Rave Review: Sephora Double Contouring Cream Blush

I really haven’t seen much in the way of reviews, or even mentions, of this lovely lovely cream blush. I picked this up at the beginning of fall and it has been my go to for everyday wear. I’ve practically blown through about half the product and am dying to get my hands on some of the other colors. As a result I’m trying to use up my other cream blushes so that I can justify getting another one from this line!

Anyways, I picked it up from Sephora (0.2 oz, $16) and fell in love once I swatched it. The texture is really smooth and creamy and definitely packs some good pigment. Not to worry though, even if you put it on a little strong at first if you just keep blending with your fingers or a brush the product will lighten. This blush blends effortlessly into the skin and sets in place with a slightly cream-to-powder finish. I highly recommend this for the winter months, and if you have dry skin it would be great for the summer as well. The shade I have has glitter in it, which in the swatch appears to be strong is definitely more subtle on the cheeks (if you have Nars Orgasm its a similar type of glitter/sheen). There are 3 shimmer and 3 matte shades to choose from, so a decent variety in colors and finishes. The only other brands whose cream blushes I have tried are Urban Decay and Mac, and while I like both, this is better and cheaper. If you like cream blushes, you absolutely need to try this!

Photos of Products and Swatches!

Review: Loreal Shine Caresse Wet Shine Stain

Everyone seems to be talking about these, particularly because there are a lot of claims that this is a dupe to the YSL Glossy Stains. I’ve never tried any of the glossy stains and for me to purchase something from YSL it has to be a product I’ve been coveting for a while and can’t get out of my mind. The glossy stains just didn’t seem to have that kind of appeal for me, but when I saw the Loreal version in the drugstore a month ago I figured why not.

I picked up number 188 Coral Tattoo. They come in small little containers with a doe-foot applicator that has a hole in the center (0.2 oz, $10). Apparently this is so the applicator can pick up more product, which in this case seems sort of necessary. On first swipe across the lips it feels super wet and has a really pale, sheer color. This color slightly resembles the color of the product that you can see in the see-through panel that comes on the packaging. However, its a pretty sheered out version. So, I figured I’d apply some more layers to see if the color was buildable. Good news, its definitely buildable. Bad news, it looks nothing like the color of the product itself. Instead of a pretty pinky-coral, I got an intensely bright glossy orange. Now, I have nothing against orange, but in my mind I was definitely expecting a pretty coral and was thoroughly disappointed that what I purchased was nothing like that. The finish is extremely glossy and is fairly transfer resistant. Once it “sets” it feels just slightly tacky on the lips but isn’t uncomfortable. I don’t find that this product stains my lips, but the color lasts for a few hours typical of most glosses.

Overall, this was okay. I’m probably not going to be picking up any other colors just because it’s a wildcard as to what the color will turn out to actually be and there’s no way to swatch these in the drugstore. Also, the name implies a staining property which I just don’t think it had. I can purchase drugstore glosses with the same opacity and shine without worrying about whether they will be true to bottle color. Based on this, I’m probably not going to be trying out the YSL version either unless a swatch somewhere really blows my mind.

Photos of Products and Swatches!

Review: Tarte BB Tinted Treatment

I recently placed an order on Sephora.com and was able to get a deluxe sized sample (0.25 oz, full size is 1 oz and $34) of the new Tarte BB tinted treatment 12-hour primer broad spectrum SPF 30 sunscreen. Yeah, that’s a whopper of a name for a product that is more or less the same idea of a tinted moisturizer with some added benefits. There are four shades in the range (fair, light, medium and tan) and I ended up going for the medium since I’m an NC35/NC30 in MAC depending on the season.

At first when I swatched this on my hand, I was definitely a little concerned that I had gone too light in my choice but as I blended it out onto my face it actually matched fairly well. On first touch, the Tarte BB tinted treatment definitely felt like a silicone based primer going onto the skin. As the title suggests, there is a primer aspect to this product and I felt that it smoothed the surface of my skin and filled in any larger pores that I have. The BB cream isn’t runny or liquidy but isn’t super thick either (pretty similar to the Revlon Whipped foundation in consistency). I was expecting this to have light coverage like most BB creams especially because it’s marketed as a primer, but I actually find that it easily covers up any redness and small hyper-pigmentation on my skin and I would say its more like a medium coverage product. I personally wouldn’t use this as a primer and add a foundation on top because I think that the BB cream with some concealer for spots would definitely be enough coverage. The product sets demi-matte on the skin which is great since I tend to have combination skin and get oily in my T-zone. I took a picture of my face with flash to check for any white cast due to the high SPF content but found that it photographs really well. There’s also no sunscreen smell to the product.

I wore this on my face for about 9 hours, and set it with Makeup Forever HD finishing powder when I first applied it. At the end of the day I was not shiny at all and I didn’t need to blot or touch up throughout the day. My blush and bronzer were also intact and had not faded much, which goes to support the BB tinted treatment’s primer claims. I didn’t wear it for the 12 hours the product claims, but based on the 9 hour mark I wouldn’t be surprised if it could last up to 12 hours.

Overall, I found this product to be surprisingly good. If you are looking for a BB cream that doesn’t break down on oily skin and actually has some decent coverage, this is probably a good bet. The only downside is the limited shade range, but perhaps over time Tarte will release some additional shades. If you have dark skin there may not be a shade for you as of now.

Product Photos and Swatches!

*Note: Swatches were done on my hand which is almost always a shade or two darker than my face/neck/upper body.