Spring Blush: MAC Fleur Power Satin Blush

It's finally Spring time! I love Spring - I love the weather, the flowers, and the colors that we typically associate with the season. While I love Fall & Winter, I'm always really happy to break out the pastel nail polishes, bright blushes, and sandals when the weather starts to warm up! This is one of my favorite MAC blushes: Fleur Power. You can probably already tell by the name that it's perfect for Spring & Summer!

I think this is a really great choice for fair skin. It's also a great neutral if you're wearing a bright lip color as it doesn't really clash with much. It's a nice orange-y peach but it's natural enough to wear with other corals, pinks, peaches, and even red lip colors. As with most MAC blushes, a little bit goes a long way. This is a satin finish, so it's not exactly matte but it definitely doesn't have a shimmer. To me, this is the ultimate Spring blush color. Pink, orange, and peach all seem like essential Spring colors. 

As you can see in the swatch above, it's a really beautiful color but very subtle and natural. I love to pair this with Benefit High Beam when I want to brighten up my cheeks even more. However,  I usually wear this on its own without a bronzer or contour because I think it's so pretty that it deserves the spotlight. Because it's not super bright, it provides a tiny bit of a contour, too. With a little highlight on the tops of the cheek bones, this is my favorite spring time look. This would be suitable for natural makeup looks, too. 

What are your favorite MAC blushes? Which products do you love to bring out again when Spring returns? Post your favorite Spring products below!

Perfect Formula Pink Gel Coat - First Impression

Just a quick first impression of this gel polish! I got this as a free gift with my VIB points at Sephora. I'm a big fan of the slightly pink natural nail polish. My all-time favorite is the Dior Nail Glow which costs a whopping $27 but looks so natural and pretty on my nails. When I saw this as a gift option, I knew I had to try it! 

A pink-toned clear polish is a perfect option when you need to swipe something onto naked nails in a hurry. You don't have to worry about being precise or getting any on your skin, because you won't be able to tell anyway. Also since it's "clear" you don't have to use so many coats - I swipe on a coat or two and that allows it to dry quickly so I can move on. Perhaps the best part about wearing a natural shade like this is that the nicks and chips don't show. I use this during busy weeks because if it chips, no one will be able to tell and you can wear it a lot longer before it starts to look worn. This polish claims to strengthen and brighten your nails. My first impression is that it dries really quickly, but it's not as rosy as the Dior version. It also really stinks - like a very strong top coat. The full version of this is $30 for .6 oz., which is still much cheaper than the Dior version ($27 for .33 oz.). I would imagine that the .6 oz. bottle would last a long time. I use my Dior polish more than any other polish I own and I haven't made much of a dent yet. After 2 days of wear, I don't see any chips in the polish. It is super shiny like a gel and seems to be holding up much better than Nail Glow usually does. My only complaint is that it really isn't very pink. I think next time I'll try 2 coats of Nail Glow and top it off with a coat of this Perfect Formula polish. Maybe that will be the magic combination!

What are your favorite natural nail shades? Let me know in the comments!

Until next time... xoxo!

Products I Love: BeautyBlender & BlenderCleanser

I'm in love with my beauty blender!! I was holding out for quite a while and using off-brand (Sephora, Ulta, etc.) beauty sponges, and I did NOT know what I was missing. This has totally changed the look of my makeup, particularly my foundation. It blends foundation, tinted moisturizer, concealer, and whatever else seamlessly and it's amazing on my dry skin. I know I'm a little late to the party on this one, but if you're like me and you've been holding out because of the hype or the price, I'm telling you it's worth it! It's definitely not your average makeup sponge. I guess it's the material they used, but its so soft and bouncy and it just blends foundation so well and pushes it directly into your skin instead of smearing it around. I have been using mine for a few months now and I still love it so much.

I rinse it out before using and just squeeze most of the water out - leaving it a little bit damp. I dot my foundation onto my skin and then use the damp sponge to blend it in. Then, I repeat the same steps with my concealer. I use the larger end for foundation and the larger parts of my face and the tapered end for under eye concealer so I can easily blend it under my eyes and in the inner corners. 

I got mine at Sephora for around $20 and it has lasted me several months. I just recently picked up the BlenderCleanser Solid which is actually just a little bar of soap formulated for the beauty blender. It's supposedly safe to use with it because it doesn't damage the material. I have heard that if you try to use regular soap or brush cleaner, it can dissolve the material and take chunks out of the sponge. I was a little hesitant to buy the soap, I actually thought to just buy a whole new beauty blender instead (it's only about $5 more), but I picked up a sample with my VIB points and it cleans the sponge SO well! After I was finished washing it, it looked brand new. Definitely worth buying, and you could (and probably should) clean it bi-weekly or so and your beauty blender will probably stay in really good condition.

Have you caved and tried this famous sponge? Let me know your favorite foundation-application methods below and how you clean your makeup sponges!

Until next time! xoxo

Disappointing Product: Maybelline Dream Lumi Touch highlighting concealer

Sorry, Maybelline, I still love you... but this product was a miss for me. I picked up the Dream Lumi Touch highlighting concealer hoping it would be a similar product (maybe even a dupe) to the YSL Touche Eclat, which is a pricey $41. The Dream Lumi Touch is around $8 so I thought I'd give it a try. I was pretty disappointed with the product. Disclaimer: I have not yet mustered the strength to splurge on the YSL original, so I can't compare the two. I can only tell you what I thought about the Maybelline version on its own - compared only to my thoughts on how it should or is supposed to look. The YSL touche éclat is definitely on my wish list, but a major splurge item. 

There are tons of Maybelline products that I love, but I do find it hit and miss with skin products sometimes. I believe this is solely because of my skin tone. Maybelline tends to be on the warmer side of the spectrum and a lot of their face products can be too warm or too orange on my skin. This is no fault of the brand, it just simply doesn't work as well as some other brands with my skin tone. That being said, I still have several Maybelline foundations, concealers, powders, etc. that do work with my skin and look great. 

The shade I picked out is a pink-toned highlighting color. I knew I would be using this as a highlight rather than a concealer. I understand the same is true with the YSL product - it's not so much an under-eye concealer as it is a highlighting pen - meant to highlight, not necessarily cover up. Because I had read reviews on the touche éclat, I went for a pinky/salmon shade rather than a normal "ivory" shade because I wanted to test this out as a YSL dupe, rather than just another under eye concealer. I was planning to use this on my cheekbones as a creamy highlighting product.

My first complaint is the packaging. I'm not a big fan of the twist-up brush applicators. As you can see in the photo, things get messy pretty quickly. The packaging also felt very light and cheap, which is probably true as it only costs $8. Also, I had to twist forever to get any product to come out. Another reason I hate this sort of packaging is because you can't tell how much product you're dispensing. I might twist 5 times and get nothing... so I twist another 5 times and tons of concealer comes spewing out. My advice is twist slowly and be patient. The color is my second complaint. I know I chose a rosy shade (radiant 310), but it's much too pink. It comes off as a salmon color that's a little too orange and a little too pink. It just doesn't look good on my skin. I think I could possibly make the shade work better if it had a different formulation, but the consistency of the product is my biggest and final complaint. It's thick and dry... it doesn't blend well or easily and it ends up just being a cakey mess. You can see the lines where the highlight ends and your skin begins. It never seems to blend in seamlessly no matter what application method I try. 

You may be able to tell just from the photo how it settles into fine lines, looks thick and cakey, and doesn't have the right silky consistency that these type of products need to look good. You can also see the color here - it's a very bold salmon color that just isn't flattering on my skin tone. I have not tried any other shades of this product simply because I wasn't a fan of the formulation, but I could have just picked the wrong shade for my coloring. Maybe I should have gone with my trusty "ivory" pick, instead. I don't think I'll be finishing this product as I can't figure out a way to use it that works. 

Have you tried the Dream Lumi Touch highlighter? What were your thoughts? I'm also open to other drug store highlighting pen suggestions! I will still keep the YSL touche éclat on my list - let me know your thoughts on that as well! Is it worth the splurge?! Let me know in the comments!

Until next time! xoxo

Benefit Hervana Blush Review

Benefit Hervana Powder Blush

This is one of Benefit's newest swirled powder blushes. The shade is called "Hervana" and it comes in the classic Benefit blush box with a compact brush included. I picked this up at Sephora for $28 and I've been loving it lately. I don't usually go for purply blushes, but I actually really love the shade of this blush once you've swirled all the colors together.

The "good karma" face powder is comprised of 4 shades - a plum, a rose, a peach, and a light pink highlight. You get two triangles of each shade and they're placed just right so that you can swirl your brush to combine all the colors evenly. You get the plum color payoff but there's enough pink so that it's not too purple. It also has a shimmer to it from the highlight shade. Benefit describes it as an "orchid-blossom blush." The names of the shades are Lucky Shell (highlight), Divine Peach, Heavenly Rose, & Berry Delight.

The resulting color ends up being a mix of berry and rose with just the right amount of sheen to it.

As always, the little blush box comes with its very own brush inside. Typically when products come with a brush, I throw it out and never use it. However, the brushes that Benefit includes are all really good quality. I love the brush that comes with Hervana - it swirls the colors perfectly and angled brushes are perfect for applying cheek color. As you can see, I've definitely used mine!

Overall, I have nothing but good things to say about this blush. I will continue to wear it (even more) during autumn and winter - I love wearing blushes with plum shades during the colder months. The packaging is as cute as ever, and so convenient with the brush and mirror included. I have several Benefit blushes of all kinds and this is definitely one of my favorites.

What's your favorite Benefit product? Which blush shades will you be wearing this fall & winter?

Until next time!

Autumn Polish Colors

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Fall Shades

I love this line of polishes so much that I refuse to buy any other kind. Maybe if I spotted a color I couldn't live without, I might pick it up, but for now, I'm sticking to Sally Hansen. There are a couple reasons I'm hooked on these polishes...

1. The Brush. The brush is flat and much wider than most nail polish brushes. It makes it so much easier to place the brush in the right place and get perfectly smooth strokes. It makes painting with your left hand so much easier. You get a silky smooth and wide stroke of paint, but it's not too wide for more narrow nails. It makes it a lot quicker because it covers more nail area. 
2. The Formula. This polish lasts forever!! I can be pretty rough on my nails and this polish lasts at least 7 days. Usually, I can wear this polish up to 10 days before it starts getting chipped. If it's a more natural nail color, you can get away with wearing it even longer because little chips can go undetected. I recommend this polish to everyone mostly for its lasting power.

The colors, from left to right, are 

1. Rhododendron - this is a deep red with plum tones, similar to a wine color. 
2. Dark Knight - a very dark navy.
3. Gilty Party - a shimmery, reflective silver polish with flecks of pink and multicolored sparkles.
4. Moulin Rose - a dusty rose color (it's showing up deeper and brighter in the picture) with shimmer
5. Commander in Chic - a true grey (I love to make this color matte with a matte top coat)
6. Onyx - super shiny black.

All of these shades are perfect for fall and will look great on a wide variety of skin tones. I pick up all the new Sally Hansen shades at Target, but you can find these at drug stores, beauty stores, grocery stores, etc. You can, of course, also order them online.

What are your go-to nail colors for Fall? Let me know in the comments!