TAG: Addicted to Blush

I have no shame in admitting that I am a massive blush lover (or a blush fiend). It’s funny; blushes were actually one of the last beauty products I got into. With my naturally rosy cheeks and tendency to flush very easily, blush seemed a bit unnecessary. I don’t know what the hell I was thinking back then! I am all for blush these days. 

When I saw Kat from Kitsch Snitch, had created her own TAG called Addicted to Blush, I instantly added it to my ‘Blog Posts to Write’ list. How could a blush fiend not complete an Addicted to Blush TAG? Make sure you check out Kat’s original post HERE. 

WHAT COLOUR BLUSH SUITS YOU THE MOST?

I find that cool pinks suit me the most and the shades I am most drawn to. I think it is because they look similar to my natural flush/blush. I also quite like nude-pink shades.

PRESSED/CREAM/LOOSE BLUSH?

My first preference is pressed blush, I find it the easiest to apply and it definitely dominates my stash. I like cream blushes but I find them a little trickier to apply and can take a little bit longer to blend in. To be honest, I have never even tried a loosed blush but all I can think about is the mess it could make!

FAVOURITE SHIMMERY BLUSH?

The Illuminating Powder Gelee Blush from Estee Lauder in Pink Tease is a gorgeous shimmery pink. Charlotte Tilbury and NARS also create lovely shimmery blushes. The MAC Mineralize Skinfinishes are great when you really want to amp up the shimmer factor. 

FAVOURITE MATTE BLUSH?

I only have a couple of matte blushes in my stash, both of which are from Illamasqua. I love Naked Rose and use it quite often, Lover not so much these days (corals just seem to make me look orange lately). I personally prefer a satin finish blush, I think they really lift my face and make my complexion look alive. 

FAVOURITE CREAM BLUSH?

I really like the Chanel Le Blush Crème de Chanel blushes and you would hope I do as I have six in my stash. I also bought a Shu Uemura Silk Cushion Cheek a few months ago from the Shupette collection which I have been enjoying. 

FAVOURITE DRUGSTORE BLUSH?

This is kind of embarrassing but I do not actually own any drugstore blushes. I guess I am a bit of a ‘Blush Snob’. I have only ever tried a couple and I wasn't that impressed. They were either too sheer, chunky glitter or dry and unblendable. Also by the time I really got into blush, I was mainly purchasing higher end products.

FAVOURITE HIGH END BLUSH?

Where do I start? I love Tom Ford and Burberry for the strong pigmentation, blendability and long lasting power. Chanel because… it is Chanel. I cannot resist and I don’t want to resist. I also really enjoy my Guerlain blushes for the lovely violet scent (violet is an absolute favourite for me). NARS as well, because of the amazing range of shades like the cult Orgasm and Deepthroat. This is really only a small selection of my favourite blushes. I pretty much consider all my blushes (all 70+ of them) my favourites. I said I was a blush fiend... 

FAVOURITE BRIGHT BLUSH?

Tom Ford Cheek Color in Narcissist, Burberry Light Glow Natural Blush in Pink Coral, Chanel Le Blush Creme de Chanel in Fantastic, Clinique Cheek Pop in Plum Pop and Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blush in Adored – I love a bright pink blush. 

BIGGEST BLUSH DISAPPOINTMENT/REGRET?

I don’t have any blush regrets but I was really disappointed in Bourjois Blush Pots. They were extremely sheer and hard. I had to scrap the blush to be able to use it. Things that would disappointment in a blush is lack of pigmentation, no lasting power and being too stiff to apply and blend.

BEST BLUSH PACKAGING?

I think the Tom Ford Cheek Color packaging is both simple but luxe, it has the feel and weight you expect but doesn’t waste space with a useless brush. The same goes for the Hourglass Ambient Lightening Blushes – luxe but practical. I used to love the packaging on the Benefit Boxed Blushes but I feel like I have outgrown their cutesy packaging these days. The blushes are still fantastic but I prefer a sleeker packaging. 

WHAT’S ON YOUR BLUSH WISHLIST?

The new Bobbi Brown Cheek Palette in Pink from the Hot Collection looks divine and I MUST HAVE IT. I would also like to track down the Guerlain Meteorites Perles de Blush. Some more Tom Ford blushes wouldn’t be unwelcome in my stash either. 

NUMBER ONE, HOLY GRAIL BLUSH? 

It has to be NARS Deepthroat, the only blush I have ever hit pan on. It was also the first high end blush I purchased and one I reach for almost weekly. It just looks so good on, I feel like it brings my pale face to life. 

If you have read this, consider yourself tagged! If you don’t have a blog, feel free to answer some or all of the questions in the comments below. I would love to see your answers! 

Now I am off to have a browse of some online shops for some more blush, because you know I have no self control #blushfiendforlife.

Cull the Stash #1

One of my 2015 Beauty Goals is to ‘Cull the Stash’. Which basically means I want to get rid of the unloved & unwanted makeup in my stash/collection. I want to make my collection more refined, for it to only contain products I love and use. I thought it would be easy.

I was wrong. 

It seems I am a sentimental fool who tries to convince herself that she will totally wear that blue eyeshadow trio that has been in her stash, unused for three years! She also thought it would be a good idea to keep six year old Estee Lauder palettes from a Christmas gift set because they were a gift, yup she is a fool! Okay, enough referring to myself in the third person but you get the idea. 

I also wanted to get rid of anything that was excessively old. I know there are standard use-by-dates for makeup but I don’t follow them. I instead keep an eye on my products and throw them out when the scent, texture and effectiveness changes. 

As of today, I have completed a cull of my base products, eye products and the tub under my bed full of old makeup (my ‘Makeup Graveyard’ – it’s where products go to die). 

Giveaway/Sell

My base products were pretty easy because I know what works for me and also which shades match me. Many foundations I purchase end up being too dark (especially from the drugstore), so I knew they had to go. Eye products weren’t too bad; I looked out for crappy pigmentation and cream products that had dried out (I’m looking at you Maybelline Color Tattoos!). 

The hardest part was my Makeup Graveyard. The reason they ended up in there in the first place was I had trouble parting with them. The products were no longer being used and I needed the space in my drawers but I couldn’t bring myself to throw them out. I managed to whittle the graveyard down but I will admit there is still some products in there that I can’t bring myself to get rid of… yet. 

I haven’t done a full cull of my lip products yet as I am waiting until around June and will be referring to my ‘365 Days of Lips’ spreadsheet to see which lip products I have actually been using. I am keeping the record in an attempt to convince myself of products I don’t use and don’t need. Lip products are a real weakness for me and I really struggle to get rid of any (unless they have gone bad or are awful products). 

I haven’t culled my cheeks products yet either. Like lip products they are a weakness and I cannot bear to get rid of any of them. To be honest, I am less concerned about culling them as being mostly powder products they don’t really go ‘off’. I will do it eventually though… I hope.

Binned

All up I think I did okay for my first attempt. I binned over 60 products – these were old, well-used or just really horrible products I wouldn’t want anyone else to try. At this stage I have over 140 products to giveaway or sell, but this may increase as I have been finding makeup stashed away in some odd places (hello desk drawer!). Oh well that is the life of a #makeuphoarder. 

I think my makeup cull will be a work in progress, something that I go back to occasionally, with the goal of a streamlined, useable collection. That doesn’t mean I will stop buying new things, I will just make better and more informed decisions. I am also making an effort to use up my older products before they go bad. I even hit pan on a blush recently! 

Have you culled your stash lately? Did you find it hard or easy?

How much did you cull?

Nailed It - OPI Nail Lacquer in My Silk Tie

Fifty Shades of Grey would have to be on of the most talked about books and now films in recent years. Now OPI  has launched a new collection inspired by Fifty Shades of Grey. 

No, the collection is not made up of fifty shades of grey but five grey shades a creamy red. I received three shades to review; Dark Side of the Mood - a dark charcoal grey, Romantically Involved - a creme red and My Silk Tie which I will share with you today. 

My Silk Tie is definitely my favourite shade of the collection. It is a cool, metallic silver and it looks stunning on. It almost looks like you have a mirror on your nails!

I applied two thin coats for an even coverage. Application was easy but I wish I had used a smoothing base coat - my nails are quite ridged and I felt My Silk Tie really showed this. It was not as obvious as I thought it was and you could only really tell if you looked closely. 

I really love this polish and I know I will wear it again. Wear time was good for my nails - 3 days with very minimal wear on the tips and I am hard on my nails.

No matter what you think of the Fifty Shades of Grey book/film you have to agree that the Fifty Shades of Grey nail polish collection by OPI is lovely. The shades are all very wearable but slightly less mainstream. 

OPI nail polishes can be found at Myer, David Jones and selected salons nationally, full size polishes retail for $19.95 each. There is also a super cute mini set (pictured above) available containing all six shades in the collection, it retails for $29.95.

Laters Baby... (Sorry, I couldn't resist)

What do you think of the OPI Fifty Shades of Grey collection? Are you a Fifty Shades of Grey fan?

*This post contains products that were provided for consideration for review in accordance with my Disclosure Policy. This has not affected my opinion in any way, honesty as always.*

Tom Ford Lips & Boys

On Boxing Day 2014, Tom Ford released 50 shades of miniature lipsticks. They were limited edition and released on a whilst stock lasts basis. The shade range was varied and I think everyone would be able to find a 'Boy' that suited them. Each lipstick has a boys name and was named after a man in Mr. Ford's life. 

I originally ordered two shades - Justin & Cooper but then gave in a couple of days later and ordered another three - Flynn, Michael and Jack. David Jones was unusually slow to ship and I didn't get a shipment notification until a week later and even though they were ordered days apart, both parcels arrived on the same day. 

None of the shades I purchased are still available online and I had planned to have this post up much sooner but between the slow shipping and my horrible photography skills it was delayed. So apologies in advance but I couldn't resist sharing my 'Boys'. 

Whilst these are considered a miniature size, they do not loose any of the luxuriousness that Tom Ford is known for. The cases are made of the same high quality materials and has the same weighty feel to them. The actual cases are only about 3mm smaller in both width and length and about 1.5cm shorter in height. 

The actual lipstick bullet is smaller but does not feel weak or like it will break with use (like many miniature lipsticks do). The actual weight of the lipstick in the Boy size is 2g and a normal Lip Color is 3g. Using Australian prices the weight per gram works out to be very close. The Boys are $22.5/g and the full size are $22.67/g. 

Since these have been in my stash for a month or so now, I have a had a good chance to try them out. I have found them to be the same fantastic quality that the original Lip Colors are - pigmented, creamy, long lasting and comfortable to wear. They glide onto lips and I have found they last really well for a creamy and comfortable formula. 

Flynn

Flynn is a medium, nude-pink with slightly warm undertones. 

To be honest I really wanted Julian but that was sold out so I settled for Flynn. This is the Boy I have worn the least, it just doesn't really work with my complexion. It makes me look a bit washed out. More  experimentation is needed to make this shade work for me. 

Nothing is wrong with the formula though, it is creamy, pigmented and very beautiful. 

Michael

Michael is a warmish, coral-pink shade with a slight frost. 

I wasn't sure whether Michael would suit me but I wanted a more coral shade from the collection so it was added to my cart. The shade is actually really nice on and oh so creamy on the lips! I was worried about the frost but it is barely noticeable on the lips, it just stops the colour from looking flat. 

Justin

Justin is a cool, fuchsia-pink with fuchsia and blue pearl. 

I knew I had to have Justin the moment I saw it online. It is such a me colour the name made me think of Justin Timberlake (my teenage years celebrity crush). Justin is a beautiful bright pink, the type of lipstick that I always reach for. 

Cooper

Cooper is a darker fuchsia shade with cool undertones.

I consider Cooper a more serious or adult version of Justin. It isn't quite as bright and for me it makes it feel a little more grown up and 'boss lady'. On my lips it is more of a pinky-red but definitely more on the pink side.

Jack

Jack is a purple toned pink with cool undertones. 

I'll admit, I was worried when I opened this one and saw the colour of the bullet. It was purple and I don't wear purple lips (I don't feel they suit me). Luckily the colour looks completely different on my lips. It becomes a very pretty orchid pink that I really like on. Jack has probably been my most worn Boy. 

L-R: Flynn, Michael, Justin, Cooper & Jack. 

I tried to pick a range of shades because I wanted to try and get a good scope of the collection, though I was immediately drawn to the pink shades. In this swatch Cooper and Jack look quite similar but on the lips they are quite different. 

I am really sad that this a limited edition collection. I love these lipsticks and the shade range is phenomenal. If they were around for longer I know I would have added at least another five shades to my collection. I actually prefer the smaller size for two reasons. Firstly I rarely use up a lipstick so I don't need the larger size (and the initial cost outlay is less for the Boy size). Secondly I actually prefer the smaller size of the case. I may be the only one but I sometimes find the full size packaging a little bulky, the Boy size fits perfectly in my handbag and doesn't feel as larger or sharp. 

The Tom Ford Lips & Boys collection is/was available exclusively at David Jones. Each lipstick retailed for $45.00. Some shades are still available online HERE otherwise try calling your nearest counter to see if any stock is still available. 

Did you pick up any Boys? Which is your favourite Boy?