Kjaer Weis Cream Blush in Blossoming

Ages ago I posted about a sample set I ordered from the American beauty site Spirit Beauty Lounge. One of the samples I ordered was a cream blush from Kjaer Weis - an organic brand who, at that point, I'd never heard of, but the they seem to be getting more and more coverage, which is great - which actually turned out to be my favourite blush out of the samples I'd ordered. That's not to say I didn't like the other shades (two RMS Beauty Lip 2 Cheeks) but they didn't suit me nearly as well and I also found them a little patchier. I'll swatch them nonetheless.

Blossoming is a warm peachy-pink shade - the kind of blush that suits me best  - in a super creamy formula. The standard blush, i.e. not the sample, comes in a heavy metal compact, and the idea is that you can buy refills instead of repurchasing the whole thing. I love it when brands do this although it does tend to be a practice of high-end brands such as Guerlain, so even the cost of refills does sting. The original is £38 and the refills are £19 at Naturisimo.

Swatched above heavily then blended out. Excuse the goosepimples and the state of my face in the following shots, I took these at about 8am which is really early for me because I'm a student. The advantage is that my deathly pale morning face shows the blush rather well.

 



It's super blendable, even without moisturiser underneath (bad habit) and virtually impossible to over-apply. It's a perfect autumn-winter shade for me and would probably suit 99% of those with pale skin, though I'd skip it if I were darker. There are 4 other shades in the range though, so I think everyone will be able to find one that suits them. A huge thumbs up from me!

Make Up For Ever HD Microfinish Blush in #5 'Nip Slip'

This blush wins the award for the most random blush packaging ever.

A pump! What? That's not to say I don't like it though. It's fun to use (and it does come with an actual lid, so no spills.)

This is more than enough for two cheeks - only a tiny little pump is needed. This blush will last forEVER.

Despite being described as a 'neutral pink', it looks slightly cool-toned in the bottle, then super neon highlighter watermelon, ever so slightly brighter and darker than it appears above when it's swatched thickly, then it warms right up to a sort of hot peach when blended out. It is pretty thick, I apply it right after moisturiser (or tinted moisturiser as I've been converted!) to make sure that it blends out more than it did in the above swatch.

Depending on your colouring it may warm up even further on the cheeks as it did on mine. I can imagine this colour being flattering on almost every skin tone. It lasts all day and then needs a fairly enthusiastic cleanse to remove all traces of the blush - if you ever need a blush to last more than 12 hours, this is a solid candidate for the job.

I got it from Sephora where it was $26, and I'm on the lookout for places to get this range in the UK. There are a lot of products in the range that are called HD Micro-something, and if they're all as long lasting and well-pigmented as this blush, then I might be on to a winner. 

N.B. If you are wary of chemicals in your makeup, I would avoid these. I hope to be able to try Tarte's Amazonian Clay powder blushes, also from Sephora, which are said to be very well pigmented and long-lasting, but also all-natural.

Blush Lust + Chanel Le Blush Creme de Chanel A/W13

I totally forgot I had read this, but oh my goodness Chanel is coming out with a creme blush this winter.

This is 63 Révélation, which is my favourite shade.

In the mean time, here are more creme blushes I'm lusting after.

Clockwise from top left: Illamasqua Cream Blusher in Rude, Kevyn Aucoin Creamy Glow in Tansoleil (Liv Tyler likes Pravella) NARS Penny Lane, Becca Beach Tint in Fig

Spirit Beauty Lounge Sample Set

I came home to a sample set that I ordered from the American beauty site Spirit Beauty Lounge. The site lets you order 9 samples of almost any product from their inventory for $25.00 (free shipping but I had to pay £11.32 in customs charges).

I ordered RMS Beauty Lip 2 Cheeks in Promise and Rapture, RMS Living Luminizer, ILIA Beauty Illuminator in Polka Dots and Moonbeams and Multistick in All Of Me, Kjaer Weis Cream Blush in Blossoming, Acure Organics Brightening Facial Scrub, Vered Therapeutic Balancing Face Oil and Suti Rejuvenate Face Oil.

I can't for the life of me get this photo to rotate (Google says other people have had similar problems) but the top row is RMS Promise and Kjaer Weis Blossoming, second row is RMS Rapture and RMS Living Luminizer, ILIA All Of Me, ILIA Polka Dots and Moonbeams.

The samples are teeny-tiny but still enough to get multiple uses. Will update as I test them out! I'll also try and find the best English stockists of the various items.

Rouge Bunny Rouge Blush Wand Cheeks In Bloom in Titian

I have been in love with the Russian brand Rouge Bunny Rouge ever since I first read about them on Drivel about Frivol, but I had never really considered buying anything from there as they don't have any physical stores in the UK and, up until I bought this blush, I was quite wary of buying without swatching first. But when I was browsing Beauty Bay for cream blushes (side note: I had actually started out with the intention of buying Becca Beach Tint but they are currently not being sold anywhere in the UK. I hope this gets sorted out soon!) and I saw that Rouge Bunny Rouge made a blush stick I decided immediately that I needed one. I went for Titian, or Тициан as I like to say - pretentious? Moi? - as I wanted something quite subtle that I could wear on days where I don't feel like wearing anything too bright on my cheeks, but still need to wear something so I don't look like a corpse.

One minor thing - even though it quite clearly states that there is 4ml of product, I wasn't expecting something this small. If you wind it up, there's around 1.5cm of product in the stick.

This was such a challenge for me to photograph accurately as my photography skills leave plenty to be desired, so above L-R: Outdoors in direct sunlight, indoors in sunlight, indoors in sunlit room. Its a warm peach-apricot shade that sometimes turns a little more orange on me.

This is me wearing one layer of Titian blended along my cheekbone with a second layer blended into the apple of my cheek. Here is a rouge diagram, courtesy of Microsoft Paint:

It's not drying at all and lasts around 3 and a half hours on me. It costs £24 from Beauty Bay (or £26 from Zuneta...) Next I'd like to try Manet, which is a warm coral, and Vermeer, which is a slightly cooler rose colour.

Wearing OPI Gouda Gouda Two Shoes on my nails and Clinique High Impact Extreme Volume Mascara on my top lashes only.

Blush Collection

I currently own 3 blushes: MAC Mineralize Blush in Gleeful, Rouge Bunny Rouge Cheeks in Bloom Blush Wand in Titian and MAC Cremeblend Blush in Ladyblush.

L-R: Ladyblush swatched heavily, blended out, Gleeful swatched heavily, blended out, Titian swatched heavily, blended out.
The first two were swatched and blended with my fingers, Titian was swatched straight from the stick and blended with my fingers.

Gleeful is described on MAC's website as a "deep dirty blue pink with gold pearl". On my skin it appear much more orange than in the pan. I bought it because I was in World Duty Free and I thought the colour was nice. I have yet to work out whether it actually suits me, but I do find it difficult to apply as it is so pigmented and dark. It has a fairly long lasting formula, I can still see it on my cheeks after 6 or 7 hours, blends easily.

Titian was a move in the opposite direction. I wanted something dewier and a much more natural colour. It is described in their typically whimsical style on Rouge Bunny Rouge's website as "semi-transparent beige-rose with the barest hint of peach". It is pretty sheer but it just prevents me from looking totally washed-out. (Maybe covering up the bags under my eyes would help, but somehow I prioritise cream blushes over YSL Touch Eclat.)  I'll probably go for this one a lot more in the winter. I love the formula as it's slightly dewy, but not in any way oily looking. I do wish it would last a little longer.

Last weekend I purchased Ladyblush. It is described as a "warm neutral coral". It looks much more orange in the pan than it does on my cheeks. It is a middle ground between Gleeful and Titian in terms of both colour and pigmentation. I adore the formula, I didn't take off my make up last night (cardinal sin #1) and when I woke up my blush was still in tact.

You would have thought it would be slightly easier to get good, sunlit swatches at the end of May, but no. I'll post cheek swatches when the sun comes out.

If anyone has any recommendations for blushes they love, especially creme blushes, I'm all ears! I'm a recent blush convert and am looking to expand my collection.