MAC Archies girls haul, swatches, photos and FOTD

 Hello all, I could not resist this collection because I was pretty well obsessed with Archie comics when I was a kid. Part of me thought maybe I should pass since I'm a grown up now but then I saw the color story and everything that is in Betty's collection just called my name.

So here we go, $240 CAD later...

 

 I got flatter me pearl matte, veronica's blush pearlmatte, cream soda blush, lord it up pearlglide eyeliner, summer sweetheart lipglass, betty bright lipstick and caramel sundae eyeshadow quad.

This is mainly just a photo swatch post, but I am going to be doing a comparison post soon.
I know there are many swatches floating around out there already, but in case you want to see how they look on super pale skin NC10/NC15 then this is for you. My camera likes to pick up odd cool/warm tones so they are not the most accurate of swatches but I tried to capture how the products look on me.

Betty bright lipstick:

 

Swatches betty bright lipstick (top) and  summer sweetheart lipglass (bottom) :

 

 wearing Betty Bright lipstick :

Wearing summer sweetheart lipglass:

 

 lord it up pearlglide swatch :

Caramel sundae quad swatches :

 Veronicas blush pearlmatte swatch  (this one is not nearly matte!) :

 Flatter me pearlmatte swatch :

cream soda blush swatch  (this was sooo pigmented I was shocked!) :

  

 My 'Betty' FOTD (breakdown below) :

Eyes:
- MAC bare study paint pot
-caramel sundae quad

- lord it up pearlglide

- prestige my biggest lashes mascara
- MAC brow pencil lingering
- MAC prep & prime highlighter radiant rose

Face:
- Revlon Colorstay foundation normal/dry 110 ivory

- MAC careblend powder light  

Cheeks :

- Cream soda blush (on apples)

- flatter me pearlmatte (lightly over top cream soda blush)

 Lips: 

- summer sweetheart lipglass

What did you think of the Archie's girls collection? Did you want/get anything from it?

Chanel tempting beige powder blush photos and swatches

This was my very first Chanel blush. I ended up getting a tester since it's the cheapest way to try it out! (You can find all sorts of Chanel testers for sale on Ebay for about 1/2 the retail price).


Tempting beige is a very warm rich brown toned peach. There are tiny shimmer particles laced through it but they seem to look natural and luminous on the skin.

Tempting beige is super pigmented and packs a nice color even with light application.
I found it very easy to blend, and the color left me with a natural glowy looking finish.

wearing Chanel tempting beige:

I really packed it on here to show the color on my face. Normally I use a less amount and blend it with my highlighter to create a more subltle cheek. 

I have been looking for a nice neutral blush color to wear everyday and just haven't found the right one. I thought tempting beige might be it, but it's just too warm for me.

I think tempting beige is a beautiful color that would suit practically any skin tone. For very fair skin I recommend using a lighter hand or it can make you look sunburned.

I like Chanel blush because it lasts all day and the pigmentation is amazing.
Have you tried any Chanel blush? What is your favorite 'go to' everyday blush color?

Gosh natural touch cream blush in 003 fluffy peach photos and swatches

Every once in a while I try a new Gosh product. Gosh isn't my favorite, but I like some of their products and the excellent color selection.

I only have a few cream blushes in my collection and when I saw this pretty peach color on sale I had to grab it!

Here is Gosh cream blush 003 fluffy peach:

It's a very pale, almost fleshy peach. Really pretty. It looks like a cream finish in the pot but when swatched you can see there are subtle hidden sparkles laced into it.
The result is a natural glowy finish.

Swatch of fluffy peach (layered heavily) :

Wearing fluffy peach layered a few times on my cheeks:

I will be honest, this barely shows up on me. It gives a super natural dewy glow, without depositing much color. I think it looks very natural, and livens up my face.
I like it because I don't have anything else that looks like this on my skin. It's also nice in the winter months when my skin is dry and lacking in luminosity.

For someone super pale looking for a touch of color, without looking like they are wearing anything - this is your blush.
On deeper skins I imagine you would still get a beautiful glow, and a subtle highlight effect.

Lasting power is ok for a cream blush, it lasts about 6 hours which isn't bad or good.

Overall, if you like cream blush I say check these out. They are around $16 CAD but often go on sale.

Do you like wearing cream blush?

NARS blush in lovejoy photos and swatches

I do love grabbing a new NARS blush every once and a while. I chose to get lovejoy the other day after swatching a bunch of colors at sephora. I wanted something that would give me a bit of glow, and it looked like it would work.

It's a very pigmented berry bronze with golden shimmer. I found I had to be super careful applying because it is very easy to over-do.

Swatch of lovejoy:

in different light to show shimmer:

I found that once applied to my cheeks the shimmer didn't stand out very much. On me, lovejoy turned very red and sunburned looking.

Wearing lovejoy : (please excuse this blurry photo, was taken after a very long day)

It made me look very flushed. I felt like I was suffering from a bad case of rosacea :(
The red undertone made my complexion look overly pink and I really did not like that effect.
Sadly lovejoy is not a winner for me. This would work much better on warm toned or olive skin, ranging from light to dark in color.

What is your favorite NARS blush? I was looking at douceur but I'm on the fence about it.

MAC surf baby blushette in bound for love, photos and swatches

I have something special to show you, something that was only released in a very limited quantity!
MAC blushettes were part of the surf baby collection released back in May 2011. I believe these were only available in certain countries.

I found this baby at Winners (Canadian TJ MAXX) over the past weekend.
I tried to search for some info on them, and found nothing. In fact, a very popular beauty blogger even commented that 'Blushettes never went into production'.

Well, I'm here to show you that they did go into production, because I have swatches and photos of it :)

Blushettes are packaged in little twist up tubes, with the same striped floral design that is all over the other surf baby products.
Bound for love is a lovely light cool pink shade, with subtle pearl iridescence. It looks so dewy and glowy on, I can't get enough of it.
The other color released is 'Barbara Ann' and it is a bright coral orange. I didn't get that one because it didn't look like it would suit me.

Swatches of Bound for love:

This goes on very sheer. I used about 3 swipes in these swatches. The light reflecting particles make such a nice finish on the skin.

Wearing bound for love on my cheeks:

This little blush is my new best friend. It adds a subtle wash of color and a little bit of glow.
I don't usually go for cream blush, but I think I might try more from now on.
The lasting power is pretty good, for me it stays on all day.

Has anyone else seen these before?
Any recommendations for more cream blush for me to try out?

Hard Candy smooth talker fox in a box blush photos and swatches

My latest drug store purchase was this little box of blush by hard candy. I hate cardboard packaging but the colors just called to me so I got it anyways.

I have had my eye on Benefit's sugarbomb blush for a while, and smooth talker has very similar colors to it. From swatching them both I don't think they are dupes at all though. Sugarbomb seems much more pigmented, and shimmery.

The packaging is nothing special, just basic cardboard blah. But like all hard candy packaging there are cute designs plastered on it.

The colors are very muted and natural looking. There is a light peach, light lavender, light pink and light rose. They aren't pigmented at all.


swatches of each color layered 3 times:

all 4 colors mixed:

The end result is a very light neutral pink/beige. It barely shows up on my skin. I really have to layer it. The finish is slightly shimmery, but only up close.

Wearing smooth talker mixed together:

It just gives a little color to my cheeks. Hardly noticeable unless I really pile it on. Even then it hardly looks like I'm wearing anything.
I think I need to save my money and get Benefit's sugar bomb!

If you like very natural looking blush, this might suit you. But only pale skin because it won't show up on any darker tones.
I'm not impressed with this fox in a box blush. The other blushes they make are much much nicer and more pigmented. I really like honeymoon, it's a really pretty.

NYX taupe blush photos, swatches and FOTD

I had no clue where to start up with my posts, I have about 30 or so new product swatches and reviews to share so I just picked one randomly!

NYX blush in taupe is my first NYX blush ever. Can you believe that? Although, it really doesn't fit the bill as a 'blush'; It's most definitely a contour color. I'd describe it as mid-tone dirty taupe with a mauve cast. It doesn't look very flattering in the package.

There is no shimmer or shine, but it isn't completely flat either. It's got a nice soft satin matte finish.

Swatch of taupe blush:

It looks like a bruise on my ghost skin! Surprisingly, it works nicely as a contour, but I have to be careful to use a light hand since it can look dirty if I apply too much.
I'd recommend this to anyone to contour with. It can create a really nice shadow below the cheekbones or any other area of the face you want to 'recede'.

FOTD wearing taupe contoured under cheekbones:

I like how it doesn't look fake or too orange like some contour/bronzers do. It acts as a natural looking shadow which is exactly what you want when contouring.

I have to say that I am impressed with the pigmentation, and you can bet I'll be getting myself some more NYX blushes in the future!

Do you like NYX blush? Any favorite colors?

Sleek pan tao blush photos and FOTD

Sleek blushes rival the quality of NARS. They are super pigmented and come in a variety of bright and fun colors.
Pan Tao is a limited edition color from the Sleek avoir le peche collection for spring/summer 2011.

It looks super bright orange in the compact! It is truly a nice bright matte tangerine color.

It's very pigmented and a little goes a long way on fair skin! I find that when sheered out it makes the perfect peachy flush.

Wearing pan tao blush on my cheeks:

I love this blush because although it's bright it blends so nicely into the skin and makes my face look fresh and healthy.

I'm on the hunt for more sleek blush, I can't say enough good things about them! And for $6.50 a pop they can't be beat. Sadly sleek is only sold in the UK, but can easily be found on eBay.

MAC style blush photos, swatches and FOTD

I'm not dead, I'm just taking some time off since my camera died! I found a few things on my computer today so I will post whatever I can before I get my new cam next week :)
Anyways, one of my more recent loves is MAC style blush.

My lame old camera didn't pick up the bright quality of this blush, when you see it in the store it looks very orange and almost a little fluorescent.
I was scared how it would look on my cheeks but very happily surprised to find out it's quite sheer.

Style is described as 'Coral-peach with gold pearl' my description is 'sheer peach with gold shimmer'. It's a very beautiful color and it reminds me of a brighter NARS deepthroat. Although deepthroat is much more pigmented.

swatches of style blush:

this is two swipes layered, the flash has washed it out a bit.

This blush is so sheer, I even have to layer it to show up on my skin! I like it though, since I never put too much on that way.

Wearing style blush, layered a couple times:

I like this color a lot because it really does brighten up my face. The shimmer particles are quite small and they don't exaggerate pores or look clownish in any way. It looks natural enough that I use this when I want to go for the 'nude' look.
I would not recommend this shade for deeper skin tones as I don't think it would show up unless you really piled it on. For fair skin, this is a must have peach color!