Comparison of Blushes (and Pressing)

So whenever I get a new blush, I always do a swatch comparison against the others that I have -- even if they aren't remotely the same. This helps me to place the colour so in that way in the future, I know where they fall with the others. Originally, I swatched the Whip Hand Cosmetics in Cheek Flash Distraction which came in my Wantable Makeup Box. 

Currently, these are the blushes I have in rotation, along with my franken-blush (read about that here) which is not pictured as it is in my UNII palette. So if you look at my hand along the bottom, you're seeing from left to right: the franken-blush, The Body Shop, tarte, and Whip Hands.

Since my Darling Girl Cosmetics haul arrived, I decided to add in the Purple Haze into the mix to get a better feel for it against the other blushes. So pictured below is the updated image for your viewing pleasure. The Purple Haze Duochrome blush appears just before the Whip Hands Cosmetics blush. 

Once more with feeling, from left to right of the second picture you are looking at swatches of:

•  Franken-blush
• The Body Shop All-In-One Blusher in Guava
• tarte Amazonian clay 12-hour blush in Blushing Bride
• Darling Girl Cosmetics DuoChrome Blush in Purple Haze
• Whip Hands Cosmetics Cheek Flash Loose Blush in Distraction

I think the two new blushes are a great addition to the collection. But they are loose, which means that my desire to use them in the morning may be limited since I'm often in a rush. So, I decided to try my hand at pressing them. 

While it's recommended that use a binder with the loose pigments, I found that sometimes it's a bit troublesome to press them correctly. As a result, I've resorted to just pressing with alocohol. I don't know just yet if that will prove to be a problem in the future, but I can assure you that I will find out this week if that was a large error on my behalf. Anyhow, I present my three magnetic palettes!

I didn't need to picture them all, but I wanted to show how useful they have become. The palette on the right has become a designated "blush palette" so I went as far to depot the blush I have from The Body Shop into it as well. Here's a closeup of the 3 blushes and from top to bottom that is Darling Girl in Purple Haze, Whip Hand in Distraction, and finally the franken that I decided to fix (I didn't have the proper pressing tool at the time that I made it so it was a bit rough).

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Product: The Body Shop All-In-One Blusher in Guava

Price:  $16

Stars: ★★★☆☆ 

Would Recommend? Not really.

Takeaway: I feel a bit weird not really liking this one, but I've been using it for a few months now and the pigmentation is lacking. And since the pigmentation itself is lacking, the lasting power of it is a bit sad. It's not buildable so even I layered it on, it doesn't quite pop. Often when I use this one, I have to keep going over it till the colour finally shows a bit. 

Product: tarte Amazonian clay 12-hour blush in Blushing Bride 

Price: $26

Stars: ★★★★☆  

Would Recommend? Yes.

Takeaway: The pigmentation on this one is also somewhat lacking however unlike The Body Shop's blusher, I can build layers upon this one to make it a bit more visible. Also it lasts a bit longer on my wonderfully oily face which makes it a high contender. 

Product: Darling Girl Cosmetics DuoChrome Blush in Purple Haze

Price: $5.90

Stars: ★★★★☆ 

Would Recommend? Yes but with caution.

Takeaway: For this one, it's highly pigmented which is great, but if you're not careful, it will get everywhere. At some point it got into my hair and I couldn't get it out of my bleached parts for a day. That's probably a testament to it's lasting power, but do be careful since it's a loose powder. It's wonderfully beautiful and long lasting.

Product: Whip Hands Cosmetics Cheek Flash Loose Blush in Distraction

Note: I received this product for free with my complimentary Wantable Makeup Box.

Price: $18

Stars: ★★★★☆ 

Would Recommend? Yes!

Takeaway: This one pops and it's not hard to control either. It lasts all day to my surprise especially since I've been a bit stressed and therefore a bit oilier than normal. I'm pretty impressed with this one.

Review: The Body Shop Body Butters

I had first heard about these years ago from my friend who had been raving about them. I had somewhat managed to avoid them though since I never really ventured into one of The Body Shop stores. That wasn't because I had an aversion to them, but that I was pretty staunch about using cocoa butter lotions or those infused with oatmeal because of the dryness of my skin. When I went in to find a facial brush though, I figured that it was finally time to give them a shot.

So I bought four except that I was only getting two for myself and I sent two (the Mango and the Coconut) to my mom. For myself, I held onto the Chocomania and Pink Grapefruit. 

Since I'm all about coordinating, which one I use is dependent on the soap scent I'm using. Since I was alternating between a bar of Ivory soap and one from Bubbles Up! (specifically the Chocolate Fudge Marble Soap Cake) I coordinated accordingly with the body butter.

Both scents are obviously very different from one another but both are equally amazing. Their textures were also slightly different from one another. Let's start with the chocolate.

Chocomania boasts that it supplies 48 hours of hydration which is a bit longer than the standard I believe (the others are up to 24 hours). I caught it when it was in store during Valentine's Day so I inappropriately thought it was was specific only to the holiday -- turns out it's still available online. The texture is a bit chunky which is similar to that of shea butter but definitely not as hard and easy to work with. The scent is wonderful, that is, if chocolate is your thing. I would absolutely recommend this in a heartbeat since it's amazing and I'm somewhat disappointed in myself for not giving it a shot sooner.

Pink Grapefruit is an amazingly strong (and therefore delightfully) scented take on the lotion. I was actually amazed at how long lasting the scent of grapefruit was -- add to that that it's quite moisturizing. It may not be as moisturizing as the Chocomania but it still holds it own very well. The texture is slightly fluffier than the Chocomania, but that makes sense as to why.

I love them both and I honestly can't wait till they are done so I can run back in to buy some more.

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Product: The Body Shop Body Butters
Price: $20
Stars: ★★★★★
Would Recommend? Yes!
Takeaway: While slightly different textures (based on the skin types that they are for), they work well, feel great, and are long lasting. They are a welcomed addition to my lineup of lotions. 

Review: The Body Shop Rounded Handle Facial Brush

I was having one of those "needless spending" days and after darting around to different stores, largely unsatisfied with my findings (or rather, lack of spending), I decided to wander into The Body Shop because I recall seeing an exfoliation brush that went for $3 (thanks to /r/SkincareAddiction). Turns out they were having a sale... more on that later, but I did pick up the exfoliation brush that I intended to get.

 I've never used an exfoliation brush before so I don't have much to compare it to. My facial routine is very basic and goes like this:

1. Wash my face with a cleanser (either a foaming type or Noxzema) and rub it in with my fingers in a circular motion.
• I dry my skin afterward by wiping downward on my face with a towel.
2. Apply moisturizer and follow up with eye cream.
3. Once a week I do an intensive facial mask (at the moment I'm using a generic mint julep mask which I leave on for 20-30 minutes).
• Dry by dabbing (rather than using strokes).
• Follow up immediately with a toner.

So my routine doesn't utilize much exfoliation in it. I still get the occasional acne but in general it's not anything that is bothersome. I never really thought about getting a brush but I figured it was worth the shot especially since the instructions of use is very similar to what I already do (utilizing small circular motions and most recommend that you focus on the problematic areas and try to not to be too rough). I'm still in the process of testing it out (it's only been two weeks now and I'm keeping it down to exfoliating 1-2 times a week) so this review is based on the initial impressions.

Well, to start it's a very small brush (I missed it quite a few times when I was in the shop even though there was a whole basket filled with them). It's about the same brush size as other brushes (such as the Sephora Complexion Brush) but the handle is small which makes it seem even smaller. Nonetheless, I liked how cute it looked. Plus the container itself allows for the brush to hang in the correct way so that it can dry better.

Please note that if you have a cat (particularly kittens) they will think that it's a toy. On the first night that I got it, I walked to get my camera and came back to the two of them going to town on it. So, keep it away from them since it's small enough to register as kittens to be within the toy category.

Moving on, it was a bit small and took a bit to get used to although that didn't take too long. The bristles are incredibly soft which makes it easy to use, especially with a foaming cleanser. I have yet to try it with the Noxzema so hopefully I can follow up with an update about that.

Overall, for the value and for it does, I'm pretty amazed by it. My roommate had been exclaiming the goodness of the Clarisonic Mia Sonic Skin Cleansing System and after reading the thread about having  an exfoliation brush, I just had to give it a shot. I'm pretty happy that I did; my face felt not as tight or dry after I was done (I actually can't explain why that happened, so let's pretend it was a fluke). 

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Product: The Body Shop Rounded Handle Facial Brush

Price: $3

Stars: ★★★★★

Takeaway: For $3, you can't really go wrong with this experiment and while that might not be a huge pro, consider that exfoliation is one of those things you need to do once in a while and so long as you have that circular motion down, you're doing it lightly, and that you follow up with a toner, it's not too bad to at least try it. For me, I enjoy it once or twice a week (and never after I've done a mask because I don't need to stress my face out too much) so it's been a great "investment."