Blushers, Bronzers and Contours

Hello! I am so so so sorry that my blog posts are not regular at the moment as I am waiting for an upgrade from my Mac Mini to a Macbook! 

Anyway, todays blogpost is all about the products I use to form (and fake) a strong facial structure.

As a teenage girl who can only dream of having prominent cheekbones, faking it is of course making it. I use a variety and mixture of high end and drugstore products, but mainly just use the products that I believe work the best and provide the best looking outcome.

Firstly, blush. 

Blush is the absolute best at providing colour and maintaining a healthy looking glow and is essential to stop your makeup making your face look pale and washed out. Wether cream or powder blush, a makeup bag definitely isn't complete without some kind of colour.

Sleek Rose Gold is the perfect dupe for Nars Orgasm for a fraction of the price. I believe that this retails for £4, whilst Nars Orgasm is around three times that. This blush is a deep pink colour that has specks of gold in it which creates a beautiful sheen and glow. When worn lightly, the pink colour is not as strong whilst the shine is much defined. You definitely don't need a large amount of this product each time you wear it because it is so pigmented that it creates a definite gleam after a small swatch.

From the recent MAC Heirloom collection comes another blush. Modest Blush is a pale pink blush that is perfect for the upcoming summer. Often when a blush is pale, it does not show up. But when i say this, I mean it. This blush is heaven sent for its pigmentation and  amazing formula. Its buttery, and easy to apply quickly.

Another very recent MAC collection, Toledo sold out in hours and in the collection had 3 blushes. This is the most sought after - Ripe Peach. A coral-orange-peach ombre blush, this looks so stunning in the packaging . However, the pigmentation on this let me down a lot. You have to use a lot of product to get even the slightest colour onto your cheeks, and that was really disappointing. I am yet to try the other two colours in the collection, so I cant say wether the pigmentation is the same for all of them.

Onto the physically faking it. Bronzers and contour shades are all about one thing, creating shadows which aren't actually there. With a contour colour you don't want shimmer and you need an ashy brown. This is why I love the following products so much.

The Anastasia Beverly Hills contour kits have become a phenomenon for the beauty bloggers and YouTubers all around the world. I opted to only buy the powder one at the moment due to the fact that a cream contour may leave your face looking cakey and overworked - although I can't say anything about the Anastasia cream contour as I obviously haven't tried it (yet)!
From left to right in the photo the colours in my kit are : Vanilla (face powder), Banana (for setting and colour correcting), Sand (to highlight), Java, Fawn and Havana (all to contour)

This kit contains all the contour colours I need for my olive toned skin. The colours blend together easily and the Banana shade allows my eyes to appear brighter and I end up with a seamless, NON dirty looking contour which is getting rarer to find with a powdered contour.

Dallas by Benefit is another well loved, often used bronzer and contour shade. Its deep mud tones allow depth and shadow to your contour and light applications allow a lovely bronzed face.I dont personally use the brush that comes with this version of Dallas as it applies it unevenly and makes the powder sit on my skin and therefore not blend well. 

However, overall this product is a good product. Sometimes in the wrong light it can look dirty and orange if not applied well so if you are unexperienced with contour shades, Hoola is probably the better colour for you to start with.

Last but not least... my little tiny version of Too Faced Chocolate Soleil bronzer. For everyday wear, I highly recommend this. Also, as we all know from the Chocolate Bar palette, this smells amazing! (Cocoa powder is used in the powdered makeup.) This is a tester size from a Love Me Beauty box a couple of months ago and it is the perfect size to see wether the product is for you or not. 

Although I doubt this is the same with the real product, with the tester size, it stopped working! I used it for a month or so and then the product would stop coming off on my face, so if anyone knows how to make the makeup work again please let me know as this is a favourite! 

This product is lovely, it adds the perfect amount of bronze to your face for a summer glow without looking cakey and uneven. I cant wait to try the full size version. 

As well as this, it comes in three shades, Milk Chocolate, Chocolate and Dark Chocolate. Each is adaptable for contour shades and different shades of skin tone.

As we are supposed to be well into summer here in the UK, finding the right contour and bronzing shades for your skin is essential, and adding colour to your face is key.

Love, Lois xo