Officially Spring doesn't begin for another couple of weeks, but the weather is getting a bit sunnier and there's a definite feeling of Spring in the air. I feel like Spring is the season for pink blush, I tend to go for more coral or peach in the summer but pink is the perfect transition for Spring.
NYX do some really brilliant and affordable blushes in a huge shade range, I thought I'd share two of them with you that I'll be using this season.
Cream blush in Natural
Powder blush in Peach
The first is a cream blush in the shade 'Natural' (£5.50). I nearly always opt for powder blushes, I just prefer them a lot more but this blush is really gorgeous. It's a really natural colour like the name suggests, it looks darker in the pan than it is when it's all blended into the skin, and it gives a beautiful glow. I thought this might be difficult to apply but I found it surprisingly easy - the best way is to blend it in with your fingers. As it's a cream formula it isn't super long lasting, I'd say it lasts for around 4 hours on it's on, but if you powder a bit over the top it'll last that bit longer.
The second blush is a powder in the shade 'Peach' (£6)….I have no idea what NYX were thinking when they named this product as it's not a peach shade at all, it's a cool toned medium baby pink. Normally cool toned blushes don't look good on me at all, but I find Peach really suits me and gives me a natural glow without any shimmer. It can be sheered out for a subtle wash of colour, or built up for a more intense look. The formulation of this blush is amazing, very pigmented, easy to blend, feels nice and silky and lasts a good 7 hours on the cheeks. Both blushes are packaged well, nothing outstanding but for the price I didn't expect anything fancy.
Cream blush in Natural (LEFT)
Powder blush in Peach (RIGHT)
I'd highly recommend checking NYX blushes out! They're brilliant quality for the money and the shade range is so vast there'll be something for everyone.
Unfortunately they're a US brand but you can buy them from their UK website or Amazon.
As it was the first official day of summer yesterday, I thought I would share you with some products I think are essential for summer!
1. A light coverage foundation with an SPF, if it has no SPF then make sure you get a moisturiser with an SPF in it, BUT don't wear both an SPF foundation and an SPF moisturiser, as layering them cancels them out. My foundation of choice is Rimmel Wake Me Up (surprise surprise). I love this foundation a lot, when applied with fingers you can create such a lovely light coverage but it still makes your skin look really great, and as it creates radiance it is perfect for summer. You can buy it here for £8.99.
2. A cream blush. Cream blushes make the skin look a lot more radiant and glowy than powder blushes do, and I've found they feel lighter as well. My favourite is NYX cream blush in Natural. I did a more in depth review of this blush here in my May Favourites, and you can buy it cheapest from Amazon here for £4.99.
3. A bronzer, I think in the summer if you look pale it is more noticeable, so a bronzer to create a 'bronzed' look is essential for me. The bronzer I love most is Nars Luguna, it's amazing. I love it both for conturing, as it's only got a very very slight shimmer that doesn't really show on the face, and also just to bring a bit of colour to my complexion as the colour isn't orange at all and it lasts a long time. This is quite pricey at £26 but if you want to treat yourself then you can buy it here!
4. A brown eyeliner. I think in the summer a black eyeliner can look way too harsh, dark and wintery, so I like to use a brown, I used to hate brown eyeliner but now I think it looks so pretty - especially darker browns - it just gives a much more subtle look. The one I am currently using is Stila Smudge Stick in Damsel, which you can buy here.
5. A lighter, glossier lip colour. I don't know about you, but sometimes I find a proper lipstick too much in summer as they can often look matte or feel heavy, so I opt for either the Revlon lip butters (the one in the photo is strawberry shortcake, but I adore them all) or a lipgloss, this one is Revlon colour burst in Pink Ice which is a lovely light pink with shimmer. You can buy these both from here.
6. A summer colour nail varnish, summer is not the time for dark colours on the nails like black, dark blue or purple, etc. Although I HATE Barry M nail varnish this colour has to be one of my favourite summer shades, it's a lovely light, kind of duck egg, blue called Blue Moon, which you can buy here for £2.99.
7. My last summer beauty essential is a summery scented body moisturiser. I love this spray on one from Soap & Glory, it is called Girligo Body Moisturising Mist, it smells so lovely, of peach, strawberry, jasmine, mandarin and musk. It is such a summery, light scent and it works so well at making the skin softer, it also feels really refreshing when you spray it on and sinks in so fast. You can buy that here for £6.50.
It is the beginning of June, which means May has just passed (obviously) so I thought I would tell you about the things I have been loving a lot through the month of May.
I actually already have done a YouTube video this that you can watch here if you wish, as there are more things featured on there.
I shall start with skincare. I have been absolutely loving the Garnier Moisture Match for Dull Skin.
I love Garnier skincare because I have quite sensitive skin and garnier never makes my skin dry, never breaks me out and it's also so affordable.
Moisture Match is a range of moisturisers garnier have brought out for all different skin types, they have one for oily skin, one for dry skin, for combination skin, etc. I got the Dull skin one because I do sometimes feel as if my skin needs a bit of a 'wake me up'....which this moisturiser does SO well.
It is gel formula, that glides onto the skin and makes me feel all refreshed, it also sinks in quickly which is handy if you're then going on to apply make-up (for which this makes a great base).
If you haven't already then do go and look at the whole range, that can be found here.
They all retail for £5.99, which I think is brilliant for the quality of them.
Couldn't recommend them more!
My next 2 favourites are both blushes from NYX, the first being a powder blush in the colour Peach....I have absolutely NO idea why they called it Peach as it's a pink blush.
This blush is a lovely matte, baby pink colour that I think works best on pale skin like mine, as it quite light, however I'm sure the colour can be built up more if you wish. It's extremely pigmented and so easy to blend, it doesn't break apart on my skin like I find a lot of blushes seem to.
This blush literally lasts all day on my cheeks as well, it fades ever so slightly by the end of the day but the colour will still be here.
The next blush I got from NYX was a cream blush in the colour Natural.
This is the first cream blush I used, I'd never delved into it before because I thought a cream cheek product would be hard to work with and may look greasy. But I was so wrong.
This blush is amazing, the colour is gorgeous, really natural, so perfect for those 'no makeup' makeup days or if you just want a little wash of colour. It also makes you look so healthy, as it's cream it creates a really lovely dewy/glowy look - but not at all greasy, watery or oily. It's much easier to apply than I thought as well, it's extremely easy to blend - I do this with a Real Techniques contour brush.
I definitely want to purchase more of these, I love them. The only downside is they don't last especially long because it is cream, however, if you were to find a powder blush in the same sort of colour and apply a tiny bit of that over the top it would stay put a lot longer.
I purchased both of these NYX blushes from Amazon, you can get the powder one here and the cream one here.
My last favourite's are the Revlon lip butters. Oh my gosh, they are the best lip products. My favourite.
I have these in the colours Peach Parfait, Juicy Papaya, Strawberry Shortcake and Berry Smoothie (Left to Right). I just love these so much. (Amazing names aren't they!....AND the packaging makes me love them even more)
My favourite thing about these is the fact they feel so light on the lips. In the summer I find lipsticks can feel too heavy, and look too heavy but these don't at all. They are a cross between lip sticks and lip balms, they have amazing colour payoff but feel super light and look glossy on the lips - absolutely perfect for summer. The colours are amazing too, they do SUCH a range, so they'll be something for everyone. My personal favourite is Juicy Papaya, which is a gorgeous orange/coral colour.
They don't last an amazingly long time, a couple of hours, but I didn't really expect them to...when everything else is that great you have to compromise somewhere. These retail for £7.99 and you can buy them here.
There ya go, a few things I have been loving throughout May!
I'm a nosey parker, so leave me a comment telling me what you've been loving the last month :)
