Big Tarte amazonian clay blushes post

Tarte is a company almost only known for blushes and I am a big blushes and eyeshadow junkie! I already review their cheeks stains, which is the product that made them famous.

I would say though that their powder blushes are equally if not even more awesome. They come in pans of 5.6 grams pans. Each pan color matches the color of the blush and is depotable. the blush also as a mirror inside. They come in 16 colors and a good part of those are matte. The color range is quite extensive and would even be appropriate for very dark skin tones. More importantly for a pale woman like me they blend really well on my often non powdered face. 

Like I mentioned last time you have to either go through ebay or a service like myus that provides a temporary US address to obtain those blushes for now outside of North america. All of my blushes were purchased when I was living in Canada. 

I own one blush  from their regular line and last year holiday set.

Tarte amazonian clay blush in dollface

This is a light pink color very appropriate for fair skin. I just need to slightly dip my brush into it to have enough pigment for my cheek. 

As you can see it is very natural and completely matte. This is definitely one of my favorite make up item. It's one of those colors that are hard to overdo. My only regret is not picking up more blushes before I left Canada.

Here's a swatch of the color

My tarte holiday collection from last year

Even though this collection is no longer available it can still give an idea of the brighter colors that tarte offers. This set contain 4 half sizes blushes without the mirror. They contain one champagne highlighter, one shimmery brown color with silver glitter, one bright light fushia color and one bright pink coral color. Those two last colors are similar to amused and tipsy if you like the colors. 

Here's a swatch

From L to R: angelic, stellar, magic and fantastic

Angelic and stellar on bare skin

As you can see those colors are less pigmented that the rest. 

Magic

fantastic

This year's holiday collection blush palette

I'm really awfully tempted about this one but it's really not reasonable because it contains dollface that I already own and a bronzer which I don't really use. If you want to try their blushes and you have medium skin though I would buy it. I think I will order for myself the color dazzle on it's own which is part of the permanent collection. The first and middle color are limited edition.

Physician's formula happy booster blush in natural

I wanted to continue my "series" on american blushes with both tarte and physician's formula. Since tarte is coming with an incredible collection for christmas and I though I would  do a bigger post about it tomorrow and do a small one today on Physician's formula.

The particular item I'm reviewing is their Happy booster glow & mood enhancing blush in natural.  This blush is also available in rose which is brighter and darker. I just heard that Physician's formula will now be available in the UK, so the good news is if you want to try their products in Europe you can just order from there.

I rarely review the claims of the cosmetics companies, but this is just so weird that I just can't not mention it. This blush is suppose to increase your mood! This is of course bogus. The main reason why this blush is so popular with the beauty bloggers is the very cute design. The blush is light pink with shimmer and has hearts of different shades of pink and nude.

It's also quite an expensive blush for the drugstore but it contains 0.24 oz (7g) which is quite a lot. I will be honest here, I regret buying this blush. It has stellar reviews everywhere and I just don't get it! It is very hard and difficult to pick up and I need to layer it quite a bit for it to show. The staying power isn't that great either.

Here's a very heavy swatch of the blush

This was swatches at least 4 times!

On my face it doesn't show up a lot either. Honestly, I would save my money on that one and buy Essence silky touch blush instead that are much cheaper and better if you are on a budget.

I'm not going to repurchase this blush and I will finish it by layering it on top of cream blush.

Two blushes from international brands not available in Belgium

I'm a huge blush fan. Unfortunately my coloring doesn't really allow me to go as bight as I would like to. Before coming to live in Belgium I made sure if my favorite blushes were available here. Well bad news for me. Almost none of my favorite blushes are available  on the Belgium market. Some brands like Tarte and Physician formula are simply not available here and some other brands like Lancôme and l'Oréal do not offer the same selection worldwide

Today I decided to present two blushes one by Lancôme and the other one by l'Oréal that are not available in Belgium and that you can check out if you go to Canada or the US.

Lancôme Blush subtil in Miel Glacé.

Some of you my be thinking wait blush subtil are available in Europe. We'll yes they are, but for some crazy reason the l'Oreal group of companies seems to be thinking that European women do not like having too much selection. They discontinued plenty of shades in the blush subtil range in Europe but not in the North American market. 

Anyway I simply ADORE this blush. It really looks like nothing in the pan. It's one of those muted color that look so flattering on the skin and it can give a bit of warmth for those of us that can't pull bronzer off. I like this color so much that I'm not using it too much till I can go get some backups back in Canada.

Here's how it looks on me 

And swatched

As you can see it's really a subtle color for fair skin. But Lancôme also has the color cappucine which is similar but darker (also discontinued in Europe). Even though it's a sheer blush it does have a great staying power. 

Another line that is not available here is L'Oréal paris Magic soufflé blush line. 

I have their palest shade available celestian dawn which is a lovely pale pink. This is a mousse silicone texture that dries down to a natural finish. It's a dream to blend and it's also very natural looking, if you put too much it will cake.

Here's the blush on me

And very heavily swatched

Anyway I hope this was interresting for those of you in Europe who are planning a trip to Canada or United states or for fair skin ladies back home. The good news is that the blush subtiles are available here just in lesser shades. The l'oreal blush is also available in 4 shades in North America. I would stay away from the two darkest ones since they are very shimmery.

Friday I will also present my other two favorite blushes. Once again, one from the drugstore and one high end.

color of the day : plum and burgundy

I haven't posted that much lately, I'm a bit overwhelmed right now. But I will try to be more active this week. Anyway here's without further ado my color of the week. I've paired burgundy and plum together because they are quite similar it just depends on the perspective.

Look number one: burgundy and pink

I started my eye look by using Maybelline color tatoo in inked in pink as a base. I then used Make up for ever diamond shadow in Diamond burgundy in the crease. I then used Make up for ever star powder in 943 white with pink highlights. I used MUFE aqualiner in bordeau and a pencil olive green eyeliner on the lower lash.

Here's a swatch on the eyeshadows

 From L to R: maybelline color tatoo, MUFE star powder and Mufe diamond shadow.

The eye look

And the full look

I also played with a plum shade and with olive green eyeshadow

The plum eyeshadow is MAC star violet and I used the olive green from a MAC christmas limited edition from 2005! I used a graphite cream eyeliner with the look.

Here's the eyelook

And of course the full face ( I will invest in a better camera soon I promise!)

Anyway I love everything with a red pigment in it, I think It's a no brainer type of color for green and hazel eyes and a great color for autumn.

Soft muted look with MAC sex & the oyster from the indulge collection

I haven't posted a color of the week look this Sunday because I was in the middle of renovations. Last Wednesday I went to Brussels for a job interview and I couldn't help but go into a MAC store. The employee after commenting on my French Canadian accent sold me this eyeshadow. Seriously MAC started in Canada they should worship me (ok maybe not)  in there not mock my accent ! Anyway back on topic, since I love muted colors and nothing screams more buy me than a limited edition I had to get it.

This is a lovely blue-green-gray shade that look greats on my fair slightly cool coloring.  Those of you into color theory I'm a soft summer. You can get more information here if you are interested http://www.truth-is-beauty.com/ According to me type I'm cool but not overly so and I look better with muted cool colors like teal, plum, burgundy, taupes, grays and pretty much any cool but dusky color.

I'm not planning on wearing only those colors, but I think that for work they are quite appropriate and fool proof.

The products

I used covergirl simply ageless cream blush in royal plum on my cheeks and Lancome exotic orchid on my lips. I then used a sage green color on my lids (clinique gift with puchase)and sex and the oyster on my crease.

The look

Product review Tarte Cheek stain

I'm still new at blogging and I never had a special request before so I'm happy to oblige. Tarte is an american  company that makes products, paraben, phtalates and sulfate free. They are not natural per say but they are tolerated by most skins. I two cheeks stains in the two palest shades, but they do have more pigmented and darker shades as well.

The two shades I have are glowy and gel based. Most of them however to not contain shimmer. My two shades are also awfully similar, looking back I wish I would have made a different selection.

To apply them you can swipe them or that them in with your fingers or a brush and then blend. On my dry skin they last all day. They also look incredibly natural.

Here's a swatch of the two shades I have under natural light

dollface (right) and typsy (left)

Dollface is my favorite one of the two and the palest shade available. This one is no longer available at sephora US and Canada and is only available on Tarte's website. It's a pale baby pink with shimmer and a hint of lavender. This shades is really pale and will only show up on fair to light skin. If you like very cooled tone blushes but you want something more pigmented Flush seams like a great option. It's looks a lot like benifit's benetint.

Here's a closeup on dollface

Typsy is a light shimmery coral. Like I said it is very similar but it's more pigmented and warmer. This shade would be great for anybody up to medium skin. Tarte as also blissful that more warm and a bit more pigmented and less glowy or tickled that's a stronger peach shade that would look great on tan skin.

Here's a closeup on tipsy

I love cheek stain but like I said I wish I would have picked up another shade like flush (raspberry) or loving (a pale brownish pink) instead of tipsy. They bot they all day on my skin and they look incredibly natural. Since but shades are slightly shimmery and very dewy I do not need to wear cheek highlighter when I  wear them. Since they are both quite pale I can apply them really fast when I'm in the rush in the morning.

If you want to get a hold of them outside of Canada and the US  you have to go through either ebay or a mail service like myus.

I would recommend this product especially for dry and combination skin.

Here's dollface on my cheeks. As you can see it's extremely subtle and soft.

Review and swatch elf baked eyeshadow palette in california

I don't own many things from elf, since I like very pigmented and long wearing eyeshadows or maybe I'm just an eyeshadow snob. I also prefer to see the products in person before buying. I had this palette for about six months, I bought it while I was still living in Canada for 10$ US, here in Belgium it is sold for 12 euros.

Those eyeshadows are meant to be applied either wet or dry. Personally I always prefer to apply everything dry as I like to blend my eyeshadows. They are also quite glittery so if you don't like glitter pass on this one. Elf makes those palettes in two colors california and NYC. California is an imitation of Sephora baked eyeshadow palette in "in the nude" and NYC of sephora's "in the dark". I didn't try the sephora ones that are three times more expensive so I can't compare.

Here's some swatches

Top row

Bottom row

As you can see the darker colors have a much better payoff.  I also broke one of my eyeshadows by swatching it! Don't worry I put it in a small jar and I also tested it wet for you on the side of my hand.

Now this palette have two major flaws:

• All the color are either metallic or glittery
• They end up looking muddy if you blend colors together

Does this keeps me from using the palette? Absolutely not. But I just use one color at the time (or two if I use one of the highlight in my inner corner.)

My favorite way of using it is doing a shimmery smoky eye. 

• I start by using a dark matte eyeliner that I smudge on my upper lid (I like a loose powder kohl for this).
• I then use a matte or demi matte highlight shade on my brow bone
• I use the elf eyeshadow blended into the eyeliner and brow color.

Here's an example with the gun metal color 

with flash

without flash

You can also use it as lid color and blend it with a darker satin or matte eyeshadow on the crease like here. I used MAC brown down eyeshadow in the crease (veluxe) with the purple color.

The bottom line

If you like shimmery metallic shadow this is a very good palette for the price. The major down side is that it's quite hard to use more then one eyeshadow of this set because of their shimmery nature and the fact that they are quite powdery. Even though this is a palette you have to see this more like ten singles. Anyway it's such a thick palette that it's not really convenient for travel. You pay a dollar or a bit more than 1 euro per shadow it is still worth it. 

I also spend hours reading reviews on this and the single baked eyeshadows are apparently better in terms of quality. As for the fallout, some do have quite a lot when you apply them but not that much during the day. If you do your eye makeup first you should be fine Because the glitters are quite small you don't end up looking like a disco ball, like some of the glitter shadows from Urban decay. I'm also impressed with the wearing power of those, they do not crease at all on me.

All in all this is an average palette. This is by no mean an absolute must have. I don't like to spend too much money on glittery shades so I'm still satisfied with my purchase. 

Color of the week: pale blue toned green

My eyes are somewhere between hazel and olive green. I usually go either for neutral eye shadows or contrasting colors such as burgundy or red toned purple. I have this gorgeous pale green color that I haven't worn in over a year.

For the first look I decided to go for a more monochrome look on the eyelid and peachy pink on the cheeks and lips.

Here are the key products I used for the look

I started by putting a color correcting primer, some dewy foundation and corrector.

I then used that weird blue-green corrector from a discontinued Essence trio which is wayyyy too blue to be used as a corrector but was a great base for my eye shadows. I then used Make Up for Ever star powder in number 944 which MUFE describes as a white with  turquoise reflection, it's leaning very green though. I then used the turquoise color from a Red Earth trio limited edition from 2005! I used Smashbox emerald cream liner (taken from the palette) on the upper lid. I then used a forest green kohl that I smudged with a pencil brush with the star powder on top.

I used Essence silky touch blush in secret it girl and Essence XXL shine in papaya on the lips.

Here's the full look. (I don't know why I always open up one of my eyes bigger on pics but you can actually see the eye look quite well on that pic and my boyfriend in the back)

For my second look I decided to pair the green with a true purple and keep the lips and the cheeks nude.

Now for the products

I applied my foundation and corrector as usual.

I used Make Up for Ever star powder in number 944 all over the lids and in the inner corner of my eyes. I then used Inglot purple eyeshadow in number 944 on the crease. I then lined my eyes with sephora flashy liner in flashy purple. I smudged it under my eyes. I finished with mascara.

I then used Rimmel lip liner in east end snob all over the lips with Lancôme cream lipstick in love it. I finally put Lancôme blush subtil in miel glacé (color available only in Canada and USA).

Here's a close up on the eyes

And the full look

I actually quite enjoyed this color. I really enjoyed going through my stash and try to wear eye shadows that I have been neglecting. And as for my eyes color, I was worried for nothing it doesn't really change anything it stills look the same in between color!

Late review and looks: Urban decay Oz limited edition palette in Glinda

I know I'm really late on this review, but this palette is still available in Sephora France and if you haven't tried it yet that might be your last chance.

This is a very original palette, far from the smokey and neutral palettes that seems to be everywhere these days. It's also an incredible value 43 euros (49 US$) for 6 full size eye shadows, one half size eyeliner and one full size super saturated lip color! This comes also in urban decay new refillable palette which means that you can replace the colours once you are done which should take a while (of course they are all limited edition color but you can find something similar for most of them).

I'm not going to describe all the shades one by one. I will simply swatch them and show you 4 looks with the palette.

As for the quality the two middle dual shades are lesser in quality than the other ones that are all very pigmented and easy to blend. The gold and silver one as a ton of fallout. You really need to do your eye make up first and then do the rest or the face. The texture on duochrome aura shade is also a bit hard but the colours make up for it. They almost look like a loose eye shadow.

Now for the swatches

Tornado, the two aura shades and magic.

Illusion (hard to swatch but this is one of the most pigmented shades), the two oz shades and south.

Glinda lipstick (same as naked) and rockstar eyeliner

Glinda on the lips

Look number one gold and purple

Look number two silver and south (taupish-grey)

Magic and Tornado with silver eyeliner (eye look only)

The glinda look south on the lid, illusion to blend in the crease, purple aura on the brow bone)

Overall I'm really liking this palette. I think that the fact that I can keep it and refill it is super cool. I really like the shade tornado, south and Illusion. Those three shades are also the easiest ones to replace. The aura shade is also super pretty but as an highlight only. Magic is in between, the color itself is quite pretty a purplish pink with a gold reflection, but it doesn't apply easily or look very flattering on me. I will use it only to do smoky eyes with the purple. The gold and the silver are gorgeous but they have terrible fallout. You have to do your eye makeup first and even then you will have glitters on your cheeks. 

I hope this review was helpful I will see you tomorrow with the colour of the week!