Tarte Sweet Dreams Holiday Collection 2014 - Chic to Cheek Deluxe Amazonian Clay Blush Set

My friend GinaismXO did a great review on Tarte's Chic to Cheek Deluxe Amazonian Clay Blush set from their 2014 Holiday collection.  I was able to snag this at the Southcenter Ulta and use some Play Points for $6 off!  Score!

What the website says:

An exclusive deluxe gift set featuring tarte’s award-winning, celebrity-favorite blushes in 4 limited-edition shades.

Includes 4 deluxe, limited-edition blushes:
• amour (candy pink)
• classic (soft apricot pink)
• prim (plum nude)
• daydream (rosy pink)

Product Performance: Dance “chic to cheek” with this delightful, 4-piece set of best-selling, long-wearing blushes infused with skin-balancing Amazonian clay. The heavenly, limited-edition shades deliver up to 12 hours of fade-free, flawless wear, even as you’re up in the clouds, dancing the night away. This romantically designed set also comes in gorgeous gift box packaging and is ideal for any blush enthusiast on your gift list.

Powered By:

• Amazonian clay: nature’s most perfect ingredient for better, longer, truer wear
• vitamin E: natural preservative that also acts as an anti-inflammatory emollient and antioxidant
• mineral pigments: soothe and soften skin

Cost: $35 on Tarte website (no longer available on Ulta.com, but can be found in some Ulta stores)

Pros:
-Variety of blush colors
-Very pigmented
-No parabens, mineral oil, phthalates, triclosan, sodium lauryl sulfate, gluten

Cons:
-No mirror on the compact
-Limited edition - order yours now!

Would I recommend this to a friend?  Yes to give and to get!  A full size blush is $26 for 0.20 oz and these are 0.05 size are $8.75 each.  These are beautiful blush colors that don't have any shimmer or glitter, just a nice flush of color.

Amuse Mineral Blush

I've had this blush for awhile now and it has been sitting in my "To Review" pile. Well, for good reason because there really weren't great qualities. I bought this from www.cherryculture.com, by the way, this isn't even on their site anymore and the other Amuse Mineral cosmetics are on sale. Go figure. The swatch above was after several swipes. I was a bit more tan when I took that photo and it was difficult for the color to show up on my skin. This would be a decent choice for gals with a more fair skintone to give just some light color on the apples of your cheeks. I would choose the darker out of the 2 shades to use as a blush and leave the lighter one to use as a highlighter.

Blush Review: Benefit Coralista

I finally found a Benefit blush that works with my skin tone! Yay! I had a bleh encounter with Benefit's Georgia Blush awhile back and now the brand has redeemed itself to me! Georgia just didn't show up on my skin and that was just a shame because it was just so pretty! Thank goodness for Sephora's great return policy, they allowed me to return Georgia and take home Coralista instead!
Coralista on the other hand is a definite winner! Although, very similar to my favorite NARS Deep Throat, I couldn't pass up on the cute packaging and brush that this comes with. "Take a pleasure trip...to rio. Sweep this coral pink powder onto cheekbones...bikini optional!" "a 'rio' pleasure...face powder. How cute is that!

Most products that come with applicators usually have jank applicators/brushes. This brush is NOT jank at all! Sturdy wooden handle and soft, natural bristles. There's also a plastic insert that keeps the brush from touching the actual blush. The flashy packaging that has GRRR on it makes this even more lovable.

I really have been drawn to peachy toned blushes and this coral pink shade is <33!

Another ehh make up product - Benefit Georgia

I was super excited to finally own a Benefit Blush! I chose Georgia because I wanted a peachier blush rather than a pinky one. Which I tend to gravitate towards.


Definitely pretty in the package, but unfortunately, too light for my skin. Even with my fair complexion right now.


I would still want a Benefit blush, so I think I will be returning this one and exchanging it for Coralista. What do you think? Good or bad experience with Benefit blushes/bronzers?

NARS SUPER O r g a s m

Finally back at it, but let me catch up on all the things that have been placed on HOLD during my hiatus. Funny how life changes and how much I have changed in the past month. Well, let's get started on the delayed posts...

I bought NARS' Super Orgasm back in December. You ladies remember that red pouch from the holiday shipments? I have quite a few of those!

Hmmm...SUPER orgasm eh? Is that possible?


Let's start off first with what I like. I love how pigmented this is! I actually don't own the original Orgasm because Deep Throat was more to my liking, but I just HAD to have this!

Now the drawback...the huge flecks of glitter! My Kandy Kid days are over and I hardly wear glitter. A little dab here and there, but this is pretty big pieces of glitter! Well, to help with the dose of glitter, I put this on with a mixed fiber brush similar to MAC's 187, the skunk brush. I pick up just a bit of color and then tap the handle to drop the excess glitter

And this swatch shows why I love it! The pretty pink-peach! NARS blushes are $25 each and I would definitely recommend getting this color. Hmm...can they just make the Super Orgasm w/o the glitter??

Mary Kate & Ashley - Paper Me Pretty Blush Sheets

I was convinced after reading the Musey's entry on these blush sheets from Mary Kate & Ashley Olsen. Haha! I even had to meander to more than one Wal-Mart to find these! FYI - I found these at the Everett Wal-Mart for you readers in WA. For about $4, you get 50 glamour sheets. The blush loaded on these papers is a bright, but wearable pink on my skintone. One drawback to some gals may be the high dose of shimmer, but I found it to be really pretty!


I think I would have preferred a hard plastic case instead of the paper carton that these come in. The blush infused on the paper can seep out and make a mess! I wouldn't recommend putting these in your to-go make up bag without the entire package being enclosed in a ziploc.


And this is the blush on the apple of my cheek. All I needed was a couple of swipes to add some color and shimmer. This can be definitely used on other areas such as above the brow to highlight and to add some shimmer on your décolletage.

The other On The Go Makeup Sheets included another blush, a bronzer and a shine blotter. I wasn't drawn to those. I also wasn't drawn to a majority of their other make up due to the high content of chunky glitter. My Candy Kid days are over and I prefer finer glitter on some nights out. But I did pick up an eyeshadow trio fromt he MK/A Olsen line that I'll review later on. I also sent this and an eyeshadow trio to Ms. B, so I hope you enjoy these treats! :)

Someone stop me!

I have placed 3 separate orders on Sephora.com and even made an appearance to the Bellevue Square store yesterday. Although, I did manage to walk out of the store empty handed. That was because I already bought a Viva Glam lip palette at Nordstrom. LoL! Enough...no more Sephora for me for now. I have already spent too much. Wasteful biatch! I need to be saving my money! Yves Saint Laurent - GLOSS PUR BlackPure Lip Shine Gloss. I know what you're thinking, black lip gloss? But the way Pink used this gloss with a deep red color was absolutely smashing!

NARS blush in Super Orgasm. I didn't jump on the bandwagon with the original Orgasm blush. I opted for Deep Throat instead. But when Super Orgasm made its debut and I swatched it, I loved it! Its more pink and there are gold speckles. Its not as glittery as you may think since they do eventually fall off. I can't wait to see this on my cheeks!

Coastal Scents - Contour & Blush Palette & Updates!

I know its been a few days since I have updated. I have had a continuing education class the past couple of nights and have been too exhausted by the time I come home to update. Two 15 hour days! Uggh! I have only had enough energy to do a few postings online for school and then to bed. I have an upcoming FOTD post for my Ate/Manang Jeni that I will be posting tonight when I get home. I wish I had the time to do her make up this weekend, but we had conflicting schedules, so I told her I would do a tutorial for her via my blog for a look to recreate this weekend that compliments her dress.

I'm waiting for my gd carpool to get it together so we can leave. I finished up my day by 1 PM and don't have anything else to do at work. Its a perk that I can bounce a lil bit early, but the drawback is I have been in meetings for almost 6 hours. So here I am waiting in her office for her to hurry the f*ck up so we can leave already. Geezus crise. If I didn't love her, I would have b*tched vocally by now. :p

I have been lurking on Coastal Scents and saw this Contour & Blush Palette! I do have MAC's Sculpt and Shape powder that I use every now and then to contour some cheek bones and thin out my jawline. That is usually only when I go out and know that I'll be in camwhore mode. The blush colors look pretty neutral to just add a good flush of color. I'm curious about the highlighting powders and how sheer or opaque they show up on different skintones. I just ordered this 2 days ago and its on its way from Naples, FL!



Note to Ms. B my BKK cutie - I want to test this out first and see if its worthy enough swap material! I was tempted to buy 2 already since I have been on the hunt for the matte highlight powder for you!

MAC Store Haul - Sonic Chic Mineralize Blush & Pro Longwear Lustre Twins

I finally went in and picked up a few things from the MAC store not too long ago. I wanted to redeem my 6 empty items for a lipstick and also pick up something from one of the new color stories. I ended up getting one of the Pro Longwear Lustre Twins in Ripe & Ready/Soft & Lush and a Mineralize blush in Gleeful from the Sonic Chic line.

I'm so glad that the Back 2 MAC program now offers a variety of products for redemption rather than just a lipstick. You now have the option of either an eyeshadow, lipgloss or lipstick (including Pro Longwear!). So save up your 6 empty containers to redeem for any of those 3 types of items! There are a few things to keep in mind - for eyeshadow containers, it has to have the metal pan. You can actually buy an empty pan if you depot your shadow & just glue it in, only actual plastic containers qualify. No paper packaging can be brought in, so the boxes the products come in don't count. This one is new too - they are now accepting eyeshadow pans that are bought to fill a palette. The pan has to have the magnet with the actual sticker on it. If you bring in an item that is a minature set, like the pigment and lipgloss sets from the Holiday colorstories, you need to bring in the entire set. All 6 lipgloss tubes or pigment containers. I think its pretty easy to collect 6 empty containers if you, for example, have a HG lipgloss/lipstick that is MAC, use the skincare line frequently or depot your eyeshadows to put them in to a MAC palette! If you have any questions, you can always chat online with a rep at MAC.com.

First off, the lippy. I’m not so fond of longwear color due to the feeling it leaves your lips without the glossy top coat. It kind of makes my lips feel tight after applying, but when you add the glossy topcoat, my lips feel fine! You really have to keep applying the topcoat if you're out and drinking. It can make your lips dry later during wear as well. Instead of using the topcoat all the time, I sometimes dab on a little bit of Tendertone balm on top. The pros about this product is it really is very long wearing, excluding if you're eating foods that are oily. The con is that the topcoat needs to be used frequently and they do not offer replacements for the Lustre gloss! Currently they only have replacements for the clear gloss or mirror which is a silvery glitter topcoat. I don't think I will repurchase this item in this particular color because I think I'll have it for a long time. If anything, I will pick up another color to add to my collection. Maybe a red!

I love the Soft & Lush glossy coat on the left!
Such a pretty coral color on! I love how the Lustre topcoat really adds some depth to the color.
I forgot that I did have a Pro Longwear lipstick from a few years back when they first launched. Top is Stuck On You with the clear topcoat.

Mineralize blush in Gleeful from the Sonic Chic line

The one make up item that I rarely really buy is blush. I really stick to either a more pink or a more peach tone depending on the look I'm going for. My HG blush is NARS' Deep Throat for a peachy shade and MAC's Blushbaby for a pinky tone. It took me going into the store and swatching the colors myself to decided if I wanted one. I checked out Nuance and Gleeful and this one was the winner. Nuance was more of a peach color but with my complexion, it wouldn't have really shown. The pigmentation on these blushes are wonderful! I just dab a little bit on the apples of my cheeks! I don't think I will be purchasing another blush from this line and am very pleased with this purchase!

Minor rant about the MUA's at the Westfield Southcenter Mall - they are gd rude. First the gal flat out said that I could not redeem my 6 for a Pro Longwear. I told her I chatted with a rep online and she still had to confirm it with her manager who confirmed it was true. Bitch, see I told you. She did not seem like she wanted to help me and I was just irritated. Arrrggh! I wish my girl Tiffy was closer to me! She is mgr at the DT Seattle MAC counter @ Nordy's so visit her if you're in DT! :) I don't want to go back to that MAC store, but I probably will since its closer to me.