In the second installment of makeup stash Fridays I’m going to take you through the blushes I’m officially focusing on in the fall. Of course, there are several peach blushes but I’ve also pulled out some of my mauvy toned blushes for the season.
The rosy mauve shades
The three blushes in this category are a bit different but all have a nice mauve undertone. First is the Milani powder blush in romantic rose. In some lights in the pan this blush looks purple-mauve but in other lights it looks like a nice light rose shade. Upon swatching this blush is a beautiful rose matte shade. Second is the Physicians Formula Butter Blush in Vintage Rouge. This is a beautiful buttery blush, I love love love this blush. I haven’t used it much since I bought this in the beginning of the summer but I have been wearing it and it’s literally the perfect (DARE I SAY) flush to the cheeks. Its neutral enough to pair with a lot of eye looks and looks beautifully smooth on the skin. Then we have our most cool toned blush the ELF cosmetics studio blush in Berry Merry. This is supposedly a dupe for NARS sin (which I don’t own) but I’m glad I own the more inexpensive version because I didn’t reach for this much last fall but I want to get more use out of it this season. It is a purple shade with a gold shimmer running through – perfect for darker skin tones.
The pumpkin blushes
I recently saw alwayscleia mention that she thinks of her peach makeup as pumpkin makeup and I was like BRILLIANT OMG. Hence the title of this category. I have three peachy blushes to talk about. First the MAC blush in PeachTwist. This is a sheertoned blush which I love. I can build it up and go ham so I don’t have to worry about going overboard. The second blush I have is the L’Oreal true Match blush in Bare Honey. This blush is a nude peach blush with shimmer (not chunky at all) and looks beautiful on the skin. I also love the Burt’s Bees Blush in bare peach. While at first glance in the pan this blush looks matte its actually a beautiful satin finish. Then as a blush topper I can’t stop won’t stop with the Hourglass blush in Incandescent Electra. This blush is definitely more highlighterish then blushish but I just love it on top of these darker peach and mauve shades to add an extra glow.
What are your favourite fall blushes? p.s no swatch photos because gosh darn it just wasn’t working
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This foundation came out about two months ago. As you know with foundations I have a standard, has to be lightweight and doesn’t make my skin itchy. Too much to ask? Yes probably but when I swatched this foundation in shoppers it felt so beautiful. Almost like a thick hydrating serum, it blended out beautiful on the back of my hand and I knew in that moment this was a foundation I needed to review. For reference my skin type is normal to dry. I bought the shade light and it is a perfect shade match.
The claims: “Lightweight, waterproof and pigmented AF, our new Can’t Stop Won’t Stop Full Coverage Foundation hustles as hard as you do. This comfy liquid formula comes in 45 flattering tones that don’t transfer. Every creamy shade glides on smooth, delivering matte coverage and color that stays true for up to 24 hours. Our little over achiever also works to control shine and mattify your complexion all-day long. But it doesn’t stop there: this foundation is noncomedogenic and suitable for normal, oily, combination, and sensitive skin types”
Lightweightness: This is a true claim. This foundation, while full coverage and matte, feels very light weight on the skin and doesn’t make my feel dry and tight. Now, keep in my mind I mix everything I use with a hydrating serum (even tinted moisturizers) so I think that definitely helped. But I did wear this only over a glowy primer and the finish was flawless. I will say that you should moisturize if you tend to lean towards the dry side but in any case I didn’t find this grabbed onto any patches. It did sort of cake up around my nose but quite honestly everything does this to me and I don’t like wearing foundation on my nose anyway as per Violette Fr’s recommendation that it creates the optical illusions that you aren’t wearing foundation.
This foundation also wears really nicely throughout the day. I went to skating in this foundation and did my own pre skate before coaching and it didn’t melt or break up on my skin (gee too bad this didn’t come out in the middle of summer when I was in plus 40 weather). I will continue though to wear this in the winter mixed with more dewy foundations because this foundation plays nicely with literally everything I’ve mixed it with, which is something I like in any base product. I also wanted to compare this to other shades of foundations I typically wear hence the picture below if you are trying to shade match.
Left to Right: Wet n wild photofocus foundation nude ivory, The Body Shop Fresh Nude Foundation Bora Bora, Gosh foundation drops in 002, The Ordinary Serum Foundation 1.1N
The other thing I greatly appreciate about this is the packaging. I really like the glass packaging and the pump and the lack of chemical smell. This feels very high end (not that I’ve tried many high end foundations) but it feels very lux which I think we can all appreciated in a drugstore foundation. Speaking of drugstore, this foundation was 16.49 CAD at Shoppers Drug Mart which to me is a bit pricey for a foundation, but again compared to the Wet n Wild photofocus foundation that for a foundation that is inexpensive has nice coverage, but doesn’t have the same performance as this one and the wet n wild also smells like paint thinner. This foundation to me feels very quite substantial and while I can’t compare this to any high end foundation as I don’t own any, I really love it overall. As well, it has 45 shades which is a wonderful shade range and was done in collaboration with Alissa Ashley.
Wearing the foundation – you can see its a bit dry on my chin but basically all my foundations are. You can’t feel it on the face which is a big win in my book!
Overall rating, I haven’t done this in so long, but hot damn 5/5 stars for me. If you have extremely dry skin I’d stay away but if you are normal, oily, combo and sensitive this is a perfect foundation for you!
Have you tried this foundation yet?
Ah, its that time again where I say the cliche, where did the last month go? To be quite honest I haven’t done a whole ton of stuff. I started figure skating again and have just been on the hunt for a job in field! However, I still found a few standout products from the month to share with you today.
NYX dose of dew
The dose of dew from NYX was a YouTube made me buy it purchase. I got this quite a while ago while I was still at school and I originally got it to compare it to the Nudestix one (which I love) but the one is ever so slightly more user friendly. The Nudestix one stays sticky throughout the day and never sets but I find the NYX does set but doesn’t lose any of that sheen.
NYX Olive You palette
I have been loving this palette. The quality is amazing and the Olive tones are perfect for the fall but also nicely balanced out by the purple and neutral shades in the palette. I really have been loving creating with this palette and it really got me out my neutral brown eye shadow comfort zone. I really like that this has a variety of shades for the fall and you can do simple looks to more editorial looks. I am planning to do a full review and three looks so stay tuned for that in October!
Mac See sheer
I have mentioned this far too many times on the blog since I got it during the Sephora Appreciation Sale. It is just the perfect pink-red sheer no mirror lipstick that I didn’t know I needed in my life. As soon as I swatched, I knew I was playing a dangerous game with my wallet. I want all the shades in this formula…I know that’s pretty extensive but this formula is now on my top 5 lipstick formulas (would you like to see a post on my top 5 lipsticks because I can do that).
The Marcelle micellar water
I have tried the Garnier one previously and it was okay, I just found I really had to rub and get my mascara off. Even when I held it there for a few seconds it still didn’t come off well. Look no further for the best micellar water on the market in Canada, the Marcelle one is just amazing. There are four options for different skin types. I bought the one for dry skin because I tend to have drier skin in the winter months. I literally cleans my skin, I wouldn’t just use this as a cleanser because I am an avid double cleaner, but I love this to take off stubborn mascara because it really gets the bulk (if not all) of it off.
Mixing a hydrating serum into foundations
I have been loving mixing the Neutrogena Hydro boost serum into different foundations to both sheer them out and make=slightly more hydrating. I’ve been mixing this in with my First Aid Beauty tinted moisturizer, the NYX Can’t Stop Won’t Stop foundation and the wet n wild photo focus foundation (not sure how I feel about this, I like the finish but it makes my skin itchy so alas). I really like how much this sheers out the foundation and that it makes my skin feel more hydrated. Look out for a full review on the foundation soon!
Hanging out with my cat
I know this is a bit of lame favorite for the month but I haven’t lived with my cat this long since we got her in the summer of 2016. It’s so nice to have a little critter wandering around, meowing, hunting, and cuddling! Yes, this is a bit of an odd favourite but it’s been nice just chilling with my bean.
What did you like this past month?!
I have been wanting to do one of these types of post for awhile. If you have been around the beauty YouTube space there used to be videos called my makeup stash where people would go through their collections and showcase their stashes in different categories. I wanted to start a similar series but for seasons. So for every category of makeup I’m going to do a “stash” for that season. I am also going to attempt to do this every Friday hence the title “Makeup Stash Fridays”. For today, I’m going to do the lipsticks that I’m going to use for the fall season, excluding my project pan lipsticks the Joe Fresh Lip balm, 100% Pure Lip caramel in Truffle and the Milani Lipstick in Nude Creme. So every Friday look out for a post like this one!
The Berries
From Left to right: NYX Prague, Colourpop Blotted lipstick in Bees knees, ELF liquid lipstick in Berry Sorbet, Bite Beauty Beetroot
First, as we typically think of fall we have the berry shades. My first most used and oldest fall shade is the classic NYX soft matte lip cream Prague. It’s a beautiful pinky berry shade and smells like vanilla. It almost has a blotted lip look and despite the name its not drying on the lips. These all come in a load of shades. The next one that is very similar is the Colourpop blotted lipstick (also please someone tell me are these discontinued because I cannot find them on their site). This is a very similar shade to the NYX – a perfect fushia pink berry. Next is a classic ELF liquid lipstick in Berry Sorbet. It’s a darker more purple berry then the previous ones and have a nice soft matte finish. Finally my most expensive option of the bunch the Bite Beauty Amuse bouche lipstick in beetroot. I bought this because of ttsandra on YouTube and it’s the perfect bold berry shade.
The brown nudes with a hint of rose
Left-Right: Bite Beauty Honeycomb, Wet n Wild Bare it All, Burt’s Bees Suede Splash, Bite Beauty Chai,, Bite Beauty Rhubarb, Mineral Fusion Adorn
I love me a good solid nude lipstick, borderline too much beige with a hint of rose. First up we have my tried and true favourite lipstick shade Lush Perspective (sadly no longer available). It’s a beautiful rose toned liquefied lipstick that is the perfect your lips but better shade. Next are two similar friends, the Wet n wild lipstick in Bare it All that seems to get through all my declutterers and its glossier counterpart the Burt’s Bees lipstick in suede splash. Both are beige nude shades with a just enough of a pink undertone to still look good against my fair skin. The three Bite Beauty shades we have are the mini chai shade which is a mauve brown shade and honeycomb which is a true beige nude, one I like to mix with another more pink shade. Then we have the shade rhubarb which is a dark plum rose shade. Finally a glossy true brown options is the mineral fusion sheer moisture lip tint in adorn.
The pinks and reds
Left to Right: Bite Beauty Sugarcane, Burt’s Bees Tahitian Sunset, MAC See Sheer, Burt’s Bees Scarlet Soaked, Nudestix Sin
I only have a few (you guessed) rosy red shades for this category. Of course if you follow me on instagram you know I love MAC see Sheer. It is described as a grapefruit pink but I think on my lips it definitely feels like a pink red you wear when you don’t want to fuss with a red lip. The no fuss red lip I like is the Burts Bees lipstick in Scarlet soaked. I find you can build this up to full opacity or just blot it on over a lip balm. Next is the Burt’s Bees glossy lip crayon in Tahitian Sunset alongside its cooler toned counterpart the Nudestix lip and cheek pencil in Sin. I also didn’t have a place for this one colour wise but I’m trying to use the Bite Beauty Amuse Bouche lipstick in sugarcane which is a true pastel pink so I’m attempting to use it as a mixing shade.
The easy glosses
Left to right: Fenty Gloss Bomb, ELF gotta glow lip tint in Perfect Pink
The two glossy sheer lip products I have are the Fenty Gloss bomb in Fenty Glow. This lip gloss literally makes your lips look like glass. It can be worn on its own and over any lipstick. Next is something that I didn’t realize how much I used until I looked at the bullet and that’s the ELF cosmetics beautifully bare gotta glow lip tint in perfect pink. It is the perfect lip tint to throw in your purse and use on your daily errands.
What is in your fall lipstick stash?
As I said in my last one of these posts I don’t know how I feel about the no makeup makeup term. I like to think of it as a minimal makeup look – but can use the same amount of products its just the techniques you use to use these products. I like to do this kind of look when I’m just, to be quite honest a feeling a bit lazy that day but still want a bit of something something. Granted, now that I am a new grad and am in a transitional period I have a lot more time to do my makeup and have been doing more fun eye shadow looks and such but I still have some new tried and true makeup I use when I’m not feeling like a full glam look aka no makeup makeup items in the beauty world. I would also like to note this is completely subjective, so what I may use might be way too much for you or way to little! It’s all personal preference!
The actual base
The most important step to any makeup routine is skincare. Skincare is so important to creating a smooth and clean surface for makeup. I generally do three (yes three) hydrating products in the morning. I usually rinse my face with warm water, then put on my toner and use a hydrating serum, essence, and moisturizer. Some mornings I do just a serum and moisturizer and other mornings I do the whole shebang, it just depends on my mood. The reason (besides the obscene amount of highlighter I use) that my face glows and is dewy is that I always use a army of hydrating products.
The undetectable base
Nudestix tinted blur stick. This is hands down and all time favourite of mine. It adjusts to the shade pigments in your skin and it just has this beautiful skin like finish. I hydrate intensely beforehand as I do with most things. Review here
Glowy primer. I am a fan of the glow (as you might be able to tell I’m going to be “dewy until the day I die” – Katie Jane Huges). I have been enjoying the Physicians formula spotlight primer and would like to try the Bare Minerals Foundation Primer brightening next or the Milani strobe and pore minimizing one! This is just a beautiful way to add glow and light to the skin without having to put on a foundation.
As for a concealer, I haven’t quite found one that I’d consider a minimal concealer and that’s because I can always see my concealer – even if it’s really good, I haven’t yet found one that is my idea lazy makeup concealer. If you have an recommendations hit me up here or slide into my dms on instagram.
The cheek products
NYX dose of Dew and the Nudestix Illuminaughty. Both of these highlighters leave a nice glossy sheen to the skin and look as “natural” as you can with a highlighter. I like the NYX one slighty more only because it doesn’t stay sticky all day and sometimes I can’t be bothered with such stickiness of my face.
For a blush this has not changed, I’m still a fan of the Body Shop lip and cheek stain, it’s a beautiful rose shade and applies quite sheer to the skin but I do find it disappears quite quickly so I would go a bit overboard and then its perfect. The two other blushes that I have in the mix are the Hourglass Ambient lighting blush in Incandescent Electra and MAC Peachtwist. My Hourglass blush is more of a glow giving blush then a flush blush, as one might say, but I really like that on those minimal makeup days because it’s just a hint of colour.
The glass lips
Fenty gloss bomb. The Fenty gloss bomb is just the best thing to happen in the makeup world. I know that everyone says that but it is! I love love love this for no makeup days because it makes your lips look like glass.
MAC See Sheer. Again, the item I didn’t want to love that makes me want to try more MAC products. There is something about the shade of this lipsticks and the formula. I know it is very similar to the PIXI lip balm but I love this for an everyday almost red shade. I love the lustre formula and I would love to find a nice fall shade in this formula as well.
What are your favourite “I don’t feel like full glam today” makeup products?
Okay, it’s no secret that I love luxury products. I won’t deny that to ya’ll. I do. I admit, when I see the Anna edit using NARS I’m like, well crap I need that now. But, I understand that people might not support NARS as a brand or just don’t want to spend $50 on a highlighter. I’ve rounded up a few alternatives and one, dare I say it, dupe for the NARS highlighter. I also didn’t realize this until I was done searching through my highlighters for a dupe, but these are all cruelty free!
Elf Shimmer Highlighting Powder
Don’t let the word shimmer turn you off of this product. This is the shade Starlight glow. The NARS is shiny and glossy, and is more glossy than this one but if you blend it out and into your skin you can get a very similar effect. The ELF is a bit more powdery to the touch and not as bouncy as the NARS powder. But if you like ELF and want the same effect I’d recommend this one. The price difference is staggering, the NARS is $50CAD and the ELF is $8 US and I’m not sure the Canadian price as I bought it at Loblaws awhile ago but it was definitely under $10.
Annabelle Perfect Glow Highlighter
This is in the shade Golden Diamond. Fun fact, every time i was comparing my mom always knew which was the drugstore side but she had to go really close up to my face, so from afar these don’t look that different. The Annabelle is more gold than the NARS and not as glossy, but you can make this highlighter look glossy by really blending it into your skin. The price difference again, is a large one, this costs $9.95CAD and I got it on sale for 6.99 so again it’s a $40 savings.
The Balm Mary Lou-Manizer
The third and final alternative I have for you is the dupe. The Balm Mary Lou-Manizer. When I was asking my mom if she could tell the difference she really had to look and said she couldn’t tell the difference, but would still say the one side was shinier (which I revealed was the NARS side) but she said of all them she couldn’t tell unless she really really looked closely. This is the one that I would use the word dupe for. Not formula wise, but both powders are very smooth. You only have to build the balm Mary LouManizer up a bit more than the NARS to create the same glossy shiny effect. This one is the most expensive of the bunch and costs $22.33CAD on the Amazon website. Though you aren’t saving as much with this one (about $28) you are still saving a large chunk of change and buying from a cruelty free company!
I realize you can hardly see these because how does one take good photos of highlighter?! In any case from left to right – NARS Forte De France, The Balm Mary Lou-Manizer
Verdict: I love the NARS and its probably one of my favourite highlighter formulas ever (eek what a statement) and I would buy more shades in the future for sure. I won’t be anytime soon because I own many highlighters I want to get more use out of before purchasing more. However, I wanted to do this post for you all because I know that the drugstore has really great highlighter options and you don’t have to break the bank to get that glossy glow!
What is your favourite highlighter formula?
Hello all! If you are following this project with other bloggers and YouTubers then you will see they have already posted their updates earlier this month. But I felt that since the finale is Oct 31, I wanted to put this up today so I could actually have a bit more progress to show. I didn’t finish any products this month like I did last update but I made some significant progress.
Joe Fresh Tinted Lip Balm in Mango
Update 1
Update 2
I am so excited about the progress on this product! I have a significant dip in this and I think I can actually get this at least half this size by Halloween. I keep this at my desk so I reapply it throughout the day so that is how I’ve been able to get such good progress.
Nudestix Tinted Blur stick
Update 1
Update 2
I am so happy with my progress on this! I used this at least 2-3 days a week (since I’m also testing other foundations and such) and it has gone down significantly from last update as you can see in the comparison photos!
Nudestix Bondi Bae
update 1
update 2
I am happy with my progress on this but I didn’t use it as much as I was planning. I really like this cream bronzer but sometimes it can be a bit too red toned so I usually pair it with its brand counter part versus my tinted moisturizer than can pull orange then it’s just a whole situation.
Cover Fx Loose setting powder
update 1
update 2
I thought I would have more progress but unfortunately since moving back to Northern Ontario I really haven’t been using a lot of this one and I was really hoping to have it done by Halloween. I might start using it to set from my crease to my brow bone and continue using as ever so slight amount under my eyes.
Becca Champagne Pop
update 1
update 2
I actually have quite significant progress on this. While I haven’t hit pan on it I can see a little dip which is exciting! I think to finish up what would be my second highlighter ever would be amazing.
Garnier 3 in 1 rose moisturizer
This is going quite well. I use this every single night as my last step and slather it on. To be quite honest, while this feel luxurious I don’t know how much it actually moisturizes. I feel like my Lush celestial does a much better job and my skin the next morning actually feels moisturized so when I’m done this one I don’t think I’ll be repurchasing.
Lush Feeling Younger Skin Tint
I haven’t been using this as a makeup product but I have been using it mixed in with my morning moisturizer and have quite been liking it. You can see that it has a significant dip and I think I can get even more use this coming month because of the colder weather rolling in I am gonna want even more glow then I like now.
Colourpop Kathleenlights
Update 2 ( I didn’t take a clear picture in my first update so alas there is not one)
I don’t think these shadows ever end. I see the people on YouTube with such good pan and here I am barely making a dent! Granted I have only been using this 1-2 times a week but I was hoping to see some pan but I don’t think that will happen.
Lush Karma Solid Perfume
Again I have not been using but I’ve decided to keep it at my desk to apply throughout the day. I don’t think I will hit my goal of make a good dent but hopefully if I have it at my desk I’ll be able to use it a lot more.
Revlon Youth Fx concealer
I feel like this is a lot lighter in weight then it was at the beginning of the project so I’m confident I will finish it by halloween. Pro tip – if you like to see how much product you’ve used don’t buy this for it has opaque packaging
The First aid Beauty tinted moisturizer
This doesn’t have its own picture because I’ve been bad at marking it off. But it feels like its nearing the end when I squeeze it. The next product again has opaque packaging but I can feel that it is getting quite empty and it feels so much lighter then when I started the project.
The body shop lip and cheek tint
Again, this has opaque packaging so I can’t really tell how much I’ve used but I can tell that it is a lot lighter in weight and less is starting to come out on the little doe foot applicator.
Products I’ve used up in this project
Nudestix concealer
The ordinary hyaluronic acid and B5
Thanks for reading! What are you trying to use up?!
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Okay I get it, tags are over on YouTube, or at least the tags that I enjoy watching are pretty much nil now. But I really like the idea of tag blog posts and videos because I think it really forces us to think about our collections and then actually shop your stash versus buying a new palette. I also wasn’t tagged but alas I shall do this anyway.
Best Packaging
This was a difficult one because I do quite enjoy a lot of eye shadow palette packaging but the Naked Heat takes the cake for this one. When this came out I was like, wow, what a beautiful seasonal palette (which arguably could be worn all season). I love it particularly for fall and winter looks, but I think the warm matte terracotta shades can be used for all seasons.
Best colour pay off
I feel like this is a hard one because a lot of the palette I own have some shades that are better then others in terms of colour pay off, and I can’t pick the sweet peach for all of them so I’m going to go with the Huda Beauty Coral Obsessions Palette. Every single shade in this palette has great colour pay off and you can create a range of looks with it.
The most versatile palette
This again, was a hard one because it really depends on my mood and what I’m feeling that day. However, I think in terms of if you are a working gal and need something soft and subtle for work I would say the Joe fresh neutrals palette. This palette is such a staple in my collection for when I want to do a simple eye look. You can also really amp up the shadows and the mattes and shimmers are equally beautiful.
Best Palette for travelling
I almost picked the soft glam for this but then I thought to myself, whenever I travel I use one shade of eye shadow and one highlighter so I picked the 100% pure naked II palette. This is a simple, 3 in one palette. There is a blush, highlighter, and three shimmer shades (so if you require a matte this might not be for you).
Mt biggest palette regret
Okay, as I’ve mentioned before I slightly regret buying the wet n wild comfort zone palette. I know it is super inexpensive but I just don’t know why I bought this. Its not that I’m not an olive eye shadow fan, but since trying so many other great palettes and while these eye shadows are wonderful, I never use this anymore.
Best colour names
Of course, I have to hand this one to the Too Faced Sweet Peach palette. They have sweet names (lets not get to punny but did you see that pun). Names like peaches n cream, puree, summer yum, and the descriptions are so accurate. The shade candied peach is the perfect description of the colour because its peach with a bit of pink and a bit of shimmer.
Least used palette
This would have to go to my Illamasqua reflection palette. I love the shadows in this palette but I just never find myself reaching for it, I have used this only a handful of times and while I got it on sale this wasn’t a very well thought through palette.
Most used palette
I would say for this one I’m going to do what a lot of people did and combine it with my most loved and that is the Naked 3 palette. I know a controversial palette with a cult following, but I used this probably more often than any other palettes (save for my sweet peach and my soft glam). I love this palette and use it all the time. Whenever I have no idea what to wear I am able to create look that I know I will transcend any occasion.
Which palette would you use for the rest of your life?
Ah, the last question, the final frontier if you will. This was so hard because I love my palettes equally, but I would have to go with (contrary to what you might have thought this answer was) with the Too Faced Sweet Peach palette. I feel like this palette has all the things you need for a whole look. All of the colours work well together in this palette and there are so many one wash wonders which is what I do 90% of the time.
If you want to do this tag! Join in the fun and shop your stash. Which palette would you use for the rest of your life?!
let’s be friends!
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Personal training. I think when many people think of it they think of the biggest loser, someone telling you how to eat, someone yelling at you all the time. This is all goal dependent. When I got my personal trainer last year my goal was to do military style push ups. Currently I can do them marginally well and currently I do not live near my trainer anymore so sad times, but alas what she has taught is transcending even 8 hours away!
At first, I was so sore – after every session. Then after a few months I wasn’t as sore anymore! Just felt like I knew I had good work out, but wasn’t sore. At some point I kind of gave up on running simply because my back was acting up and I fell down the stairs hurting my ankle, and my cardio was a lot more minimal. However, doing the strength has definitely helped with starting back up again this month!
I put on muscle throughout the year and have become stronger in my upper body then I have ever been before. I’m proud and happy to be a bit thiccer than I was but that doesn’t mean that I wasn’t happy with my body before either. It just means as people our bodies are always changing and dependent on what we do and how we do it.
Investing in personal training, especially with my trainer, made it less about my body and how I looked, and more about getting me to this goal of doing the military style push up and working on push pull drills and generally learning to enjoy fitting in workouts. For example, I used to dread running after work or the thought of going to the gym because I could be doing “something else” but working out with my trainer made me look forward to fitness again. My trainer made me like going to the gym again, she made me like exercise again, and made me feel accomplished and we became friends in the process! YES running is something I will always do but her training has made my running and me as a person so much more confident to try new things. It’s not to say that I had some big transformation in my body, but I did gain muscle, and as my bestie puts it “I’m a machine now” and I’m going to keep doing strength and running because I like it, and of course my newly found love for Yoga with Adriene.
My main point of this post is if it suits your budget (as fitness is very privileged but I won’t get into that in this post) get a few sessions with a personal trainer to even just show you how to use equipment at the gym. I only saw mine once a week and it made a huge difference in my confidence and my workout habits. Did I still probably eat too many chips and a few too many chipotle nights – yes, but my overall thing here is that getting a personal trainer (even if it’s just for a few sessions) is a great way to create confidence in the gym and set small goals until you reach your larger goal!
We all have a habit of seasoning our makeup – burgundy eye shadow in the fall, darker more mauve blushes, deep berry lipsticks, but I say let’s keep wearing peach! I was looking through my peach blushes and notice I have ones that work extremely well for a fall looks. I don’t think there is anything wrong with seasoning blushes! I do it too! But I’m not ready not drop some of my peach blush love just yet. I wanted to outline a few tricks and swaps I’ve made in my peach blush life to transition them from summer to fall.
For the spring and summer months I like to go the Milani Luminoso route, or shall I say the baked glowy blush route. I had four powder blushes I rotated through along with a few cream ones, that I would either wear on their own or wear in combination with the glowy blushes in my arsenal. The main difference between the peach blushes I’m bringing into fall and the ones I’ve been rotating through are application.
My four blushes of choice for the summer and throughout September are the Hourglass Incandescent Electra (not pictured), the Kiko Gold Waves Coral sunset, Milani luminoso and the Elf blush in Twinkle Pink. All of these blushes have something in common – they all come across of as cheek toppers versus blushes that are adding that flush to your cheeks that is generally thought of in the Fall-Winter months.
To transition your peach blushes into fall I suggest viewing blush as a mixing medium. For example, I have been panning my Body Shop lip and cheek tint which is a natural rose shade and topping it off with the Hourglass blush. I also have a few shades I suggest that give the same peachy vibe but in a fall esque way.
The first one I am going to talk about is the Burt’s Bees blush in Bare Peach. This blush looks matte in the pan but to me has a more satin finish. It is a darker peach so it gives a more edgy vibe then a bright peach blush like Milani Luminoso. In that way, you can wear this with any fall eye look, presuming its a complimentary shade such a warm brown, neutral brown, or monochromatic with peaches, coral peaches, and borderline cherry red shades as well as and even pinky shades.
Another blush that falls into the vein of fall blush is MAC peachtwist. This is the perfect fall peach blush. It is a more golden peach blush that can go with many eye looks including a peachy eye, a cranberry eye, neutral browns, and monochromatic looks. These blushes are sheertone blushes so they are buildable so that you can go ham and then easily blend them out. Another blush that transcends the fall and is in the peach-honey family is the L’Oreal True Match blush in bare honey (not sure if this colour is available anymore but they always have tons of shades at Superstone in Canada). I bought this because of Estee Lalonde’s old videos where she raved about them and they are very similar to the MAC blush in application and finish. This blush is borderline bronze but is a light shade that is specifically designed for warm undertones. I think that we too often limit ourselves to the season, and if you do that that’s awesome! But there shouldn’t be a pressure to always have to change out your makeup and I think that peach can transcend seasons.
What is your favourite peach toned blush?
REVIEW TIME. Okay y’all I know my last few reviews haven’t been the most positive, but this one I assure you is very positive. I wanted to review this palette that I have had for about a month now. The Huda Beauty Coral Obsessions palette caught my eye ever since it was release (and more are being released which are definitely on my list). I don’t have many expectations for eye shadow palettes. I don’t mind an all shimmer palette because I’m a fan of one shimmer shade on the lid and that being my whole look (hence my love for the Naked 3).
First, the Sephora description: “Huda Beauty Coral Obsessions: Featuring two duo chrome shimmers and seven creamy, matte shadows, this palette combines warm shades of burnt orange and dusty pink, for a daring look that delivers a warm glow”. Everything about this description is accurate. I wanted the palette for the yellow shade and I have been enjoying wearing it as one wash of colour with a shimmer in the middle, either from this palette or from another single shadow.
I feel like this might be an odd time to review a coral palette because we are going into fall, but I think this palette has the fall tones we all love. It has this beautiful burnt yellow shade along with a rustic orange and dusty pinks that can take you into any fall look.
The formula. The mattes are just as creamy as described. They blend out beautifully on the lid and I love starting with a tapping motion and then once the colour is dispersed buffing it all over. The real stars of this palette though are the beautiful duo chrome shades. The two shimmery shades are every so slightly different but both look like you are wearing more than one eye shadow shade on your lid. The first shade in the first row is more of red coral shade with a rose gold shift whereas the second duo chrome is a coral peach shade with reflective specks of yellow.
Longevity. This palette lasts all day. I always use a primer so take that into account, but I find these last well and still look good at the end of the day!
Overall rating. 5/5 stars. I know its been awhile since I’ve allotted such a grade to a product. I love this palette and this formula. From my friend who have the other shades, they say the formula is wonderful so I don’t think it will vary no matter which colour story suits your fancy. I think these would be good work palettes as well, if you work in a creative environment or are just living on the edge with your makeup on the day to day, these are perfect. Not to mention the travel friendly size and the wide colour selection!
The age old question, are MAC cosmetics lipsticks worth it? In the YouTube and beauty blogging space MAC was such a thing at the beginning times. Everyone had a “my favourite MAC lipsticks” video and a “MAC products you need”. I personally have had a few MAC products before including their lip liner in Strip down and their brown pencil in fling. I broke down during the Sephora sale and bought two MAC products, their sheer tone blush in peach twist and a lustre lipstick in See Sheer (thanks Sam Ravndahl).
From left to right: MAC See Sheer, Marcelle Delirium, Pixi Natural Rose, Mineral Fusion Flicker, Burt’s Bees Rose Falls, Burt’s Bee’s Suede Splash, Bite Beauty Beet Root
The science experiment we are doing today is answering the question: Are MAC lipsticks worth it? First I will tell you what I look for in a lipstick. In general I have been liking more sheer and cream formulas while I used to love super matte liquid lipsticks, hence the lustre formula. I like a buildable colour but for bold lip shades I do prefer more of a matte finish.
Okay so first the smell of MAC lipsticks are iconic. They kind of smell like a light vanilla scent mixed with something else sweet that I can’t put my finger on. They actually smell extremely similar to the Pixi Shea butter lip balms and even both have the same sheer buildable coverage on the lips. As you can see, I have been hunting for alternatives (I don’t want to say dupe because these options aren’t exactly dupes) so I’m calling these lip products alternatives.
First up, the closest dupe in formula and application the Marcelle Rouge Xpression Lipstick in delirium in the pearl finish (not a colour alternative, this colour isn’t available anymore but they have a lot of pearl finish lipsticks). While these don’t go on as sheerly they give the same glossy effect as the Lustre formula and you can put them on without a mirror. Second, the Pixi shea butter lip balms. These lip balms are closest in smell but are actually a bit more pigmented upon application and a bit more matte than the Lustre formula. If you want a good cruelty free alternative these are a good one to try.
For a third alternative I would say the Mineral Fusion sheer moisture lip tint are a close second for formula. They have a mint scent but have that same sheer to full colour application as the MAC. They tick all the boxes but as with all of these alternatives do not come in a wide variety of shades. You can apply these without a mirror which is one of my favourite things when it comes to lipstick.
The fourth alternative I have for you today is the Burt’s Bees Glossy Lipstick. Again this one doesn’t come in many shades. Again a beautiful sheer and glossy option that has buildable colour. I really like these lipsticks and they are a great drugstore alternative. The fifth is another Burt’s Bees lipstick in Suede Splash that is a satin formula and I would say has a similar application to the MAC but not as sheer and buildable.]
Finally the last alternative to the MAC lipstick line as a whole is Bite Beauty. Now if bite beauty came out with a sheer lipstick formula I would be all over that. They are all in general a matte-satin formula and smell so yummy. I put this one in this post because if you are again MAC then Bite Beauty will have great, clean, cruelty free options in their line.
Okay so what is my answer? Ya’ll I didn’t want to love See Sheer as much as I do… but I do. It’s easy to apply, it smells good, and it’s a good price. It’s not drugstore prices but in Canada it’s pretty damn close for some brands that are charging upwards of $16 for a lip product. I think that if you want a variety of shades, in beautiful colours, the MAC lipsticks are for you! All in all I’m giving this a 5/5!
Have you tried any MAC lipsticks? If so what are your favourites?!
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