Review: Mac Blushes

With Flash

Burnt Pepper, Desert Rose, Peaches, Devil, Salsa Rose, Azalea, Rhubarb 

Burnt Pepper, Desert Rose, Peaches, Devil, Salsa Rose, Azalea, Rhubarb 

With Flash

Burnt Pepper - A warm terracotta color with a matte finish.

 Desert Rose - Soft dusty pink burgundy with a matte finish.

 Peaches - Pure peach color with a sheer finish.

 Devil -Bright coral orange with a stain finish.

 Salsa Rose - Light iridescent coraly pink with a satin finish.

 Azalea - Bright Iridescent Cool Pink with a frost finish.

 Rhubarb - Bright magenta with a satin finish.

Price: 8/10 

 The Pro pan blushes are $21 for 6 grams. For the quality I think this is a fair price.  If you get the blushes in the packaging they are $25 a piece.  

Pigmentation: 10/10

Overall, these are very pigmented. I am very impressed with how strong they can apply. One of the reasons I have MAC blushes in kit is because of the oigmentation, since they can be applied very lightly which can flatter 

Texture: 10/10

The texture is lovely.  It's very velvety and easy to pick up on your brush. It's also very easy to blend.

Packaging: NA 

This isn't applicable since I only ordered the pans.

Overall Quality: 10/10 
The pigmentation is very great, you need very little product even for deep skin tones, so the pans will last a long time. The color selection are nice and they blend well together.

Repurchase: Yes

I would repurchase all of these colors.

Pros: Color, finish, texture, pigmentation

Cons: If I find one I'll let you know

Review: Benefit's Rockateur Blush

This is a review on the new blush, Rockateur by Benefit. I bought this a few weeks ago and I've been wearing it almost every day. It comes in a small box, like the Benefit blushes do, and contains .17 ounces of product. The blush has a light sweet, rose-like scent, which personally I don't like as I try and stay away from putting scents on my face, however, it isn't very strong and fades quickly. I really do like the color which is a nice rosy-peach color. It is sheer, but shows up well on my fair skin. I wouldn't recommend it as a blush for someone with deeper skin tones, but it could give a nice glow. It has a natural finish which I really like, not too shimmery, just nice and satin. It also compliments the color of my freckles, which I like as well.

Packaging

This is the box it comes in. It's a little to "cute" for my tastes, but the box is sturdy.

Without flash.

As you can see, it has "Rock" embossed into the powder. There is also a shimmery overspray when you first open it. I just brush the overspray off before using it.

With flash.

It also comes with this brush. Unlike the brush I have with my Hoola bronzer, this one is rounded. With this new shape I actually like this brush. While I still grab for my Sigma blush brush over this one, it does work well and it is totally usable to apply and blend with. 

The brush also fits right into the box, which is nice.

With flash.

As you can see, there is a slight sheen. It isn't really glittery/shimmery, it's just natural. It looks almost as if I didn't powder my cheeks. While I do have combo/oily skin, my skin in drier in the winter so this really livens up my complexion.

Without flash.

Price: 6/10 

The blush is only  0.17 oz while the Dallas blush is 0.32 oz and they retail for the same price ($28). This isn't something that would stop me from buying this blush, but is something to be aware of.

Pigmentation: 8/10

The product itself is sheer, so even with a good swatch it isn't opaque. However, it is meant to be sheer so this isn't something that would turn me away from the product. If you have deeper skin tone you would use this to give a glow, but I don't think it will show up well.

Texture: 10/10

The texture is lovely.  It's very velvety and easy to pick up on your brush. It's also very easy to blend.

Packaging: 6/10 

This may just be me, but I am not a fan of the packaging. I like a sleeker looking package over cute. While it is very cute & I'm not a huge fan, the packaging isn't something that would effect my purchase. I do like that the box is big enough to easily fit my own brushes into. 

Overall Quality: 8/10 

Repurchase: Probably

I now have some of the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powders, which give a similar glow/natural finish without being shimmery so I could just use them over another blush, however, this peach/rose color is very unique. If I was able to get the same amount of product as the other boxed blushes I would for sure repurchase.

Pros: Color, finish, texture, longevity

Cons: Scent, amount of product

Review: Lip Tar Mini Allstars Set of 4

 I also have a video review which you can see here OR click here if you want some application help.

I just bought the mini liptar set of four and so far I am really liking it.

 Here's the packaging. It comes with Black Dahlia, NSFW, Anime and Momento, plus a lip brush.

Here's a size comparison between a full size (Pretty Boy) and a mini (Anime).

The full size are .33 ounces and the minis are .08.

While the minis are smaller, you use so little product that these will still last quite a while. 

Here is a tutorial I did for applying them.

 Here are my bare lips. 

Black Dahlia

Price: 9/10 

Pigmentation: 6/10

Texture: 6/10

Packaging: 7/10

Overall Quality: 7/10 

Repurchase: Maybe, and if I did it would be for mixing.

Black Daliah is a beautiful deep purpley-wine color with a hint of red. In the tube or swatched on my arm I thought this would be my favorite of the bunch, however, the color is lovely, but the application is not. This color seems to be a tad sheerer than the other liptars I have so it applies patchy. It took me much longer to apply and I couldn't get the color to look completely smooth. 

I did mix Black Daliah with NSFW and made a beautiful deep black-cherry color, which I am in love with. So while this color alone isn't too great, it does mix into other liptars well.

I also wore it with MAC Nightmoth lip liner under it, and I did like that effect as well.

Liptars in these pics are not blotted.

NSFW

Price: 9/10 

Pigmentation: 9/10

Texture: 9/10

Packaging: 7/10

Overall Quality: 9/10 

Repurchase: Yes

NSFW is a true red and it is lovely. This is a very pretty red and it will suit most skin tones since it's a true red. It applies very easily, it is very pigmented and it also mixes well. When wearing these out vs. just for swatches I would wear a red liner with it. 

 Blotted

 Blotted

 Blotted

Anime

Price: 9/10 

Pigmentation: 9.5/10

Texture: 9/10

Packaging: 7/10

Overall Quality: 9.5/10 

Repurchase: Yes

Anime is a neon fuchsia, but I think it is still very wearable. I am in love with this color. Very easy to apply & pigmentation is great. This is probably my favorite lip tar. At first I though it would be too close to Pretty Boy, but I believe it is more wearable since it isn't quite as dark as Pretty Boy.

 Blotted

 Blotted

 Blotted

Blotted

Momento

Price: 9/10 

Pigmentation: 9/10

Texture: 9/10

Packaging: 7/10

Overall Quality: 9/10 

Repurchase: Yes

Moemento is a pretty midtone pink. It applies easy, but since it's a paler color it does take a bit more time to blend away streaks. The pigmentation is really great so it will cover more pigmented lips. It comes up a tad on the warm side on my very fair skin, so I really like this mixed with just the tiniest bit of Anime to cool it down. 

 Blotted

Blotted

Day light with out flash.

Momento, Anime, NSFW, Black Dahliah

With flash.

Momento, Anime, NSFW, Black Dahliah

 Pretty Boy (Left) Anime (Right) without flash.

 Pretty Boy (Left) Anime (Right) with flash.

 Black Daliah

 NSFW

 Anime

Momento

Products:

Face: Smashbox Primer - original 

Urban Decay Primer Potion

Cinema Secrets Foundations
Tempu Correctors

Illamasqua Skin base - white
Graftobian creme blush in Raspberry Wine

Ben Nye Powder - Cameo
RCMA No color power

Nars creamy concealer - Chantilly

Sephora concealer - fair

ELF Mist & Set

MAC sculpt - Shadowy

MAC sculpt - Emphasize

MAC - Desert Rose

Ben Nye - Antique Rose

Eyes:

MAC - Blanc Type

Urban Decay - Naked

MAC - Mylar

MAC - Copperplate

MAC - Concrete

MAC - Carbon

MAC fluid line - Blacktrack

UD 24/7 liner - Perversion

L'Oreal Voluminous mascara- Carbon Black

Maybelline Great Lash - clear

MUFE aqua brow - 25 

Review: Ben Nye Eyeshadows and Blushes

Earlier in September I bought a few Ben Nye eyeshadows and two blushes. I am very impressed with the quality of the powders. They are very pigmented and velvety.  

Without flash

With flash

Below I have swatched the shadows/blushes on unprimed skin.

Twilight Blue, Mossberry, Smokey Taupe, Burgundy, Brownberry,

Twilight Blue is a very cool blue. Perfectly matte and very pigmented. I want to use this for smokey eyes at some point.

Mossberry is a mossy-olive colored shadow. It is a pretty deep color of green mixed with gray, very wearable, but still has some color.

Smokey Taupe is a perfect taupe. I love this shadow since it is a perfect ashy taupe color, so highlight pigmented, I can imagine this being the taupey color I reach for most. This also would be great for eyebrows.

Burgundy is my favorite color that I bought. It goes really well with MAC Cranberry, but it is perfectly matte. This is a great color for Fall and Winter, or just in general. I will post the video where I used this shadow at the bottom of this post.

Brownberry is a mauve, but with more of a berry hue. I really like this color as well. It works well as a smokey eye or even just as a way to add more color to the crease.

Without Flash

With Flash

Flame Red, Vintage Rose, Tangerine, Amethyst

Amethyst is a purple with light shimmer and fine silver glitter. From the swatches I saw online I didn't expect the glitter. Since the glitter wont photograph well I wouldn't have purchased this color if I would have known. The shadow also doesn't apply as smoothly as the other colors. I may just pass this shadow down to my little sister. So I am still on the hunt for the perfect purple. If you know of one please let me know!

Tangerine I really wanted to get a shadow that was close to the orange in the NARS Mediteranee duo for my kit. While this is a tad lighter it applies well over MAC Rule and makes a good dupe for the NARS shadow. It is a lightly shimmery orange color. Very vivid and well pigmented.

Flame Red I broke my MAC Apple Red blush, and when I tried to fix it with alcohol it became hard (if anyone knows how to fix this let me know), so I needed a new perfect red. This blush is very velvety and well pigmented. It will be perfect for pinup looks or for girls with deep skin tones,

Vintage Rose I love this color. It is a neutral peach/pink color. It is very light and has a nice texture. This is going to be my everyday blush.

Price: 9/10 

Pigmentation: 9.5/10

Texture: Mattes 9/10, Shimmer 8/10

Packaging: 3/10 (nothing fancy)

Fallout: 6/10 (Lots of fallout from the heavy pigmentation)

Overall Quality: 9/10

Here's a tutorial where I use one of the Ben Nye shadows and I am wearing the Vintage Rose blush.