Top Autumnal Blush? NARS Douceur

NARS nevel fail when it comes to the blush department. Pigmentation? Check. Longevity? Check. Beautiful shades. Double check. You get the jist..

NARS Douceur is a stunning soft pink brown shade, which makes it great for adding depth to your cheekbones whilst also giving you a healthy flush of colour. It's like a 'no makeup' blush of colour that is extremely flattering on fair to medium skin tones, however would probably disappear on darker complexions. I use this to help contour my moon face and add a touch of warmth for a barely there look that I go for during the week. 

Soft and blendable, you can't go OTT with this blush so even heavy handed makeup application on the tube to work is in safe hands with this stuff.  This blush is highly similar to Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Exposed, which you can read more about here - Exposed in slightly more on the pink side but still a gorgeous subtle shade that's great for this time of year.

Have I won you over?

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Think Pink

A year or two back and you would have not have found a single pink lipstick in my stash, nor nail polish, I had a single Natural Collection Rosy pink blush but that was the extent of my daring. I was always made to believe pink was just a colour off limits to the likes of redheads like me, that and yellow clothing. Too bright, too much contrast, but now I embrace pink it all it's rosy shades and hues.

Baby pinks are obviously much easier to pull off and match with clothing and my top lip products I've been reaching for in this case are the Revlon Lip Butter in Pink Lemonade, a gorgeous milky pink, and Topshop's Pillow Talk, another light baby pink. Both are so easy to wear and give a subtle wash of colour for every day wear. However, it's the bolder hot pinks that are really doing it for me this summer with Revlon's Wild Watermelon Lip Butter (seen worn above) and Topshop's All About Me bringing a gorgeous pop of colour. I really want to try MAC's Candy Yum Yum and Please Me next!  Do you think I can pull it off?

As for blush and nail polish, pastel pinks are my go to. Essie's Ballet Slippers has adorned my fingertips many a time this spring/summer, with Essie Fiji being on my lust list to try next. You might have also seen my post on Dainty Doll makeup, I took full advantage of their sale and I'm so glad I did. Their pink blush in 001 and 002 adds a very subtle dusting of colour that compliments my paler complexion perfectly and can be layered on without fear of the dreaded clown cheek look, win! 

What are your top pink cheek and lip offerings?

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Stila Convertible Color Trio in Warm

Stila Convertible Color Trio (Warm) £23

When I saw this pop up on the Space NK site, I knew it had to be mine. I absolutely adore the Stila Convertible Color Cream Blushes, they're versatile, pigmented, and flawless on the skin and so snatching up a trio for £23 in my eyes was an absolute steal. A single convertible color is £16 and so three for £23 is not to be missed, yes, there is slightly less product than a single but that's to be expected for the price. My one and only complaint is that as it is a trio it does not come in the gorgeous packaging the single convertible color's come in, which match the shade they hold. That aside, hands down my favourite purchase of the summer thus far.

There are two palettes you can pick up, one marked 'Cool' offering up cooler shades (obviously), and the other 'warm', which is the palette I opted for. The three shades that make up the warm palette are: (from l-r on picture above) Gerbera, Camillia, and Honeysuckle which is a limited edition shade and my favourite of the bunch. I'm shown wearing Gerbera in the snap above, which does not do this shade justice as it is a gorgeous milky peach that is a stunner on the skin this summer. I haven't braved Camillia yet, which is the most nude shade of the three and I'm betting will look subtle yet gorgeous on most skin tones. And, finally, my fav Honeysuckle which seems to me to be the cream blush equivalent of NARS Orgasm with its rosy pink flair sporting golden flecks to add its very own highlight.

Go on, pick one up before they sell out, you know you want to...

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Tarte Amazonian Clay 12 Hour Blush in Exposed

Tarte Amazonian Clay 12 Hour Blush in Exposed  $26*

It's no secret, Blushes, in all shapes and forms, are my weakness. I am obsessed to say the least. My blush drawer has to be my most coveted and I often find myself playing around perusing through and ooh-ing over how pretty they are, does that make me weird? 

Tarte Amazonian Clay Blushes have been on my wishlist for quite some time and I've been even more desperate to get my clutches on the shade I am going to big up today, Exposed. Maybe it's because Tarte blushes aren't easily available in the UK that I wanted to own this SO badly, I mean you always want what you can't have, right? Or, maybe it's because the claim of their strong staying power that drew me in. I think its a bit of both.

I absolutely love the packaging and floral design imprinted on the blush, so cute. Each compact reflects the shade of the blush inside. I find this really handy when trying to find or figure out what shade to go for that day when I'm in a hurry and have no time to search for labels. What I find great about Tarte Blushes is the fact they can be removed from their pan to add to a palette if you wish, although I prefer keeping mine in its compact. It's sleek and has a good sized mirror for application on the go, perfect!

When swatched I began to worry that the blush was that bit too powdery for my liking but once applied my fears were averted. The powder is soft and makes blending an easy process with a very natural, and nearly matte, finish. I find using my RT Stippling Brush or Contour Brush great for application as less really is more and not much is needed.

(please ignore how utterly awful this photo is, my skin is NOT co-operating at the moment!)

As for the 12 hour claim I don't know if I can completely agree with that statement BUT Tarte Blushes do last longer than the average blush and I can leave the house knowing my blush will stay intact for up to eight/nine hours.
Exposed is described as simply a 'nude' shade but there are definite plummy undertones which suits my cooler skin tone to a tee. This blush was very much needed in my collection as rosy pinks were beginning to take over. Exposed is a great shade for everyday wear and adds definition to the face helping to achieve that killer cheekbone look that every girl craves (Eddie Redmayne, your cheekbones are wasted on a man!). For those of you that can't get your hands on this I would thoroughly recommend you try NARS Douceur which is a very similar nude shade but a little bit more rosy and less plum based than Exposed.

 What Tarte shades are you after or are there any nude blushes you can recommend? I think I want to try Tipsy out next, I just wish they were more readily available in the UK. BRING BACK SEPHORA.

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what I've bought: elf haul

01. Nail Polish in White and Mod Mauve - 02. Elf High Definition Powder - 03. Blush in Berry Merry, Fushia Fusion, Giddy Gold - 04. Mineral Moisturising Lip Tint in Guava and Berry - 05. Studio Matte Lip Color in Natural and Tea Rose - 06. Studio Pout Perfector

Just a quick little post to let you have a sneak peek of up and coming reviews, as you can see I did buy quite a bit from elf, however, for those of you that didn't know, they recently had their 50% off discount code floating around and it was too good an opportunity to pass up having wanted to try out elf products for quite some time after hearing plenty of praise for them. Elf products are reasonably priced to begin with being at the cheaper end of the price range for make-up items yet still maintaining good service and a plethora of different cosmetic delights. I was very pleasantly surprised by the quality of the products I received and can't wait to share with you some more in depth reviews.

This little bundle of joy (yes, I literally 'eeped' with happiness when this arrived) totalled to only £23 including delivery! Did you manage to snap up any bargains in the elf sale? Or perhaps you have a favourite product of theirs?

Please do let me know :)

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benefit wishlist

001. b.right! Radiant Skincare 6 Piece Intro Kit £10 - 002. they're real! mascara £18.50 - 003. the POREfessional £23.50 - 004. watt's up! £24.50 - 005. girl meets pearl £24.50 - 006. erase paste £19.50 - 007. CORALista Blush £23.50 - 008. hervana blush £23.50

As you can see I don't want much from Benefit's range of cosmetics ;) 

Altogether for these eight little beauties I would have to fork over a whopping £144 - wishful thinking for an unemployed student like myself, however, I do hope to add to my benefit makeup collection piece by piece whenever I can and these are my top eight choices.
I particularly want to get my hands on the limited edition radiant skincare kit which is currently out of stock but for a cheap and cheerful £10 where can you go wrong?
I have samples of both the porefessional, which I absolutely adore, thanks to Glamour, and girl meets pearl which adds a much needed luminosity to my skin. As for the blushes I already own Dandelion, a pale rosy pink much more suited to paler skin tones as I believe it is not pigmented enough to show up on darker skintones, and bella bamba which is highly similar to NARS Orgasm and slightly too pink for me.

And isn't the packaging just super cute, I'm a sucker for good packaging!

Are you dying to get hold of any of the Benefit line or do you have any personal favourites?

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