Try Not To ... Blush!

It's a week into blogmas and time feels like it's going so fast! I cannot believe that I started this blog nearly 12 months ago! This is my 51st post and if you didn't get the pun, it's one about blusher. I'm not the world's biggest fan of blusher, but I do like to add a bit of colour to the apples of my cheeks every now and again. I like quite natural-looking blushers so it doesn't look too heavy or fake. I have two single blushers to talk to you about and then there are a few in some sets. Let's get to it...

Okay, first up is an oldie. It's 'thrrrol' from Benefit, but unfortunately, it got discontinued! Boo... There's nothing worse than a product that you love being discontinued. Anyway, when first looking at the product, it looks incredibly light and almost too unrealistic. It has quite a lot of pigment is so it sort of acts like a highlighter too. However, when applying on top of a BB cream or foundation, it looks really nice - almost giving the face a healthy glow.

Next up is one of my all time favourite brands for blush - Nars. The single blush that I own is called Gilda and it's just SO amazing. It is rather pricy for a blush - £23 - however, it has lasted me for nearly two years now and I'm no where near hitting pan. It's a deep pink and you only need the slightest amount on your brush when applying. The good thing about Nars blushers are that they leave you with hardly any fall-out, if any. It's going straight in my basket!

So the previous Christmas, I was very lucky in the sense that my Mother was able to get her hands on the limited edition Nars - Virtual Domination palette. What a babe. She gave it to me as a Christmas present and I was just so shocked! The palette contains: 3 blushers - Sex Fantasy, Deep Throat and Final Cut (the names are rather... let's say... unusual, but the quality of product is incredible), a bronzer - Laguna and a highlighter - Miss Liberty. I think this palette was around the £50 and that's such a bargain! The bronze is full-sized and the blushers and highlighter is half the usual size of the separate products.

The blusher inside the Naked - On The Run palette is a bit to much for me, however, the palette itself is very good and handy.

Last, but by no means least, is the Urban Decay - Naked Flushed palette. This contains a bronzer, highlight and blush and the finish from the blush just completes the face.

Perfect Palettes

Perfect Palettes...
Back on to the beauty topic this week and I felt like I should talk about palettes.

There's nothing better than buying something for a new palette or getting a completely new one with gorgeous shades and pigments.

For my choice, I've chosen 2 face palettes and 3 eyeshadow palettes.

Disclaimer - Please realise that these are all my opinion and I do purchase them all or have been given them as a gift from family. I do spend quite a lot of money on make up, but that's what I enjoy spending my money on so why not?

Let's get started...
Urban Decay Naked Flushed - £22.50
Urban Decay are really doing well with their products recently. I love pretty much everything in their range and this is my favourite face palette out of it. It's not too pricy and the highlight has a slight pigment. The blush is gorgeous and the bronzer is great. I'm sure you can get other shades for different skin tones?

Benefit Peek-a-Bright Eyes - £25.50
Benefit is a bit hit and miss for me... I love their Porefessional and They're Real mascara but I'm not too keen on the Lolli Balm (total rip off for £14.50!) However, I love this eyeshadow palette. It comes with 2 small brushes, 3 eyeshadows and an eye brightener. The shades are very similar to the eyeshadows in my MAC quad...

My MAC Pro Palette - £45
The refillable compact is 4x4 and was £5; it's also available in different sizes. The 4 Pro Palette shades that I have put in are: White Frost, Girly, Woodwinked and Embarked. These are definitely my favourite shades and my Mum pretty much has the same shades as me in hers! Each Pro Palette Refill Pan eyeshadow is £10

NARS Virtual Domination Cheek Palette - £45 - £55
For £45 I think this palette is amazing. I think NARS was selling them for £45 originally but they sold out super quick! So Selfridges brought it out for £55. You get 3 blushers, a highlighter and a bronzer. Great for £55 right?! (some of the names of the blushers are rude so I'll leave you to see if you click on the link!) Amazingly, the palette contains the Laguna bronzer in it's full size! This is normally £27.50!

Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette - £38
You can't go wrong for 12 shades for £38. This is my favourite eyeshadow palette that I've ever use before; trust me, there's been a few. I'm thinking about purchasing the Naked 3 but I don't think I'd use all the shades. Whereas with the Naked 2 palette, I use them all!! Amazing value for money!

Top left - Naked Basics - Urban Decay
Top right - Peek-a-Bright eyes... - Benefit
Left middle - My 'build your own' Pro Palette - MAC
Right middle - Virtual Domination Cheek Palette - NARS
Bottom - Naked 2 - Urban Decay

All About That Base

In this post, I'm not going to be singing or participating in Meghan Trainor's 'All About That Base' video... but I am going to be telling you about my go-to base products. I've tried to pick one from each of these categories: BB Cream, CC Cream, Tinted Moisturiser and Foundation.

Okay, so for those who aren't too sure what each of the products do, keep reading!

BB Cream: BB creams are short for blemish base or beauty balm. They basically are like a lighter foundation with a few skin care benefits thrown in.
CC Cream: CC creams are short for colour correcting. The products are supposed to address issue like redness or sallowness (usually with light-diffusing particles).
Tinted Moisturiser: Tinted moisturisers are a moisturising cream or lotion that has a slight tint to it, allowing it to provide some skin coverage.
Foundation: Foundations are used to cover up un-even skin tones, blemishes and give a nice base to work on.

My go-to base products:
BB Cream - Garnier Pure Active BB Cream in Light.
CC Cream - Olay Total Effects CC Cream for Light - Medium Skin Tone. This is a great CC cream from Boots and is quite affordable; it's on offer now!
Tinted Moisturiser - Laura Mercier Tinter Moisturiser with SPF and Oil Free. I have it in the shade Sand. Next time I will be purchasing in a lighter shade as I ordered online (BIG mistake!)
Foundation - Prepare for a few goodies... From Boots again is the Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum Gel foundation in the shade Vanille. The next is from Selfridges and it is the Chanel Vitalumière Aqua Ultra - Light foundation. It contains SPF 15 and really is light! It's such a great product. Last, but not least, is the MAC Studio Sculpt Foundation in NW20. This also has SPF 15 and has great coverage.