Blush | The Blush Brush

Feb 22, 2012

NARS Amour – A beautiful peachy blush

I’m a fan of peachy blushes on my skin tone and Nars Amour didn’t disappoint. This is a richly pigmented matte blush that is great for a soft peachy glow. Amour is described as a peachy pink but when blended out on my cheeks this reads more on the peach side for me. Since it’s a matte shade it’s great for everyday wear and the staying power doesn’t disappoint. While this is a matte shade it isn’t chalky or powdery at all. The texture is creamy and easy to blend and a little goes a very long way. I swatched this with some of my other peach blushes to give you a comparison.

Starting from the left:

1. Nars Amour (Matte finish)

2. Tarte Amazonian Clay blush in Blissful (Matte finish)

3. Elf studio blush in Peachy Keen (Shimmer finish)

While I love all three of these colors Amour is the most pigmented and the one I have to have the lightest touch with.

What You Need To Know:

1. This blush leans more on the warm side

2. Matte finish

3. I like wearing this best with a brown smokey eye

4. Great pigmentation and creamy texture

5. I usually wear this swept across my cheekbones, avoiding the apple of my cheeks

Like most NARS products this is a bit pricey, I paid $27.00 and ordered mine from Sephora.com

Jan 27, 2012

Posted by Holly | 0 Comments

Maybelline Dream Bouncy Blush – Hot Tamale

One of Maybelline’s newest product launches is it’s powder-gel formula Dream Bouncy Blushes. The line has 10 shades and is supposed to be lightweight like a powder but melt into your skin like a cream. The biggest buzz about this product is it’s literal bouncy texture, when you push down on this product it literally gives under your fingertips and springs back into place. I guess this is supposed to be a big selling point but to be honest I think it’s kind of gross seeing all my little finger-print impressions everytime I open the product.

I watched quite a few reviews on this so I knew when I bought this product it would go on sheer but could be built up for a more intense color. I like my blushes to be fairly pigmented so I chose Hot Tamale since it looked like I would get the most color from it. The color swatches nicely on fingertips but I had a hard time building it up to a color I liked on my cheeks without piling on a lot of the product. But like I said this product is aimed more for those people who like a more sheer flush of color. That being said I still feel like if you bought one of the lighter shades you would be getting very limited color payoff so what’s the point of even wearing it. Another issue I had with the product was staying power, the first day I wore it I did not apply any other powder blush on top of it and I felt like it faded quickly and looked splotchy after just a few hours. It worked fine as a base.

What You Need To Know:

1. These apply best with fingers

2. These are very sheer washes of color once you start blending them in

3. The lasting power on this was NOT very long for me

My overall opinion of this product is you’re mostly paying for the quirky texture and not a high-quality product. It’s not a terrible but it didn’t wow me and I won’t be purchasing any of the other shades. I also think this would work best for people with dry skin and those who just want a very sheer wash of color. My other suggestion is if you already bought this product and aren’t crazy with it, try using it as a base for one of your favorite powder blushes!

Swatch of Hot Tamale

Oct 22, 2011

Posted by Holly | 0 Comments

My Favorite Drugstore Blushes!

High quality, pigmented, blendable drugstore blushes are few and far between for me. Many are hit and miss when I purchase them and end up in the garbage after I try them out. However, shelling out 25.00 dollars for a new Tarte blush or 18 dollars for something from MAC isn’t always in my budget. Here is a list of my favorite drugstore blushes that won’t hurt your wallet but still look beautiful when you use them!

NYX Powder Blush- These little blushes cost around $5.99 at ULTA and have great pigment! They blend easily and wear nicely throughout the day. My favorite colors in these are:

Pinched – A pretty peachy pink with a slight golden shimmer

Mocha – The name of this one is deceiving! I would describe this as a deeper matte pink with no shimmer at all

Silky Rose – This is a deep pinky/wine color. I think this is beautiful for the fall

One drawback of these are I always have trouble with the packaging. I love the cute square shape but the clear plastic in the lid usually pops out if I carry these in my purse or try packing them for travel. Then I always have to worry about them cracking and getting powder all over the place. Besides that, these are a great product. You can click the link below to purchase online or find it in any ULTA store in the blush aisle!

e.l.f Studio Blush – The e.l.f studio line has some really great products at affordable prices. I usually purchase mine online but I see e.l.f. at Target and at K-mart stores. These blushes cost around 3 dollars but I try and hold off on purchasing mine until the website has a 50% off sale, that way you pick them up for $1.50 !

These blushes are very pigmented and blend easily. The one downfall is they are very powdery, so make sure you tap off your brush before applying to your face. I have a full review on these blushes here

NYX’s pinched is very similar to e.l.f’s twinkle pink. The e.l.f. blush has a bit more sparkle though. I think pinched and twinkle pink both look great on almost any skin tone and would be a great starter blush for those new to makeup!

Milani Baked Blushes – The milani baked blushes are gorgeous and one of my all-time favorite blush products. These cost around 6.99 and come in beautiful shimmery shades. My favorite for summer is coralina. It’s a beautiful coraly peach shade flecked with gold and vanilla swirls. For fall I love the shades Fantastico mauve and Red Vino. I’ve purchased mine from CVS but you can also buy them from cherryculture.com if they are sold out at your store.

Hopefully these give you some good alternatives to the more expensive brands! I’d love to hear which are your favorite drugstore blushes so that I can try them out myself!

Oct 1, 2011

Posted by Holly | 0 Comments

Tarte Amazonian clay long-wear blush

These Tarte blushes are my absolute favorite, they have great pigment, blend easily and wear evenly. I think they are also marketed as lasting 12 hours. I however don’t really notice them lasting that long. Still love them though!

Amused

Blissful

These blushes were $25.00 a piece but worth the splurge. I find myself reaching for blissful almost everyday. I love that there is no shimmer to them and blissful looks beautiful on my medium skin tone, although both colors are flattering. I’ve read many positive reviews on these and I’m happy I’m not the only one that loves them. These are very pigmented and because they are baked I find there is very little powderiness to them. Another plus is the packaging! These are so easy to throw in my purse and the lids never come open.

When I have some extra cash I definitely want to invest in some of the other colors

Sep 20, 2011

Posted by Holly | 0 Comments

e.l.f. Studio Blushes

I picked up some new blushes in my e.l.f haul as well. I have tried the studio blushes before and liked them. I was able to purchase 2 new colors with this order though.

First, Pink Passion

and twinkle pink

I’ve always liked the blendabilty and pigment in e.l.f. studio blushes. This applies to these most recent purchases as well. The colors are very pretty and they go on smoothly. Twinkle Pink does have some gold glitter in it but i feel like it mostly blends away when swatched or applied on the cheeks. Out of the 2 colors I like Pink Passion the most. My one complaint is how powdery they are. They can be very messy when you use your brush to pick up color and I feel alot of product probably gets wasted as dust.

These are normally priced at $3.00 but I picked them both up for $1.50

I would most likely repurchase these again!