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).

---

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.

Wantable October 2013 Cosmetics Box

Items were received by Wantable complimentary.

A few days ago, over on Reddit, Stuart was kind enough to ask the community if there would be bloggers willing to "spread the word about Wantable." Being a current subscriber to their accessories box (in fact, my October one is on it's way and I can't wait) -- I reached out to them and asked if I could snag a cosmetics box because I had been on the fence about it. Sure enough, his team provided a free box and I'm happy to share it's contents.

A quick overview of Wantable: You fill out your preferences and they state that will never send your dislikes. In fact, with each box that you get, there's a review of all of the items along with your preferences. They also provide a retail price for almost all of the products (with the exception of the sample) so that you can gauge whether the box at $36 a month or a single box for $40 is worth it to you. Anyhow, let's take a look at the box.

You'll have to forgive Heero, as he might have confused this with his old pet monthly subscription box. I thought it was super cute that he decided to make an appearance. 

This particular box came with the following items:

• Michael Marcus Nail Polish in Blood Red
• Japonesque Angled Foundation Brush
• Whip Hand Cosmetics in Cheek Flash Distraction
• Lise Watier Feline Mascara Black
• Skiin Instant Skin Tightener & Line Filler Sample

Wantable provided a freebie code on Thursday, October 10th which is the same day I ordered it and the box arrived on Tuesday, October 15th. So as with the Accessories box, super fast shipping. The box would have been here on Monday had the Post Office not observed Columbus Day. 

To start, I kind of had an idea of what to expect. If you check such places as /r/BeautyBoxes, it'll give you a decent idea of what's going out that month. It will not give you an exact idea since the boxes vary based on preference. I did expect the angled foundation brush (I seem to collect brushes even though I've switched to sponges) but everything else took me by pleasant surprise. 

Closer pictures to follow however I ask that you ignore the Halloween manicure. :( It's been a long week which is why it's taken so long to write this post.

The only thing not pictured is the sample of the skin tightener. Honestly, I'd actually like to give that a try before I post my thoughts about it.

My initial thoughts on everything else though? I really like this box. It seems small in quantity but the quality factor is high. Now I'm not familiar with these particular brands, so when I say quality, I'm actually not referring to the products but I'm referring to Wantable because they nailed it.

I have been feigning over a new blush colour but I seem to pick the same one each time. And even though this one is still pretty close in colour to the others, the pigmentation is pretty great which makes me quite impressed. The nail polish colour is amazing and I can assure you, before I started typing this post, I removed that black nail polish and I'll be putting that red on shortly. As a huge mascara addict, I could always use another and I'll be trying it out this week and next week to give my overall thoughts of the brand.

So, is Wantable worth it? YES. While you may not like the box they created for me, please keep in mind that they will make one specific to you. Thus far they have had amazing customer service and I'd would highly recommend them because even if you have a bad experience, they seem to very much want to help you and make things right. In conclusion, here's my referral link and... Go sign up. :)