Drugstore Superstars: Blushes

 The whole idea of blush is to mimic a healthy glow.  It all depends on your skin tone, but the right blush can make you look awake, alive and impossibly refreshed... like you just came from a day at the spa.  The problem with many drugstore blushes is that they can come off chalky and unblendable, or they have so little color payoff that it's almost impossible to see.  That's why I'm super impressed with these blushes.  Like the other blog posts in this series, I'm going to divide them up by category, so it's easy to figure out which product meets your needs.

Best Matte Blush: NYX Ombre Blush ($10.00)

Daaaaamn, NYX! Back at it again with the awesome products!  These blushes have only been on the market a few months, but they've shot straight up onto my must-have list.  Not only are they amazingly pigmented and easy to blend (a requirement to be on this list) but I love that the ombre effect actually gives you options for color.  NYX officially wants you to swirl your brush around the whole product to mix the light and dark colors together, but if you want something a bit darker, just dip your brush in the lower portion of the compact and the opposite goes for the higher portion of the compact.  3 blushes in 1!  Who doesn't love that?

Best Luminous Blush: Milani Baked Blush ($8.49)

Ok, this little endorsement comes with a bit of a caveat.   For those of you that don't like the look of a matte blush and prefer a bit of a healthy sheen, I think that SOME of the blushes in this line are fabulous, and others are kind of duds.  Let me explain.  A good luminous blush will quite literally illuminate and wake up your skin.  It should give you a youthful and almost dewy flush of color.  In order to create that illusion, the product needs to have a nice sheen and sparkle, and sometimes instead of putting in a finely milled sort of sparkle, companies will opt for the cheaper option of chunky glitter.  Now don't get me wrong, I love glitter as much as the next drag queen, but I don't want it anywhere near my cheeks - I'm not 13 anymore.  That brings me to the Milani Baked Blushes.  The majority of them have glitter in it.  I don't know why they chose to only make a couple without, but that's definitely the case.  I do have to point out, that even though they do have glitter in them, it's quite easy to buff it away once it's actually on your face, so it's not a complete lost cause.  Having said that, the shade Luminoso is GORGEOUS!  Being an almost exact dupe for the cult-favorite NARS Oragasm, I actually prefer Luminoso to it's much more expensive counterpart.  It has a peachy coral shade that is universally flattering on almost all skintones.  I, in fact, reach for Luminoso almost exclusively when I'm doing other people's makeup.  Since I do have a darker skintone, I do need to layer Luminoso quite a bit in order to get it to show up on me, so I usually end up using either Belissimo Bronze or Terra Sole (they are the darker versions of Luminoso with the least amount of glitter.)

Best Cream Blush: Maybelline Master Glaze Blush Stick ($9.99)

For those of you that prefer to work with creams, Maybelline has a great cream blush that comes in an easy to use stick.  Just swipe on your cheeks and blend with your fingers or a brush... what could be easier than that?  These have a gorgeous luminosity to them without any glitter and they have a light consistency to them that makes you feel like you're not wearing anything at all!

Best Blush Palette: e.l.f. Powder Blush Palette ($6.00)

I love any kind of makeup palette.  I love them so much that I actually depot the majority of my single makeup products and condense them into a Z Palette.  They're easier to work with, easier to pack up, easier to travel with, easier to mix colors with... they're just easier!  There actually aren't very many drugstore blush palettes on the market, so when I saw that e.l.f. came out with two, I rushed to my nearest Target to check them out.  As with all e.l.f. products, the price point can't be beat - it's already cheaper than the first three blushes on this list!  But what really impressed me was the pigmentation.  I'm not really that big of an e.l.f. fan... I usually feel that even though the price is amazing, there's always something wrong with either the pigmentation or blendability (something that's pretty common for drugstore products.)  But man, they made me eat my words with this one.  There are two different palettes to choose from, Light and Dark, and within those two palettes, there are four different blushes.  I prefer the Dark palette not only because the colors match my skintone better, but I feel like the products are a bit less chalky than those in the Light.  I'm going to tell you right off the bat, that one of the blushes has glitter in it and I hate glitter in blush (see above) so I could do without that shade.  The others, however, pack one heck of a punch!  I'd say start with a light hand, because these babies are PIGMENTED but they glide across the skin beautifully and blend like a dream!

Best Bang For Your Buck: Wet n Wild Color Icon Blush ($2.99)

I would be remiss if I failed to mention the O.G. of the drugstore blush world - the Wet n Wild Color Icon.  These matte blushes were the best on the market for so long, and it's really not that hard to see why.  They're super pigmented, blend beautifully and last all day long.  They were recently reformulated to be softer to the touch, and while I appreciate that, this has increased the product's fallout upon application.  For this reason, NYX has dethroned these blushes as my favorite.  The price, however, still makes it a great option for those looking for a good matte blush.

That's it!  Those are the best drugstore blushes on the market right now!  Which ones are your favorites?  Check out the other posts in this series here.

~Glammie love!
Jaz

e.l.f. Studio Moisturizing Lipstick

I don't know what it is about Target, but every time I walk in to buy a few things, such as laundry detergent, dog treats, Advil, etc., I always end up finding myself in the beauty aisle, trying to see if e.l.f. has put out anymore new and affordable products.  Great job, Target, for carrying this brand, you get me every time!

At this time, Target has started carrying (in-store only) five different shades of their Moisturizing Lipsticks, $3.00 each.  But if you don't live anywhere near a Target, you can still order it from the e.l.f. website, also $3.00 each.  The great thing about buying from the website is that you get to pick from ten shades!  However, if you absolutely cannot wait and want to run to the store and pick these babies up, here are the five shades Target offers:

From Left to Right: Pink Minx, Ravishing Rose, Rosy-Go-Round, Cheeky, Red Carpet

From Bottom to Top: Pink Minx, Ravishing Rose, Rosy-Go-Round, Cheeky, Red Carpet 

That shine means moisture!  All shades that I show are with lipstick only, no lip liner or gloss. Hopefully, this gives you an idea of how the pigmentation enhances the color without help from any other product.

Pink Minx

When I think of Pink Minx, I think of Bubblegum/Barbie Pink.

The thing about loving Barbies growing up is finding myself always drawn to them; the bad thing about Bumble Gum/Barbie Pink is that it doesn't look good on my lips.  Out of the five shades, this one is the most transparent.  I tried to layer it, but it just made them look more pale.  I think it would look great on someone with a lighter skin tone or for use as part of an ombre lip.

 

Ravishing Rose

This shade was my favorite until I tried Red Carpet, but I still absolutely love this shade!

It smells like there is cocoa powder, and as I applied it, it reminded me of the smell of Too Faced The Chocolate Bar Eye Palette.  Though its tempting, do not eat it! And if you have kids, make sure they don't eat it either!

Rosy-Go-Round

This is a shade you wear when you want to go out and enjoy some night life.  If you want a hot pink shade that's more deep than neon, then this is the shade for you!

It doesn't come across as a deep hot pink, but trust me it is!  It reminds me of a deeper shade of my Sephora Collection Rouge Cream Lipstick Mr. Lover, which Sephora describes as a bright fuchsia (although I think it's more of a neon hot pink).  Anyhow, if you are not feeling the neon and want a darker shade than the Rosy-Go-Round, this is the choice for you!

Cheeky

Cheeky is the most metallic shade.  If you played the "which of these things isn't like the other" game (with these five shades), this would be this shade that wins.  After all, unlike the rest, it's not in the pink or red family.

However, if you want to rock the bronze goddess look, this is definitely the shade. It gives such a nice, shimmery color.

Red Carpet

Lastly, there is one shade that steals the spotlight: Red Carpet!  Red Carpet is red hot.  It's sexy, it's bold, it demands attention!  This shade inspires confidence.

Similarly to Ravishing Rose, I get a hint of cocoa powder.  Just remember, as anyone who took High School Dance or was on the Dance Team knows, the cardinal rule is to use red lip liner.  It's highly recommended when wearing red lips because red lips smudge and smear easily.  I had to be extra careful to apply this without liner.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with these lipsticks,  I cannot wait to play them up with liner and gloss!
 Stay tuned for the next time Target and e.l.f. launch new products!

Till Next Time Glammies,

Bex