blushes but it's also much larger. You're getting 0.45 oz. of product here--nearly three times as much compared to the usual 0.16 oz--so I think the price difference is well worth it for the amount of product you're getting. The large size, coupled with how little product you need to acheive excellent pigmentation with this blush, makes this virtually a lifetime supply of this shade. I can't imagine I'll ever hit pan on this--at least, not for many years to come! Here's one of my standard NARS blushes, Exhibit A (another must-have if you like super pigmented blushes), on top of Boys Don't Cry for reference.

 

Other than the obvious size difference and the addition of Pierre Hardy's name on the front, the packaging here is the same we've come to know from NARS: a sturdy, black, rubberized compact with a handy mirror inside. I like the look and feel of NARS' packaging, but as you can see from the older Exhibit A blush I used for the size comparison above, the rubberized finish attracts scratches and fingerprints like no other. That's about the only complaint I can muster up here though!

If you like bold blushes, you'll find a lot to love in Boys Don't Cry. It can be easily blended out into a subtler cheek color too if you prefer. It's a stunning shade and the formula is a prime representation of why NARS blushes are held in such high regard.

Maybelline Coral Burst Blush: Review & Swatches

As part of their new limited edition Color Goes Electric Collection, Maybelline released something we hardly ever see at the drugstore level: orange blush! I don't think I've ever tried a Maybelline blush before (maybe at some point in high school), but I am a fiend for orange make-up, so Coral Burst blush came home with me! I got it for about six bucks at Walgreens.

Coral Burst looks very bright in the pan, so I was a little wary it might turn out to apply sheer. But I was very pleasantly surprised with the quality of this blush!

The texture is very smooth and blendable. The blush is also quite pigmented, but you can easily diffuse that intense color to give a softer look. Coral Burst has a satin finish, so there is some soft shimmer, but not outright sparkle.

Left: Unblended. Right: Blended.

I'm very impressed with both the blendability and the color pay-off.  It's an absolutely stunning color and I think it will be perfect for the warmer weather we (hopefully) have coming up.

I himmed and hawed over buying Coral Burst for at least a week, because I thought it would be too similar to another orange blush I own, MAC Modern Mandarin. But after failing to find a comparison between the two online, I finally just bit the bullet and thankfully, they are not dupes! I've included a comparison shot here in case it helps anyone else with their purchasing decision. They photographed pretty similar, but the difference is much more distinct in real life. Modern Mandarin is lighter, less intense and less red than Coral Burst. Unless you really love orange blush though (like me), then you still probably don't need both.

  Left: Modern Mandarin. Right: Coral Burst.

Holika Holika Peach Girl BB Cream: Review & Swatches

I've been disappointed with a lot of North American brands' versions of BB creams, which tend to be more like a hyped up tinted moisturizer than the multi-tasking marvels that the original Asian BB formulations are designed to be. I'd been wanting to try a Korean BB cream for quite some time to experience the make-up-and-skin-treatment-in-one formulation that made BB creams such a sensation, so I picked up the Holika Holika Peach Girl BB Cream on Ebay last year after reading several good reviews for it. I've been using it on and off for several months, so now it's my turn to share the love!

Holika Holika is a Korean brand whose name means "beauty-holic." They sell a huge variety of products, including several other BB creams, most of which you can find on Ebay for pretty reasonable prices. I got this particular cream for only about 13 bucks and shipping was free!

The cream itself comes in two shades: Light Beige 01 and Natural Beige 02. I'm pretty pale, so I went with the Light Beige 01, which turned out to be a good match for me. The cream has a good consistency--not too thick or too runny--and delivers medium coverage. Like any good BB cream, this also has SPF 37, so you're getting good sun protection too. There is a light peachy scent to it that dissipates after a few minutes of wear. I love peaches, so I find the smell very pleasant, but it's something to keep in mind if you're sensitive to scented cosmetics.

 Unblended (left) and blended (right). As you can see, it really just melts right into the skin once it's blended out. Love it!

I have oily skin but I get decent wear out of this. I skip primer but still set it with powder (dry skin should be just fine without this step though). It takes around four hours for me to start looking and feeling like it's time to blot. Even when I feel a little slippery after a few hours though, the cream never feels heavy or looks cakey.

As an added bonus, the cap has a little mirror inside, plus a peach-colored cheek/lip cream. It's an awesome beauty-on-the-go idea, even if the cheek/lip cream itself really isn't anything earth shattering. As a cheek color, it's quite pigmented but blends out well. I prefer powder blush, but this cream will do in a pinch. I hate it on my lips though. The texture feels very drying and chalky.

 Unblended (left) and blended (right). You only need a little bit to get pigmented color.

Overall, I really love this BB cream and always reach for it when I don't have time to do full make-up in the mornings or just want to throw something on before running a few errands. It's a total lifesaver on my "no make-up" days! I highly recommend Holika Holika Peach Girl BB Cream, whether you're new to BB cream all together or you've been wanting to try one from overseas. You get a nice amount (50 ml) of a quality, multi-tasking product for a good price. I'm interested in trying more Korean BB creams, but I know this one will last me quite a while. I'm a big fan though, so I suppose I can't complain!

Have you tried this BB cream--or any others? What are some of your favorite international beauty brands and products?

Tarte Gifts From The Lipstick Tree Set: Swatches & Review

So Tarte has a brand new set out called Gifts From The Lipstick Tree. The set is based around the achiote tree, which is commonly called "the lipstick tree" since the seeds from its fruits are used to produce natural pigments. For $42, you get three full-sized products: a Lipsurgence Natural Lip Luster, a Maracuja Divine Shine Lipgloss and an Amazonian Clay 12-Hour blush. All three products come in the shade Achiote, a beautiful pink with gold shimmer, and are mineral and paraben free. The color is very feminine and sweet and would flatter a wide variety of skintones.

The lip luster has a non-sticky, moisturizing texture and very nice color payoff. These aren't designed to be opaque, more like a tint, but you still get considerable pigmentation with this. Application feels incredibly smooth and glossy.

The lipgloss is more sheer than the lip luster but has the same lovely shimmer. The texture is on the sticky side but nothing extreme. It's a click applicator, but not the kind you twist (which I despise). Instead, you push a button on the bottom of the tube. Simple enough! This has a subtle minty taste and scent to it that feels nice and soothing on the lips. I don't find the scent overpowering at all, but if you are very sensitive to fragrances you might want to do a sniff test to make sure it won't bother you. You could easily wear this alone or layer it over the lip luster.

Unlike the luster and the gloss, the blush is completely matte. Although it is a matte, it doesn't feel chalky or go on patchy at all. The color payoff is very rich and the texture feels super smooth and blendable. This is a very finely milled powder that is a pleasure to work with. Tarte Amazonian Clay blushes are some of my favorites. They have great wear and go on like a dream.

I absolutely love this trio! The set is an amazing value. Considering that buying the products individually (which at this point you can't even do) would set you back $70, you're getting a lot of bang for your buck here. The blush alone retails for $25, so $42 is a total steal!


All three products perform very well and I love that they are full sizes, not minis or travel sizes. The overall feel is very fresh, feminine and pretty--perfect for warmer weather! I think the blush may be my favorite but I honestly like them all a lot and can see myself using them regularly. I highly recommend checking out this set next time you're on the prowl at your favorite cosmetics haunt. You get three fabulous products for an equally fabulous price!

MAC Trés Cheek Blushes: Swatches & Review

I recently picked up two blushes from MAC's Trés Cheek Collection: Peony Petal and Modern Mandarin. MAC comes out with a ridiculous amount of collections that can be very overwhelming to keep up with, but these two colors really caught my eye. I'm a fan of bold cheek colors and these looked very fun and fresh, especially with warmer weather starting up.

Modern Mandarin is a soft, citrus-y orange with a satin finish. It's super silky and richly pigmented. The color can be built up for a dramatic look but also blends and diffuses extremely easily if you want something more subtle. All around, it's a really fantastic blush to work with and a pleasure to apply.


The swatch on the left is one swipe with a finger and on the right, I applied with a brush, going a bit heavy so that you could see the true color clearly.

Peony Petal is a bright, blue-based pink with a matte-esque finish. In the pan it looks completely matte but there is a very slight shimmer on the skin. Compared to Modern Mandarin, Peony Petal feels a bit chalkier in the pan but is still very blendable and workable to apply. The pigmentation is rich and flexible enough that, like Modern Mandarin, you could build the color up to pan intensity or do a lighter wash of color. (The swatch on the right below is somewhere in between.) The texture isn't quite as dreamy and smooth as Modern Mandarin but Peony Petal is still an excellent blush on its own merits.

I'm ridiculously pleased with both of these colors and can't wait to try out some new looks! My go-to blushes are NARS Orgasm and the long-discontinued MAC Merrily (I will be beyond sad when mine runs out!), so it'll be fun to have some new colors at my disposal. Either (or both!) of these blushes would make an excellent addition to your spring/summer beauty routine. They are currently available on the MAC and Nordstrom websites and you may also still be able to find them at your local MAC counter. Both shades are limited edition. Happy hunting, ladies!