Blush swatches

I've been searching on the net for swatches lately for things like concealer, foundation etc and I just thought that it might be really helpful for others like me if I posted swatches of some of the things I own! So just to start off with, since I have quite a few blushes I thought that I would do swatches of them.  I hope this is helpful to someone!  I might talk about my favourite ones also.

From left to right:

1. Smashbox (the blush side) - Baked cheek due on On the town
2. NYX Rouge Cream blush - Rose Petal
3. NYX Rouge Cream blush - Glow
4. M.A.C - Well Dressed
5. Smashbox - Famous
6. NYX - Pinky
7. Clinique - Bashful Plum
8. E.l.f - Fuchsia Fusion
9. Sleek - Rose Gold
10. Sleek - Pomegranate.

The only ones I really don't like unfortunately are M.A.C well dressed, but only because it hardly shows up on my skin tone.  I'm not all that tanned, medium tan in the summer and quite pale in the winter.  I will still keep this blush but perhaps only use in the winter time.  It's a bit like Dandelion from Benefit which I haven't swatched yet.  Its really gorgeous but hardly shows up even if you are a little bit tanned.  (If you're wondering I'm about a NW25 in M.A.C)

The cream blushes from NYX are awesome for their pigmentation, although they do take a little bit of work to blend them nicely.  I want to eventually get some MAC ones to compare.

My favourite smashbox blush has to be famous, it really warms up your face and looks just gorgeous.

The sleek blushes are also really really nice because they are so smooth and apply so nicely to the cheek. 

If you are going for a natural flush, clinique bashful plum is great as is NYX - Rose Petal.  But I think my favourite of this bunch is Fuchsia Fusion.  It does have a lil bit of sparkle but I always feel really pretty when I wear it :)

So I hope that's helpful for all of you.  If you're wondering where I get my products from please have a look at this post.

Awesome makeup sites

I just wanted to do a quick post to just let you (the few people that follow :P) the websites that I like to buy my makeup from. 


1) TRADEME


Trademe is a good place to find bargains if you don't mind buying second hand stuff.  I don't mind second stuff but I do usually buy brand new things especially lip products and foundation.  But its good if you are just starting out and want some quality eyeshadows but don't want to pay RRP.  What I do is I save my search on MAC, Benefit and other brands I like, so that when new stuff is uploaded I am notified via email.  Great way to just keep your eye out for bargains!


2) Ebay


Now you have to be very careful with ebay because there are alot of sellers selling fake stuff.  But all in all I've had good experiences with ebay.  You generally get a cheaper price from ebay just because there are so many different sellers.  I've gotten some neat stuff off there.  Just be sure to check sellers feedback percentages.


3) Crush Cosmetics

This is an Australian site that ships to NZ.  They have some great stuff on here like NYX, Milani, Elf and others.  Their products are pretty good quality and reasonable prices as well.  The shipping is slightly expensive but well packaged and it usually arrives from 1week to a week and a half so not bad.


4) StrawberryNET

One of my favourite places to shop.  There is so much stuff on this site and they ship extremely fast.  They have alot of high brand cosmetics and discounted prices.  Sometimes you can find some really awesome stuff on there as well.  They sometimes offer cosmetics like 20-50% off which is awesome.  I got a Bobbi Brown shimmer brick from there for only NZD$50 I was like wow.. they're usually so expensive.  I buy my foundation from this website and also my face care stuff.  (I love dermalogica! :-))




5) GracieLou


They lady that owns this lil online shop is a kiwi and she's super nice.  I actually won a perfume from her website as she was doing a little competition for FB fans at the time.  I was so surprised and even skeptical that I had won anything.. but sure enough it came in the mail all wrapped up nicely :D.  She has some good stuff at very good prices and she ships super super fast.  I like her Smashbox stuff because its very good quality and pretty cheap too!


Well those are the main sites that I use.  I hope its helpful to someone :D