Seventeen Blush Powder in Nude

Hey All

I love shopping my stash from time to time, it's so easy to forget long lost products after a favourite comes in and takes over. When I found Seventeen Blush Powder in Nude in my stash I didn't think much of it. It didn't jump out at me and I couldn't even remember buying it, but on the skin this blush won me over. Plus it's a bargain £2.99 (here) and usually on an offer or two. Plus seventeen have just bought out some amazing looking matte lipsticks. I also believe Seventeen is cruelty free (if you know otherwise please let me know as I'm finding brands I'd previously read were now aren't!)

The nude blush is an amazing everyday shade. It's a great neutral that isn't too pink or orange toned. It just gives a natural flush to the skin. It's not a shimmery blush either so very easy to wear.

My camera was having trouble picking up the swatch as on the skin it doesn't show as much but on the face it transfers well. It blends softly to give a natural colour on the apples and isn't overly pigmented that you have to worry about over doing it.

For £2.99 I'd definitely recommend picking this one up. I've had it ages and still love it. I'll be grabbing a new on when I grab some of the new lipsticks! Have you tried any yet? Any shade recommendations?

Love M

xxx

MAC Toledo Blush Ombre in Ripe Peach

Good morning!

I recently wrote a post on the beautiful Cinderella Fluidline Eyeliner Gel from MAC (post here), and mentioned that I was lucky to enough to also receive the Toledo Ombre Blush from my friends too.

The Toledo collection comes from Isabel and Ruben Toledo, it consisted of so many products it would be crazy to name them all! There was lipsticks, glosses, nail polishes, mascaras, eye liners not to mention brushes and make up bags. It's a really amazing collection and the colours are so pretty, if you get chance check out this post from Temptalia (click here) which shows some of the products, make sure you look at the stunning eyeshadow palettes!

The design is totally different from the normal MAC range and I love the way it stands out. The red is so eye catching and the faces are cute and slightly creepy, meaning I mostly can't stop looking at them.

What I also can't take my eyes off is the ombre effect of the blush itself.

JUST FEAST YOUR EYES ON IT




It's just beautiful and every kind of coral that I could ever want in one blush! Swirling my blush brush over this every morning is one sure way to get me happy, it's such a lovely colour and it complements my skin tone.

Ripe Peach is the perfect name for this blush.



So how does it look on? Peachy would definitely be the right term!

This is a great colour for every day wear, but you can also layer it up a little and get the colour to be stronger and more powerful looking.

I have often thought that some MAC collections can be a little hit and miss, they can be cheap looking or the products aren't as pigmented as the ones from the normal range.
This collection however has been really worth every penny, I've heard lots of others rave about the range too.

Do you like MAC collections like Toledo? Have you tried any of the products from this collection?

Do you like the look of this Ripe Peach ombre blush?

L xxx

Make Up Revolution Ultra Professional Blush Palette in Hot Spice

Happy hump day!

Today's post is a review on something that I have been trying to get my hands on for MONTHS!

I was initially really disappointed as I went to Superdrug in Cardiff (both stores) to pick up this palette so many times and the stands were always empty. And I mean ransacked, covered in make up and with broken bits hanging off. I did tweet them and they responded saying they would speak to their store.
Eventually I went in and found one of these palettes but it was a lucky shot - the rest of the stand was still empty.

I was also disappointed that most of the boxes and general packaging were damaged for all of the products. I opened up a few of the boxes to make sure the one I bought wasn't broken inside (always suspicious!) and a lot of the palettes inside were cracked and scratched. It's just a bit disappointing to have to buy something that is already broken....

Nevertheless I managed to get one and was quite excited to get it home and photographed so I could use it.

The Ultra Blush Palette in Hot Spice contains a variety of 6 blushers in corally orange tones and 2 highlighters, as shown in the pictures below. It's probably a picky thing but I wish they had names, they don't even have numbers so it's a bit hard to refer to each one individually.

With all of my negativity so far, this was one palette I could not stop taking photos of. Look at how beautiful it is! The colours and finishes are perfect:

So how do they swatch? Is the pigmentation any good?

Here's the top row swatched without and then with flash:

These are all extremely wearable shades especially for me and my pale skin. You can see that there is a slight shimmer to the blushes but by no means is it glittery, this makes them great for day time as they give your skin a bit of a glow finish but nothing over the top. These are also really buildable so it's easy to layer on the colours for a variety of definition on your face.

The second row is as follows, without and then with flash:

Again, really wearable and suit my skin tone. I'm really pleased with the palette, especially for £6 as this means it has cost less than £1 for each one and that's pretty amazing.

If I'm honest although the colours vary when swatched on my face there isn't much variation. The highlighters are both flattering and not glittery at all, they seem to be really finely milled so they just have a shimmer.

The darker blushes are clearly darker but overall the variation doesn't show up too much but that's ok as the colour range is exactly what I look for so all of them will be used I'm 100% sure of it.

On my face, here's a few snaps:

These were all different blushes and the 2 different highlighters but this doesn't show at all! It's not a problem for me but may be if you are expecting a big difference. I just love the coral shade of things and couldn't care less - they're all beautiful!

So overall, what are my thoughts?

If you can get your hands on them, do! I've really enjoyed using this; the colour range is perfect, the pigmentation is great and the prices are CHEAP. I love that the palettes are in colour families, maybe in future they will have a combination palette for those who like to change up their blush colour all the time and create a NARS Virtual Domination type one as I'm sure it would be a best seller. Though having said that you could buy all six of their current blush, bronze and highlighter palettes for less than the NARS one!

I am really impressed with this palette as my first ever product from Make Up Revolution. I've got my eye on getting the Golden Sugar Blush and Contour palette whenever I can as it is beautiful and I'd love to try more from MUR.

Fingers crossed my Cardiff store will be better stocked next time I go in as there's so much I'd like to try and would have by now if I could!

What do you think of MUR? Do you love a blush palette? What else would you recommend from MUR?

I've recently added 21 blushes to my collection recently which is mildly obscene....let's not tell anyone else about them yeah?! Whoops!

L xxx

Laura Mercier Artist's Palette for Eyes and Cheeks

Happy Sunday!

I don't know about you but i will be spending my Sunday lazing around and enjoying a free day. There's going to be reading, tv and food, along with some dog walks to get me outdoors but that is it! The last few weeks have been so busy I'm really looking forward to having a quiet weekend or two.

In the post Christmas sale there was one store that I was really looking forward to having a browse of....sadly in Wales we don't have an individual store but we do have access to the wonderful Space NK website, and so I made my very first sale purchase: the Laura Mercier Artist's Palette for Eyes and Cheeks.

Originally this was priced at £45 but I managed to get it for the bargain price of £22.50 - who on earth could refuse that?!

With eight eyeshadows and a super flattering blush in the centre it was sure to be a winner in anyone's make up collection, especially mine. I've long lusted after LM palettes and products in general and having only tried the Silk Creme foundation and the hydrating primer I am yet to find one that I don't like.

And with an animal print exterior I was surely not going to let it pass me by.

Sometimes I think they could be a bit more creative with their names....but nevertheless at least their names make some sense - there's no use in calling something a completely ridiculous name that has nothing to do with the colour, you know what you're getting here.

Opening the palette reveals a sturdy mirror along with the product inside, I love the arrangement and the equality of the palette pleases my OCD tendencies.

I also really like that they're named on the front, a lot of brands do this now and I think it's a lot better than scrabbling around trying to find the box it came in to work it out! I like products with names, feels a lot more personal than '001'.

How do you like my Christmas leggings by the way? I seem to have snapped them in the mirror in the image below - a Primarni special they are my absolute favourite things to wear right now.

The blush in the centre is a Rosegold Shimmer; it does exactly what it says on the tin. It's a beautiful rose gold product that I've been wearing all day every day recently; its extremely flattering and gives me a warm glow kind of look. It also has a really subtle shimmer that does not look glittery in any way and it's great for day and night.

So the colours. Vanilla Nuts is a super matte, creamy textured shadow that I've been using as the perfect base. It glides on and covers my whole eyelid easily. It's almost a bit dark for my (pretty much) ivory skin but it's a great colour.
Stone Taupe is exactly that colour and I love using it in the crease of my eyelid to define it, it blends so smoothly it's like it belongs there.
Pewter is a gorgeous shimmery dark silver and will be great for an evening look, again it blends seamlessly and flatters my skin tone.
Deep Night is a gorgeous dark blue that I've been using as a liner; it's perfect and a pretty change from black which I am otherwise hooked on.

Topaz is essentially a shimmery version of Stone Taupe and again will look great for evening, though I would wear it in day too as they have such a subtle shimmer to them and blend so well.
Morning Dew and Cashmere are again matte shadows and between them they feel so buttery. They create the perfect nude eye look for work and don't seem to fall or slide during the day.
Crystal Beige is the last colour in the palette and is a warm toned shimmer shadow with a touch of gold in it.
I can't describe them any better than this as I'm far too busy playing with them and marvelling at their beauty!

Here are some colour swatches taken in daylight, so these are true to colour. Taking photos in winter is so restrictive don't you think??
The above shows without flash and below shows with:

Here are the first four eyeshadows closer up without/with flash and also the blush, found at the far left of my arm. It blends so well you can barely see it!

And here are the last four, with and then without flash. They are so finely milled that when swatched they almost blend seamlessly into my skin:

Still not convinced? Here are some photos I've taken from the last few weeks:

I absolutely love it, and i love that I got it for £22.50 even more! 

What do you think of the palette and the eyeshadow colours?

Have you tried a palette from Laura Mercier before? Have you bought anything in the Space NK sale?

I can see this coming with me a lot when I start travelling with my job; it has almost every look I could need!

L xxx

NARS Virtual Domination Blush Palette

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