Maybelline Dream Touch Blush in 02

My beloved new blush, it blends like a dream (ha!), it has perfect amount of wonderful pigmentation, feels weightless and leaves a lovely sheen on the skin. I bought it in Germany and unfortunately, it is still not on offer in Belgium. But should you see it anywhere, make sure you get it!

 

Kruidvat haul - Essence Vampire's Love, Catrice Duo Blush

Just stopping by on my regular Saturday shopping :-) I got Essence Vampire's Love shimmer powder 2,99 EUR in 01 Lil' Vampire and two Catrice blushes in 030 Pink Grapefruit Shake and 020 Peach Sorbet, 3,50 EUR each. To be honest, I was not too blown away by the Vampire's Love collection, so I only got what took my fancy and it was only the shimmer powder - very subtle, not too shimmery and nicely blendable, definitely a must! And the two blushes, just to add some variation to my typical daily blush :-)

 

ELF Studio Blush & Bronzer vs. NARS Orgasm & Laguna

Catrice Papagena blush stick in C01 Tigerlily

It was very exciting to see the new Papagena collection at my local Kruidvat, so I immediately checked it out. Originally, I was eyeing the gold nuggets, but in reality, they are EXTREMELY shimmery, sparkly and quite dark to be honest, which I would never be able to pull off on my skin, such a shame.

I stopped myself from buying the eyeshadows, even though they looked really pretty and swatched well in the shop. It was the same for nail polishes and see-through lipstick/glosses. However, what I did get and definitely HAD to buy was a blush stick (I think it was 3,45 EUR), I did not own a blush stick before. You have a choice of orange tinge Tigerlily or pinky Bird of paradise (this had really poor pay off). Hence I bought Tigerlily.

When you swatch it, it had a nice, not too strong pigmentation, which can be an advantage in a blush, if you tend to overdo it. Unfortunaly, the application on the cheeks is pretty sheer and it gives a rather blotchy, uneven colour distribution and it is hard to build up the colour. Luckily, there is no strange smell to the product. It is so disappointing, because this collection looked so promising. Overall, I would not recommend buying neither of the blush sticks.

Sucker Punch - Babydoll makeup

Who did not love the makeup that Babydoll (Emily Browning) is wearing in Sucker Punch...I browsed through a couple of tutorials and here is my winner for the best imitation (SarahVictor):

Catrice make-up product highlights

Right packaging sells, we all know that and for some reason, Catrice manages to catch my eye every time. Here are pictures of my favourite products that I either own already or will buy in the near future (hopefully).

Eyebrow kit

Powder blushes

Today is all about cheeks! I blame the sunny weather for that :-). So, here blushes that I use, and consider that a huge collection, because up until recently I did not think I would ever even apply it on my face.

The two blushes on the left are both Maybelline: , the top one is expert wear in 53 sweetheart rose, the messy one on the bottom is affinitone in 57 peach. Now, I am not really happy with neither of them. Both colours are very sheer, with low pigmentation. In fact, you have to build 3-4 layers of no. 53 to even notice anything on your skin, hence the protruding hole...I dropped No. 57 accidently, and I have not been able to fix it properly with rubbing alcohol. I think I paid around 10 EUR for each of them, which is a lot, if they do not perform all that well...I will not repurchase them.

The right top blush is in fact an eyeshadow, by Réserve Naturelle, no. 9. I simply found it too red to be applied on my eyes and it was only 1 EUR :-) It has a certain chalkiness, so you have been warned.

My favourite blush is my recent addition: Catrice multi-colour rouge 010 Riviera rose. It not a flat colour as it contains certain shimmery particles and you can build it however your need, from light to darker. It was cheap, around 5 EUR, and I got it at Kruidvat.

Rae Morris, a makeup artist, recommends NOT to smile when you apply blush, and you can easily see why, just notice the difference where the blush ends up when you do!

If you hesitate which colour to buy, go bulk and buy a 28 blush palette and you will have them all :-)

Blushes

There are many things that Bobbi Brown taught me via her book, The Makeup Manual. Whether it is concealing my undereye circles or applying an eyeliner, Im telling you, that woman knows a thing or two about how to make women look "put together". So, another amazing thing she recommends is blush. I know! Blush, aka your stereotypical Russian matrioska look immediately emerges, at least in my head.

However, a right shade blush, applied in moderation, will make you look healthy and younger, both reasons good enough to look into it:-) And who does not want those perfect high cheekbones defined...

First of all, you need to choose a suitable colour for your undertone (cool for cool, warm for warm). If you struggle to decide which one you are, try to pick a shade most natural to your red cheeks when exercising.

Alongside your shade, you will have to decide which formula to use: powder, gel, cream, pot rouge, tints...Generally speaking, if you have dry skin, you balance the dryness with creamy consistency and if you have oily skin, you should go for powder.

Open up your eyes

In my opinion, there are three easy ways to look rested, sophisticated and "put together":

• Blush - for that fresh outdoorsy face
• Undereye concealer - an alpha and omega in beating the tired appearance
• Eyeliner - defines the eyes, deepens, intensifies your look, optically thickens and elongates the lashes

Eyeliners are available in many shapes and forms but they have different effects.

• Pencil eyeliners are easy to work with and chances are you are most familiar with this type. However they smudge quickly.
• Felt tip pen eyeliners are relatively easy to work with, because they offer a steady tip
• Liquid eyeliners - I find it really difficult to place them as close as possible to my lashline, my hand is shaking like crazy when I do that, so the result is...shaky. Moreover, they tend to "crack" during the day.
• Cake eyeliners - usually dark coloured powders pressed into a small pot, they are smudge-proof and the colour intensity is strong
• Gel eyeliners - are equally long lasting and colour intense as cake eyeliners, there are my favourites