I had two quick San Antonio weekend trips this month. I needed to get my weekend makeup bag set to a smaller than usual level because I did not want to be hauling 5 palettes and 3 BB creams and a dozen makeup brushes home every two weeks all spring. My first trip was for two baby showers and to chill with my sister. And the second trip was for my niece's baptism. Both trips centered around looking just classically nice for these events, nothing crazy or fancy just classic.
I'm super proud of myself I really cut down! (on the makeup side of things)
Maybelline Face Primer
IT Cosmetics CC Cream
Benefit Lemon-aid (eye primer/color corrector)
Bye Bye Undereye
NYX Eyebrow wax
NYC Eyebrow Cake Powder
Tartelette Palette (ONLY ONE EYESHADOW PALETTE Y'ALL!!!)
NYX Gel Liner
Benefit They're Real Sample Mascara
NYC Bronzer in Sunny
Nars Blush in Orgasm
ELF Highlighter
And that's it for makeup! I was ridiculously proud. And I really didn't miss the other stuff. I feel like this got the job done just fine. For brushes I do really feel like I kept it down to a sane amount.
So basically every day I did the same look. I used the top row of my Tartlette Palette with the light pink shade thrown in all over the lid and then basic gel liner and mascara. My face was the same daily too nothing fancy there. CC cream + concealer + Primer + brows + bronzer, blush & highlight and it's done! I did wish I'd brought a little lighter concealer because the Bye Bye Undereye is really heavy but it was fine for the short weekends.
Packing will probably always be challenging for me, but for a 2 day weekend I feel like anymore than this would have been excessive.
*Note: I've been pretty much using my Tartelette Palette Exclusively since I got it so I'm going to do an updated review soon about how I was able to make it work. My first review was a little lackluster but after living with it for a while I really do like it.
It's time for part two! Part One was on Blush and now we're onto Bronzers and Highlighters. I didn't really think I had this many, but there were a few in my collection that I had totally forgotten about. So what I'm sharing are things that can be used to highlight, bronze and contour. I really only started highlighting and contouring last year but I've been bronzing since High School. Bronzer was very big when I was in high school to make you look tanned without actually tanning...that was all I knew about it back then. So lets take a look at what I have.
Again sorry for the poor pictures...
We have some repeat offenders from last Makeup Madness my Tarte Palette and Duo from the Too Faced le Belle Carousel. So lets start with bronzers and go from oldest to newest again too.
Cargo Bronzer in Medium- My first bronzer ever! It amazingly still has pigment and doesn't smell! This bronzer I used the heck out of and while you can see I've hit pan (it's in the upper left corner in the bottom right picture) There is a ton of product left in this thing. It started with 8.9 Grams. I remember using this thing all over my neck, decolletage and arms. It's very orange in the pan but comes off really pretty and somewhat sparkly. This was about $30 15 years ago so I have no idea if they still carry it or what, but I got it at Sephora when one first opened in San Antonio. I'm gonna hold on to this one and see if I can't put it to use this summer when I bronze up.
bare Minerals warmth. This is from my very first bare Minerals kit I got a 10ish years ago and there is just a little less than half left. I remember using this as instructed, but it never really looked right. It's very warm brown...not really what I'm looking for. I thing it served it's purpose in my life during my mineral makeup phase, but I can't imagine every reaching for this thing again. I know too much about makeup now. I'm going to toss it and not give any more thought to the subject. Although I do know it's still out there and you can buy more at Ulta...I shall not.
Wet n Wild Ticket to Brazil Bronzer- This was my first YouTube recommended purchase. I saw StilaKiss33 (my first youtuber) talk about it being perfect to give an allover warmth to your face and this was right after I went blonde and felt super washed out so I snatched this up. At $3.99 and you can usually find Wet n Wild half off, I bought it and was so pleasantly surprised by the wonder it did. There is so much product in this thing too I never thought I'd hit pan but this thing is great. It's a beautiful bronzey orange that matches my tanned skin perfectly, but with a light hand adds just enough color to make me not look dead. I use this also like I used to use my Cargo bronzer, on my neck and decolletage area. It's perfect and so affordable. I will repurchase this and I'm keeping it.
NYC in Sunny- another YouTube purchase recommended by EmilyNoel from Beauty Broadcast. This is a matte bronzer in a medium light brown that is perfect for contouring. It's amazing the variety of skintones this color works on. I use this thing almost everyday to contour and carve out my non-existent cheekbones. I've hit some serious pan on this one and am hopping to kill this compact by early spring so I can buy a new bronzer. Another ridiculously cheap bronzer at $2.99 I've recommended it to everyone and will repurchase it. I do want to try some other bronzers out there but this is a really great standby.
Tarte Rainforest After Dark Palette, bronzer in Park Ave Princess- This is Tarte's Standard matte Bronzer and it's beautiful. I feel like it's the grown up version of NYC's Sunny. I've made a pretty good dent in it but have used it sparingly because it's in my limited edition palette. I really use it mostly when I take that palette traveling because it's easier than hauling other bronzers around. I can't repurchase this set, but I imagine I'll pick up another set with it in it in the future. Or Tarte sells it in it's own kit with a blush and highlighter.
Too Faced Le Belle Carousel, chocolate soleil bronzer. One of the mini palette's in my Christmas purchase! I had been wanting to try this bronzer forever. Another standard matte bronzer, this is Too Faced's probably most popular bronzer because again it is universally flattering. It is also the bronzer I've used the least of. I have been trying to use up my Sunny before I dip into this one so I'll probably get to this one later in the spring. We'll see if I want to purchase it later, again I can't get it in this kit or format but if I like it Too Faced is always adding it to things.
Bronzer wish list- I really want to try Benefit's Hoola bronzer and maybe the Tarte Park Avenue Princess palette that has bronzer, blush and highlighter...we'll see.
So up next Highlighters. I only have one highlighter from before I went blonde and I totally forgot I had it and I don't think it was sold to me as a highlighter but that's what it is. So let's look!
Glo Mineral Makeup- gloShimmer Brick in luster. Glo mineral makeup is one of my favorites from years ago when I got monthly facials, I love this brand to death and totally forgot I had this. It's a quad of shimmery neutral colors that I probably used as eyeshadows. One color the bronzey one has hit pan and there are serious dips in the pink and champagne colors as well. This makeup brand wasn't cheap so I'd bet I paid about $30-45 for this. There's a lot of product in it. All the colors still give pigment and it doesn't smell so I may keep it around to see if I can incorporate it into my routine.
ELF Shimmering Facial Whip in Lilac Petal. I bought this thinking it'd be a good eyelid base color. I love pale pinks on my eye, but it ended up being too shimmery. I didn't realize I could use it as a highlighter till much later. I've used it a couple of times as a blush topper and it's beautiful. You have to use a really light hand because it is shiny, but for $1 what's not to like. I'll keep it around till it starts smelling bad.
Wet n Wild Reserve Your Cabana- this is the same format as my Ticket to Brazil, but I got it because a YouTuber said it was a good under eye concealer setting powder. It doesn't have much shimmer as it's sister, but it does have a little. When I'm tan I can't set my concealer with it but when it's the winter and I'm paler I totally can. It's a nice highlighter the rest of the year though. I don't use very much of it and have a bunch of other setting powders so I can't imagine going through this thing in the next year so I doubt I'll repurchase it. There's nothing wrong with it but I don't need it. But I'll keep it around till then.
ELF Baked Highlighter in Moonlight Pearls- this is my favorite highlighter, my go to everyday highlighter. It's the perfect subtle shimmer for my cheeks and inner corner of my eyes. I love it. It's a light champagney color but doesn't transfer much pigment. It lasts all day and a little bit goes a long way. This one was $3, I use it every day and it looks like I've only had it for a week. I don't really need anything else from a highlighter so if I ever get through this one I'll definitely repurchase it.
ELF Blush in Gotta Glow. I unfortunately bought this in the same haul as the baked highlighter so this one didn't get any love. I bought it because I heard it was a dupe for one of the NARS highlighters, but I just wasn't impressed. I've used it a couple of times but it has too much pigment and just kinda can brush off. I think this was one of the $2 elf blushes, but I will not repurchase. I may keep it around and see if I can use it for something but this one I'm very blah on.
Tarte Rainforest After Dark Palette, highlighter in Champagne. Another gorgeous Tarte product. This is a very simple and light highlighter. Great for everyday. It has a really weird texture in the pan but one the skin it goes on evenly and gives you a very lit from within kinda look. I don't think Tarte does highlights as well as they do blush or bronzer or eyeshadows, but I wouldn't turn down a future kit because it had this highlight in it. When I don't use my ELF Baked Highlighter this is usually the one I go for instead. And it's great for traveling because it's a complete kit.
Clinique Glow Blush. This I got from my sister when I was home for Christmas. I thought it'd be good for a blush topper it's a creamy stick blush with lots of shimmer. But unfortunately it's gone bad and smells like cheap lipstick. I bet it was pretty once upon a time, but unfortunately it's past it's prime.
Temptu Highlighter in Pink Pearl (not pictured). I got a tiny sample of this liquid highlighter in an Ipsy bag in the fall and it is gorgeous. I never use it but should because it's separating but I think I can shake it up and it'll work again. It's the perfect lit from within glow and you just apply it with your fingers and it's gorgeous. It's supposed to go with an airbrush makeup kit so I wouldn't purchase it on it's own and also it's not the easiest to work with but it's super pretty, I'm going to keep it till I use it up or it goes bad.
So I only got rid of two items this time around, In the next few I should be able to get rid of a lot more. I know I have some super old liners and lip products so those should be productive. But slowly we'll get through this. Next up will be liners, eye and lip!
So I'm going to start a new blog series here to get through my makeup collection. Now I know my makeup collection isn't as ridiculous as some of my favorite YouTube Beauty Gurus but for someone who only has one face and only plays with makeup for fun, it's kinda out of control. Partially because I'm a hoarder and partially because of the last year. So here's a picture I added to Instagram tonight to show my collection and over the next few weeks I'll take us through all these things...
So blush...first we need to talk about my face. I am fairly fair...but I have a lot of pigment in my face- make sense? Great. Now I am not pale, but I am fair- however in makeup I am usually Beige or Medium if those colors are lighter and more yellow/red in pigment instead of pink/bronzey undertones. Now here's where it's complicated and I confuse the makeup artists at Sephora and Ulta. I have yellow undertones and red cheeks and nose. So I can do cool tones or warm tones...which is so annoying! So that explains why my blush game has suffered for years and I've spent years looking like a clown because I don't even have to put on blush and I can look like I'm wearing too much of it.
So here's the collection...
Well they're pink...yes. And those pictures suck...well yes too. There are maybe three blushes in these pictures that I've had since before I went blonde (almost a year ago). And those blushes are either terracotta, rose or hot pink. Now the blushes I've bought in the last year range in pale pink, hot orange pink, mauve, tea rose, terracotta, neutral pink, peony and what the hell were you thinking pink. I'll go through them one by one with my thoughts- let's go oldest to newest...
NYC New York Color Cheek Glow Powder Blush in Riverside Rose 651- this blush shows up with no pigment on me. I can swatch it on my arm and you can't even see it. This is a lighter clay rose color and I don't know when or why I bought this. I also don't know why I've kept it, it's clearly the wrong color, I never use it and the logo is still completely visible in the product. Goodbye blush.
Ben Nye Dry Cheek Rouge Victorian Rose DR-61- oh my goodness why do I still have this. This is a dark deep rose color and I've had this since high school. This was a part of my Ben Nye makeup kit I bought for my musical theatre program in high school. At some point my sister stole it from me because she liked the color and in the last year or so I stole it back from her...I never used it after I stole it back- it was just the principle of the thing. This blush is so old I can't even swatch it- I rub my finger in it and nothing comes off. Luckily it doesn't smell, but it's a sad sad blush so it's going to be friends with the NYC blush and my trashcan. One thing I can remember about this blush though is it stays on like a trooper, this stuff wont budge till you tell it to.
Very Sexy Mosaic Blush in In Lust by Victoria's Secret. I've been wanting to do a post on all my Victoria's Secret makeup because I have a lot. There was a time in my life during college and post college where I bought all my makeup from Victoria's Secret. Who could refuse a line called "Very Sexy". I loved their makeup and this blush is no different. But it is HOT, like hot hot pink. I've hit major pan on it but it's still going strong. In the last few years I've mostly used it for theatre and Halloween, but I love this stuff. A few of the colors in it make great eye shadows too. There's some shimmer and some matte and all together it's fabulous. It also stayed on my cheeks all day which I didn't know yet, but would become a problem with future blushes. I'm keeping this...forever- or till it runs out...
bareMinerals blush in Poppy. This blush is beautiful! I light rosey pink I wore the hell out of this blush in my early post-college days. There's barely any of this stuff left. My first boss got me hooked on bareMinerals for a little while. I used all their products but their blush is the only one I've made this much of a dent in. I think this color is a perfect light flushed color and looks great on many skin tones. Now like all bareMinerals products about half way through the day I noticed they were gone, very little pigment remained on my cheeks. I wouldn't repurchase it because the loose powder format is annoying but I'll definitely keep it till it's gone too and if they have a pressed version I'd be open to getting it some day.
Lancome Blush Subtil Powder Blush in Cedar Rose- a very neutral almost mauvey rose color. I bought this blush my first Thanksgiving in College Station, so 2ish + years ago. I bought this because my Glo Mineral Makeup Terra Cotta duo blush had run out- I had gone through 3 of those things inbetween my bareMinerals Days and my Lancome days. I was sooooo upset. So I went to Ulta and told the lady I was looking for a new blush and of course she took me to the high end section and I just went with it. She put this on my cheeks and it looked amazing. So natural and pretty I spent the $30 for it and was a super happy camper for the next year and 2 months. Now this blush was beautiful but once I went blonde it just didn't work with my coloring anymore. I've hit serious pan on this product too, because you can not overuse this product if you try, but keep it around because I may go back to it eventually- also it smells really nice like all Lancome products. As far as staying power went it didn't stay all day, but got me through a good 5ish hours- this was before I learned about primer.
Wet n Wild Color Icon Blusher in Mellow Wine. Bring on the pink! This blush is pink. Not hot pink, not cool pink, just pink. I bought this blush shortly after becoming blonde when I realized I needed some more color in my cheeks. Now my blonde was not a nice subtle dark blonde, but a bleached blonde platinum blonde thing- so to say I was washed out would be an understatement. This cheap like $2 blush did the trick. It was bright, made me look awake, and sometimes like a clown. It's really easy to put too much of this stuff on. I frequently looked perfect in my bathroom mirror, got into my car to look in the mirror and realized I had clown face. Now this stuff still didn't have great staying power, so luckily if I did make it to work clown faced normally by lunch or early afternoon I'd look normal or like I didn't have any blush on at all. I've since moved on from this blush but will keep it around for shows, Halloween and the likes. This is basically the drugstore equivalent of my favorite Victoria's Secret Blush.
NYX Blush Dusty Rose- A few months after going blonde, I started trying to dye my hair a little more natural of a color, I ended up with a strawberryish orangey blonde color and needed another new blush. Something less loud than my Wet nWild. So I went with a a pretty dusty rosey pink closer to my Lancome color but still with a little more pigment. My cheeks soaked up this blush like I'd never worn blush before. This stuff would not stay on. I could put on piles of it and my face just kept it all for itself. So this was a short lived blush relationship. Still before I'd discovered primer so I'll keep it around to see if I ever reach for it and use a primer. It's only $5-6 I probably wouldn't repurchase it because I eventually learned a blush secret, but I'm not going to toss it out just yet either.
elf Pressed Mineral Blush in Jet Setter- this is a gorgeous mauvey pink. I love this color and it was only $3. I just wish it translated on my cheeks stronger! It's very natural looking and had about average for me staying power. I didn't use it very frequently at all but will give it another try someday. It's such a pretty color and very natural looking, I just had too many new blushes come in right after it and steal it's thunder.
Tarte Rainforest After Dark Palette- blush in Unleashed- this is a beautiful pale pale pink. Oh my gosh this is gorgeous. This was my first experience with Tarte and with high end blushes since Lancome. And I'm afraid I can't go back! This blush makes your cheeks look like the perfect pink flush. I have red undertones on my cheeks and it never pulls red, but always stays a beautiful light pink. I wish this blush was in the permanent line because I would use it for always but alas it's limited and so I use it sparingly. Also this blush lasts all day...all day long. I was amazed and swore it was because it was a high end product. Love.
Coastal Scents Forever Blush sample duo in weird purple pink and nude. This was a sample I got in my first Ipsy bag in August. I didn't care for them. One the sample was too small to try and two the colors were just wrong. I can't speak to really anything on the quality of these blushes but they're going to go make friends with Ben Nye and NYC- sorry.
Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-hour Blush in savored. Another limited edition blush from Tarte darn it! This blush came in my QVC Today's Special Sweet Indulgences Holiday collection. It came with two blushes the other one wasn't right for me so I passed it on to my sister, but this one is dark mauvey pink with light shimmer. And it's gorgeous. This was a perfect fall shade and I love it. I feel like the 12-hour is super true because like my other Tarte blush, that I didn't stop using till I got this one, it lasted all day. I love it! I really started to believe that the high end blushes were bringing something special to the table- or maybe it was just Tarte. All my favorite YouTubers talk about Tarte blushes strongly and I can see why.
Too Faced Blush in Who's Your Poppy? This blush was a part of the Le Belle Carousel holiday set I bought to divide up between friends. This was the section I kept it also has a Chocolate Bronzer in it too, but the blush is gorgeous and very similar to the blush I'm going to talk about next. It's a shimmery orangey pink with very high shine on the cheeks. It's lasting power is great if you use a primer under it. In late fall I discovered using primer on just my cheeks. I'd never liked primer's before because they dried out my face but I learned you could use primer on just your cheeks to make you blush stick around longer- good to know. I haven't used this blush very much at all, because it's in a duo with a bronzer I'm not letting myself use until I finish up another one. So it's sticking around and will have its time.
Nars blush in Orgasm. If there was every a more hyped up, cult favorite blush of the beauty blogosphere then I don't know what it is. This blush is talked about by everyone in that it's a color that looks good on everyone. I got this blush in a holiday set from Sephora and probably never would have just bought it flat out on it's own. However I was thrilled to have it in the set and bought the set in part because this was a full sized product in it. This blush is an orangey pink with gold shimmer. The Who's Your Poppy looks very similar but comes off shinier than this one. Orgasm is a beautiful color and I do imagine it looks good on most people. Whenever I do a really neutral eye look I just throw this on and it adds something special. This blush has great lasting power and it amazing. At $30 I'm not sure if I'd buy this blush again though. I wont right away when it's gone since I have a pretty convincing dupe in my Too Faced blush but if I see it for a great deal in a kit again I'd definitely jump on that opportunity. If you've been eyeing this blush and thinking you want to buy it I recommend it- it's great.
Stila Convertible Color in Camellia. This was a hand me down from my sister- she couldn't make it work for he. I was a little nervous and apprehensive about my first cream blush product. The color is a very neutral nude with more orange than pink in it. I thought it'd be good for no-makeup makeup days. I apply this with my elf small stipple brush and it goes on smooth. When I first started to use it though my cheeks broke out just a little bit. I think it's a very thick and heavy formula. Also since it's a cream it stays kinda dewey and I found I needed to set it with another blush or a translucent powder. I usually just wear this on the weekends, it doesn't last all day at all and it doesn't pack a high enough color punch for me, but I like having it in my collection and will continue to use it. I don't think I'd purchase this again but maybe another color in the Convertible Color line.
And that's my blush! If I had to pick two blushes out of the bunch it'd be my Tarte Unleashed and Nars Orgasm. Two very different colors but between the two you could get both day and night covered. I really enjoy the higher end blushes. I use some of my drugstore blushes on the weekends but am really too big a fan of my others now.
I apply my blush with the Real Techniques Blush Brush. Don't be intimidated by the size of this brush, it's large but it's perfect. I feel like it prevents me from getting too bag clown face because it helps diffuse the color so much.
Like a lot of things in my makeup collection right now, I don't need anymore blush. I do not have a simply blush palette yet and that is on my list for eventually, but right now I have plenty of blushes I enjoy and don't feel like I'm missing anything in my range of pinks.
Next up bronzers and highlighters...a much smaller collection for me.
