Review & Swatches: Maybelline Dream Bouncy Blush in Rose Petal

This is another one of those products that I'd been hearing so much about, so I just had to try it out for myself! Unfortunately I was rather disappointed in my purchase, read on for why...

Maybelline Dream Bouncy Blush in Rose Petal

Sorry, this picture is after I mushed it around a bit :x

Price: $6.99 from Target

From Maybelline's website:

Why You'll Love It

Freshest flush ever:
• Revolutionary gel formula provides a new bouncy texture.
• Lightweight like a powder, yet melts seamlessly into skin like a cream
• Natural sheer wash of color that is buildable for greater color intensity
• Dermatologist tested, Allergy tested
• Non comedogenic

For Best Results

With your fingertips, blend a small amount of blush onto the apples of your cheeks, applying from your cheekbones to your temples. To build color intensity, apply more blush.
Ingredients: Talc, Dimethicone, Hydrogenated C6-14 Olefin Polymers, Diisostearyl Malate, Paraffinum Liquidum / Mineral Oil / Huile Minerale, Silica, Dimethicone/Vinyl Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Hexyl Laurate, Ethylene/Propylene/Styrene Copolymer, Butylene/Ethylene/Styrene Copolymer, Synthetic Fluorphlogopite, Phenoxyethanol,Triethoxycaprylylsilane, Alumina, Tin Oxide. May Contain: Mica, CI 77891 / Titanium Dioxide, CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499 / Iron Oxides, CI 77007 / Ultramarines, CI 15850 / Red 7, CI 19140 / Yellow 5 Lake, CI 15850 / Red 6, CI 45410 / Red 28 Lake, CI 77120 / Barium Sulfate, CI 73360 / Red 30, CI 15850 / Red 7 Lake, CI 15985 / Yellow 6 Lake]

The good stuff:

• Interesting texture
• Easy to smooth on and blend

The low-down:

• This shade in particular is REALLY lacking in pigmentation
• Lasting power is less than spectacular
• Very tiny! Too pricey imo for the size

My take: The main reason I was disappointed in this blush is because this shade, Rose Petal, barely shows up on me at all! I was expecting it to be a nice flush of, well... ROSE PETAL color!!! Unfortunately, it's an extremely soft shade of pink that melds into my skintone, appearing as a VERY VERY light pink. On cheeks, it gives the SUBTLEST glow... but just barely. Even after piling on the color, it remains quite lackluster in appearance.

On the upside, I really like the idea behind this blush. The texture is a bit like "clay" -- soft, squishy, kinda springy to the touch. It's easy to smooth on and blend into cheeks using fingers, but I found I got a tad more color out of it using a stippling brush. It's actually more fun to mush around that to actually use... LOL :P Once applied, I wouldn't say it sticks around on me for longer than 2 hours. In this sense, I think it would work better as a base for powder blush.

Would I repurchase/recommend?: I would definitely not repurchase this shade or recommend it to anyone with a similar skin tone. I really would like to try some of the other shades though. The deeper, more vibrant shades seem a lot more promising than this one!

The Rundown:

Packaging: 4/5
A standard compact. Really small though!

Product: 2/5
It feels really interesting, definitely a novel concept. However this shade in particular really lacked in pigmentation and lasting power.

Price: 3/5
A bit pricey for the small size!

Overall:

[ click here to read about my Review & Rating System ]

Your thoughts on... Multi-purposing your makeup + A Multi-purpose EOTD/FOTD

Hello loves! Today I wanted to share my thoughts on Multi-purposing your makeup. I am a believer that makeup doesn't have to have limitations. Just because something is labeled as "eyeshadow" or "blush" doesn't mean you ALWAYS have to use it as such!

I got this Revlon Perle eyeshadow in "Brushed Copper" from a swap with Ndoodles! It's a gorgeous champagne shade.

It's a little too light for me to use as just a lid shade, but it makes a wonderful highlight!

The multi-purpose?It also makes a wonderful highlight for cheeks!
Applied with a light hand, it gives a nice, subtle glow.
The glitter is not overpowering and gives off pretty shimmers.

Another product I use daily for a TOTALLY different purpose than it is intended for is DHC Rose Beauty Eye Zone Treatment Retouch Q10. I got this from a swap with Angela of SparkleMidori. I tried using this a few times as an undereye concealer, but it is too sheer for my dark circles and caused my eyeliner to smudge really quickly.

The multi-purpose?I decided to use it as a lip primer/concealer!

NOTE: To the best of my knowledge, this does not contain ingredients that would be harmful to lips. I mean, I use regular concealer/foundation on my lips all the time too, and that doesn't cause me any problems. I could not find an actual ingredient list, but I did find this list from Lotus Palace: olive oil essence, Coenzyme Q10, a sunscreen of SPF30 PA+++ and clear rose pigment.

It perfectly lightens up the pigmentation of my lips and preps for lipcolor, which shows up A LOT better! Also, with continued use, it has made my lips much smoother and softer : )

Another product I like to make alternative use of is BLUSH!

The multi-purpose?

Layered over lipbalm, you can create so many gorgeous custom lipcolors using blush! This is MAC "Style" poweder blush over EOS lip balm.

This is ELF Natural Radiance Blusher "Glow" over MAC "Style" powder blush over EOS lip balm. Tell me that isn't gorgeous!

This is ELF Natural Radiance Blusher "Glow" by itself, over EOS lip balm.

The last product I wanted to talk about is BRONZER.

The multi-purpose?
If you don't like the way a bronzer looks on your face, you can use it as eyeshadow!
You can also use the individual shades for different uses.

- - - - - - - EOTD/FOTD - - - - - - -For this EOTD/FOTD, I'm using ELF's Studio Warm Bronzer; the individual colors as eyeshadow, the pink shade as blush, and the shades mixed together as a contour shade.

While the pigmentation of the individual bronzer shades are only average, layered over ELF mineral eye primer, they make for a great neutral eye look. Shade 2 and 3 are good for highlights. Shade 1 and 4 are good for lid/crease shades. I also used shade 2 as a blush. I used all the shades swirled together to contour my cheekbones.

• To finish the eye look, I applied a dark brown shade (5) from my Wet N Wild Color Icon palette in "Vanity" on my lid.

• To finish the lips, I topped off the blush lipcolor with NYX Round lip gloss in "Whipped" and YSL Golden Gloss in "Golden Peony."

• For the rest of my face, I used a light dusting of EDM pressed powder in "Light" + MAC MSF Natural in "Medium." For my cheeks, I layered over the pink shade from the ELF Studio Bronzer with ELF Studio Blush in "Candid Coral" and MAC powder blush in "Style."

The finished look:

(I realize that the majority of my FOTDs/EOTDs look like this, lol. What can I say, I like browns/golds :P)

So what are your thoughts on multi-purposing your makeup?Do you multi-purpose any products? Thinking of trying it?

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Review: Rimmel Lasting Finish Powder Blush & Highlighter

Autumn Catwalk

The light pink shade on the left has shimmers, the other two are matte.

Flash

No flash

Winter Glow

The peach pink shade in the middle has shimmers, the other two are matte.

Flash
No flash

Shades mixedL-R: Autumn Catwalk, Winter Glow
Autumn Catwalk is a vibrant rosy pink, and Winter Glow is a more subtle peachy pink.

Autumn Catwalk on cheeks:

Price: I got mine for like... $5.69 at K-Mart. At Target, I think it was $4.79 or something. Online you can find it for around $4-5.

What they say: 3 shades in the same pan to achieve different looks. Use the shades altogether by sweeping the surface for a general healthy look effect. Combine the different shades by 3 or 2 and mix them to personalize your shade.

The good stuff:

• Affordable
• Good color selection
• Cute design
• 3 different shades that you can mix and match
• Extremely pigmented
• Soft, smooth texture
• Blendable
• Long lasting

The low-down:

• Kind of small
• Slightly powdery

My take: This blush is fantastic! If you've been reading my blog lately, you'll know that I'm currently obsessed with blush. So I just had to add these to my collection when I first saw them! I am happy to say that the pigmentation is faaaantastic. SO pigmented! So use a light hand or you'll end up looking super flushed. However, a light swipe gives you nice color that is blendable and gives a gorgeous glow. Lasting power is great. The color vibrancy stays for several hours and even after that, you can still see a nice pinky glow. The texture of this blush is soft and smooth, but slightly powdery so it can get a little messy. The case is cute, but overall, it is kind of a tiny.

I should note that there is a difference between the "Blush" and "Blush & Highlighter," -- which is what this review is on. The regular blush line has all matte shades, while this one has one has 3 shades in one, with one shimmer strip. However, the "highlight" shade is such a tiny strip, it would be hard to swipe up just that shade by itself to use as a highlight. It's much easier to just mix all the shades together. While there is some shimmer, it doens't really show up on my cheeks like a disco ball... just gives a nice glow.

Would I repurchase/recommend?: Yes, I would most likely repurchase Winter Glow because I like how it looks on my skintone. I also want to try "Pink Sorbet" from the "regular" blush line. I would highly recommend these to anyone looking for affordable, extremely pigmented, long-wearing blushes!

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Review: Maybelline Dream Mousse Blush in "Peach Satin"

I know that when I first posted about this blush, I said that it gave a nice glow (or something to that effect) after a few layers. Now that I have used it a couple more times, I must retract that statement -_-; It adds nicely when layered over another blush, but when used by itself, it blends into practically nothing :/ If you're interested to hear more of my experience and thoughts on this blush, please read on : )

Price: I got mine for around $8 I think. Online you can find it for $6-8.

What they say:

Why You'll Love It: Air-soft formula provides luminous, long-lasting color on cheeks. Glides on smoothly and blends easily for seamless color and a natural, radiant finish. Air-whipped mousse delivers satin-soft feel on skin. Long-wearing formula will not clog pores.

For Best Results: With your fingertips, pat a small amount of blush onto the apples of your cheeks. Use feathery strokes to blend gently from your cheekbones to your temples. To build color intensity, apply more blush.

The good stuff:

• Several shades to choose from
• Soft, light, smooth texture
• Easy to apply
• Subtle shimmer

The low-down:

• Even after several layers, the color does not show up on my skintone.

My take: While I LOVE the Dream Mousse Concealer, I cannot say the same for this blush. I was so excited to try it; but I think I may have chosen the wrong color. Peach Satin is definitely NOT peachy. It is a light, frosty baby pink with shimmers (strangely enough, when wiped off on a tissue, it looks VERY peachy). Although the directions say to apply more blush to build the color intensity, no matter how many layers I do of this shade; it DOES NOT show up on my cheeks. I get some shimmer and a super subtle sheen, but NO color. I guess maybe I am too dark? Or I got a bad one? Or maybe it just would work better on lighter skin tones? Not too sure. On the upside, the texture is very nice and light, smooth, and it's super easy to blend. It layers well enough over other blushes to add some shimmer and sheen. But that's about it.

Would I repurchase/recommend?: No, I would not repurchase this particular shade, but I still want to try the shades Pink Frosting and Rose Petal though. While I think it MIGHT work better on lighter skintones, I wouldn't really recommend this shade if you are looking for a pigmented blush.

The Rundown:
Packaging: 4/5
Sturdy glass jar; a little big for the amount of product.

Product: 2/5
Good texture but poor pigmentation.

Price: 4/5
Affordable. Available at drugstores.

Overall:

PS - as you can see, I'm trying out a new rating system (I'm still kind of working it out). You can click here to read about it... let me know what you think : )

Latest MACquisitions: Fleur Power Blush & Richer, Lusher Cremesheen Glass (Pics + Swatches)

Hey everyone! It's been a hot minute since I've done a MACquisitions post, haha :) I only got one thing from the Venemous Villains collection -- Strange Potion Lipglass, will swatch next! -- but while I was on Oahu, I picked up some other stuff I'd been lemming for awhile:

Richer, Lusher Cremesheen Glass & Fleur Power blush

Fleur Power is described as a "Soft bright pinkish-coral (Satin)"
It is uuuuber pigmented! This is the most pigmented MAC blush I own so far. A very light swipe packs A LOT of color for me. It is gorgeous though, a great fresh flush color :)

Richer, Lusher is described as "Peach Coral"
It also packs some punch in pigmentation. Not as sheer as I expected it would be! Although I was really excited to get this shade, on its own, it's a bit "bold" for me :P I like to use it to add some color to nude lippies.

L-R: Fleur Power blush, Richer, Lusher Cremesheen Glass

Richer, Lusher Cremesheen Glass

Will do a look w/ the blush soon!