Becca Soft Touch Blush--Malika and Sylph

For some reason, I only have two Becca Soft Touch Blushes--I'll have to work on that this year.  These are really lovely sheer powder blushes that come in 5 colors. Malika and Sylph are the only two that I own and I really love them both. My friend Lynn has a blog dedicated to Becca and may have more of their blushes (including the cream ones!), so check out Shades Of Becca for her awesome swatches.

Malika is a nude-peach color.  It's very wearable, especially for those with pale skin.   Becca calls there formulation "semi-matte", but they have some super fine shimmer bits that help add a glow to my cheeks.  They're not crazy shimmery or metallic/frosty at all.  They have decent pigmentation, but are more sheer than pigmented and the texture on these is smooth, not a bit gritty.

Sylph is a very soft neutral pink.  It isn't bubble gum pink or bright at all.  As you can see from the swatches it's pretty pale and doesn't overwhelm my cool, very fair skin.  Sylph is one of my favorite blushes--I'm such a sucker for pale, barely there, pinks.  If you want to enhance your look with a sheer wash of color that is easy to wear, then these blushes are for you.

It's good to be back!  I'll return tomorrow with Becca Pressed Shimmer Powders.  I know they're not blush exactly, but they're close enough and oh so pretty!

Happy New Year!!

Hi Everyone!  I hope you had a great holiday season and are kicking off the new year with some new makeup!  I'm still here and still obsessed with blush!  Yay!  Tomorrow (I promise!!!!) I will resume blogging on a regular basis.  My plan is to work through my blush collection alphabetically, then have some comparisons across brands once in a while.  Tomorrow, I'll start with Becca--I have a couple blushes and PSPs (pressed shimmer powders).  Speaking of Becca, a dear friend has started a blog dedicated to Becca and Becca swatches.  Please check out Shades of Becca and enjoy all her pretties!  TTYL!

Just Checking In!!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!  And for all you non-Americans, I hope you had a great Thursday!  First, I want to apologize for the silence over the last few months, I've been so busy, that blush had to take a back seat to everything else.  Second, I'm going to try to do some blogging this weekend and keep at it. However, the format might change for a while.  I'm probably going to catalog all my blushes and do it in a blog format.  I'll go through brand by brand and take pictures and swatches of each one.  After that is done, I'll try to resume the different weeks of blushes.  I should have a little more free time after the first of the year.

I'll start with Becca and Bobbi Brown Blushes tomorrow.  TTYL.

Week 6, Day 7. Rose Blush--Laura Mercier Rose Bloom

Awww, I'm kind of sad that rose week is ending!  It was fun to see the different colors that makeup companies consider to be rose.  For day seven, I have Rose Bloom from Laura Mercier.  Laura Mercier is on of my favorite brands overall and the blushes do not disappoint.

LM Rose Bloom is a darker warmish, slightly brown rose shade.  It has more reddish-brown than the other colors this week and is fairly similar to Chanel Rose Petale.  I would almost call Rose Bloom a Reddish-Nude blush.  It would probably work best on medium warm skin tones, but should show up on everyone.

 The texture and pigmentation is excellent for the Laura Mercier blushes and I love that the blush will pop out for use in the LM palettes.  It is matte and glides on easily for a natural glow.

I hope you've enjoyed rose week, I did!  I'll be back in a few days with the first of my alphabet series.  Seven blushes that start with A.  Haha, I take it as a sign that I have too many blushes.  Have a great week!

Week 6, Day 6. Rose Blush--Chanel Tea Rose JC

First off, today's rose blush isn't so rosy.  Day 6 brings us another Chanel Joues Contraste blush--Tea Rose.  This is a Euro version, which means it is baked instead of the soft powder of the US version (except now Chanel is changing all the blushes to the baked style). 

See?  You can tell the blush is baked because of the variation in color along the surface of the blush, usually it's lines in a swirl pattern.  Baked Blushes are harder in texture, less powdery, and it is more difficult to pick up the color.

Chanel's Tea Rose is beautiful sheer rosy-peach, more peach than rose, but not really warm.  It is definitely a great peach for the cool-toned ladies.  It's a beautiful subtle color that looks very natural.  It's the palest of the week and rivals LM Rose Petal as the peachiest.  I don't see any shimmery bits, but it does impart a pretty glow.

Tomorrow we finish up the week of roses with Laura Mercier Rose Bloom.  Let me know what your favorite rose is?  What else would you like to see here?  Thanks for reading and have a lovely day!!

Week 6, Day 5. Rose Blush--Shu Uemura M Rose 19

Shu M Rose 19 is the brightest and the pinkest blush in this week of roses.  Of course, that is enough to make it my favorite.  If you know me at all, you know that I love pink and can't resist blushes that color.  This Shu blush is just lovely, it's a clear pinky-rose.

It doesn't have any brown or peach in it like the other blushes I swatched this week.  It seems to most closely match the definition of the color rose, which is supposed to be a mixture of pink and red.  M 19 is a neutral pink with a bit of red added.  It gives a lovely rosy glow on the face.

Shu M Rose 19 is matte, but the glow-on blushes from Shu Uemura have a special glow that makes them unique.  They glide on smooth and are very nicely pigmented.  I've never detected a scent with any of my Shu blushes.  I also love the palette system flexibility as with Bobbi Brown, Laura Mercier and Stila.

If you haven't tried Shu blushes, give them a shot.  I know the packaging doesn't appeal to some people, but the product makes it well worth the $23ish.  The glow-ons from Shu Uemura are among the favorites of my collection.  Tomorrow is Chanel Tea Rose JC, which takes a different approach to the color rose.  

Week 6, Day 4. Rose Blush--Stila Rose

I hardly every talk about Stila blushes, is this my first?  I really love them, but I have a tendency to forget about them.  In my effort to improve on that, today's blush is Stila Rose.  In the pan, it looks pretty much exactly what I imagine a Rose blush should look like.

On the skin, it's still rosy, but more of a brownish-rose with a touch of warmth to it.  It's a beautiful natural color that works great for the workplace or as an everyday blush.  There is a teensy bit of shimmer, but it isn't obvious at all and just lends a bit of a glow.

It has nice pigmentation and the powder is pretty smooth.  Stila Rose applies evenly and looks gorgeous and very natural.  If you collect blushes, like me, you'll appreciate the palette system for storing the blushes.  It's great to organize color families and they pop out into the little compacts for carrying in a purse or for travel.

Tomorrow, is Shu M Rose 19 a pretty pinky rose color and it might be my favorite of the week!  Let me know what themes you'd like to see here in the future.  Have a great weekend, Everyone!

Week 6, Day 3. Rose Blush--Laura Mercier Rose Petal

For day three of rose week, I chose a blush from one of my favorite brands, Laura Mercier.  This is one of the newer Second Skin Cheek Colors that can pop out of the individual palettes to be placed into a larger 6-pan palette.  This is LM Rose Petal--in the pan it looks just like the color in my head when I think of rose blush.  Very pretty!

 

It is really interesting, because on the skin it transforms from rose to more of a peachy color.  In fact, I'd call the color Peach, with a hint of rose.  I love Laura Mercier blushes, they're fine powders, but not super soft like the US JCs.  And they have just enough pigment to show up, but not look overdone.  I also find the colors to be very wearable. 

As you can see in the swatches, it's peachier, but not as red as Chanel Rose Petale JC and it really doesn't compare at all to Bobbi Brown Desert Rose--they are at different ends of the rose spectrum.

Tomorrow's blush, from Stila is more in keeping of what I would consider rose.  I'm loving all the blushes this week, I hope you are too! 

Week 6, Day 2. Rose Blush--Bobbi Brown Desert Rose

Bobbi Brown Desert Rose takes this weeks theme of roses in another direction.  Instead of a reddish-pink, Desert Rose is a mauve-brown pink color.  It looks very cool in the pan, but there is some warmth that comes through, making it more neutral.

 

The first thing I noticed with I swatched it was how smooth the powder was.  It's very finely milled and nicely pigmented.  Desert Rose glides onto the skin like a dream, it's really lovely! The color on my very pale/cool skin is a brownish mauve and when it is blended in it looks like a very natural nude color. 

It's also totally matte, which makes it perfect for work, or when you just need a simpler cheek color.  I love the Bobbi Brown palette system, it makes it easy to pick a blush for the day and even pop one out to carry in my purse for touch ups or take on vacation.

 

Tomorrow's rose blush is from Laura Mercier--Rose Petal, totally different from the first two roses.  It's fun to see how different companies interpret the color rose.

Week 6, Day 1. Rose Blush--Chanel Rose Petale JC

\To kick off the week of Rose blushes, I chose Chanel Rose Petale Joues Contraste.  When someone asks for a rose blush, it's always the first one that comes to my mind, even though looking at even just these roses, it isn't really the rosiest blush I have. 

I find that a lot of things labeled "Rose" turn a little warm on me, usually lipsticks, but blushes do too. Rose Petale is no exception.  This pretty JC looks like a warm rose in the pan and turns a peachy rose color on my skin.  It is a lovely color, but not the pinky-rose I prefer.  I think it is more of that pinky-rose color on warmer skin tones.

as you can see it, is one of the warmer roses of the week.  The texture is very nice.  I have the US version, so it is powdery and smooth.  Like all JCs, there is a very faint rose scent.  This is a very easy to wear color for most people and very little shimmer.  It just gives me a very soft glow.

Tomorrow, is BB Desert Rose--a completely different kind of rose!  What is your favorite Rose Blush?  Let me know what else you'd like to see!  TTYL!