Blush Collection

I didn’t start wearing blush regularly until about a year ago when I started my blog. My skin, without foundation, is quite pink and I never saw the point in taking the pains to cover up the pink with foundation just to reapply it with a blush. However, I’ve definitely come around and I now use blush every day! My collection is probably mid-range in size (for a beauty blogger anyway!) but I use almost every one that I own and I think I have a nice range of wearable shades.

Starting off with my favorite blush palette in one of my favorite blush formulas, Benefit’s Cheekathon palette. This really started my obsession with blush. When I purchased it I thought, ‘I’ll now have a nice set to choose from and I’ll never need to purchase another blush!’ The things I do to justify spending… Anyway, this palette includes five full-size Benefit powders, four blushes and their Hoola bronzer. The blushes included are Dandelion, Rockateur, Dallas, and Coralista. The only one I don’t use regularly is Dallas, it looks like a warm-toned bronzer to me. I wear Dandelion all year round while the rose-gold Rockateur is perfect for the colder months and Coralista is beautiful with a tan. This is a really great value and I get tons of use out of this cute palette, and I did a full review of it here! 

My aunt sells Mary Kay and often used to give me Mary Kay makeup, so for a long time those blushes were the only ones I had. The three shades I still have (a few I gave to my mom) are Pink Meringue, a pinky peach, Orchid, a darker mauve, and Pink Sapphire, a hot pink. Both of these are really pretty and I need to get more use out of them!

Another one of my oldest blushes is Clinique's Pink Blush, a really light pink that even I, a blush-o-phobe, would wear often when I was younger! I still use this one a lot and I’m trying to use it up. This is one of the only products I’ve ever hit pan on, which shows how much I like it.

              Benefit Dandelion, Rocketeur, Dallas, Coralista, Clinique Pink Blush and Red Clover

My most recent blush arrivals are from the Becca x Jaclyn Hill palette, which includes three blushes and two highlighters. The blushes are all super pigmented and beautiful, Rose Spritz and Pamplemousse especially. Pamplemousse is a bright pink and Rose Spritz is a similar color with gold shimmer through it. Amaretto, the other blush in the palette, is a darker warm brown color that I haven’t used yet. I think it looks more like a bronzer than a blush, so I might try it as a bronzer and see how it works.

The only drugstore bronzer that I own is Milani’s Romantic Rose. This is actually one of the only drugstore blushes I’ve tried, other than a cream Elf one I didn’t get on with. It’s really easy to blend and the color looks so natural on the skin. The rose shape adds to the beauty!

I’ve been very lucky with makeup at TJ Maxx (I found an Anastasia cream contour kit for only $20 a few weeks ago!) and came across Kat von D’s Shade and Light blush in Mickey and Mallory several months ago, and it is probably my most used blush of 2016. I like to swirl the light, peachy shade with the darker mauve shade to create the most perfect flush of color for fair skin.

     Becca Rose Spritz, Amaretto, Pamplemousse, Kat von D Mickey and Mallory (both colors), Mary                                         Kay Orchid, Pink Meringue, and Pink Sapphire 

A different aunt of mine often gifts me Clinique makeup, and she gave me Red Clover last year. I’m not terribly impressed with this formula, it’s much harder to get color on the brush than the other Clinique blush I own, but the color is so pretty that I’ll keep using it. Red Clover is a darker pink that looks really natural on my skin. 

Last year I had a sample of Tarte’s Amazonian Clay blush in Glisten that I fell in love with, so in August I purchased the full size. Unfortunately by the time I got home it had broken, but it’s still useable and the bright shimmery pink is so beautiful that I’ll put up with it. This blush lasts for ages and gives the most incredibly glow, no highlighter need!

The only blush I don’t use at all is in the Aruba duo from Jelly Pong Pong cosmetics that I received from an Ipsy bag this summer. This is too peachy for me, it’s almost orange toned. I would pass it on but I love the bronzer in this compact for traveling.

                                  Jelly Pong Pong Aruba, Milani Romantic Rose, Tarte Glisten

I don’t often buy blush, since I usually end up getting similar shades over and over again, but in the future I definitely want to try one from Nars and some popular drugstore ones like the Wet n Wild Coloricon blushes or the Nyx HD collection.

My favorite blush formula is Benefit’s as they’re pigmented but blendable, so they’re easy to use. It’s hard to go overboard with them. I think Becca and Tarte have the best pigmentation, Milani has the best value and Kat von D’s is the most versatile, considering you can get three different shades out of the one blush!

What are some of your favorite blushes?

Xx Katie