As, you know, I purchased a few Ben Nye products [click
here if you didn't see the post] and I've been using them all week. Let me tell you what I think of them.
Ben Nye Powder Blush in "Cool Pink". I really like this blush. It's a bright, matte, fuchsia pink. The texture is some what chalky. It's definitely not a smooth, silky powder. One thing I really like about it, because of its consistency, when I swipe my blush brush, you don't get a lot of product on the brush. That way, you can swipe the blush and brush it on your cheeks and go back for more if you need it.. instead of getting too much on your brush and putting a big blotch on your face by accident. I used this with foundation and without foundation. When I used it without foundation, it gave my cheeks an extremely natural blushed color. The color my cheeks would turn if I was exercising and my cheeks became a little flushed. That it something I really like about it. I absolutely love this.. I can't tell if its "Holy Grail" material yet, but It's a very good blush and worth the price. I will be buying more of these in diff. colors! Have you used Ben Nye blushes? What did you think? What colors have you tried?
Ben Nye Banana Visage Powder This powder is great. I've been using it every day and I LOVE it. What I like about compared to Neutral Set, is the tiny bit of yellow/peach tint it gives. I typically use it under my eyes to set my cream concealer.. and because of the yellow tint, it conceals my dark circles a tad better. (Since yellow cancels out purples) I also have been using a synthetic haired kabuki brush and using it to buff my face after I applied my foundation. This is probably the best setting powder I've used. Some of my foundations are a tad on the pink side, and this really makes it look more golden. It blends in perfectly with my foundations. This is definitely a HG product and I'm so glad I decided to order it. And, it was only a few bucks!
I picked up a couple things lately that I haven't really tried until the past two days and I'm loving them. They are the Boots No7 Color Calming Makeup Base and Palladio Yellow Concealer. The Makeup Base I purchased from Target (it was on clearance for a couple dollars) and the Palladio concealer I purchased from Sally's for a few dollars.
Honestly, I freaked out when I put the green primer on my face.. it is GREEN. Like Queen Helene's Mint Julep Masque green. And I put it all over my face and it gave my face and I ended up wiping it off because I didn't expect it to be so pigmented. Well, I tried it again yesterday. I applied a little moisturizer to my whole face. Then, since green cancels out red, I applied this under and around my eyes where there was red and on my cheeks and chin. I was really surprised to see how it removed the rosiness in my face and neutralized everything. I was pretty blown away that a primer could do that. And I used it again today, and I'm just loving this stuff. My boyfriend has rosy cheeks and he hates it.. and I told him "Hey!! I found something that can cover the redness on your cheeks and its not makeup!" haha so yes, if you have this problem too, this may be a product you'd like to check out!
And since I was doing all this color correcting, haha I decided to try out my Palladio Yellow Concealer. Since I canceled the redness under my eyes with the primer, the color left over was the purple.. so for that you need yellow. Its in a lipstick like form.. so I applied it under my eyes with the stick pretty thickly.. and I took a concealer brush and blended it evenly.. and my dark circles were completely gone. Here I've been searching for a new concealer to try out and I had this little tube in my makeup drawer unused. It is definitely quite yellow, but once I applied my foundation, you couldn't see it. So this is another drugstore fave! yay! I haven't tried much from Palladio, but I've heard great things.. I use their Wet/Dry powder and its amazing. I'd love to try more! :)
Here's a swatch of both products!
Today I used MAC Mineralize Satinfinish foundation.. and Its a foundation I bought a long time ago and it has been sitting in my drawer because It really wasn't one of my favorite foundations. It provided good coverage.. but I have been using other ones I liked better I suppose. I used it today because I'm running low on foundation, and my face looked FLAWLESS. Isn't it weird sometimes how you will apply your makeup one day and it will look amazing, and you'll apply it exactly the same way the next day and it looks like crap? I don't know if it was the primer or what. I notice when I don't have self tanner on my face, my foundation looks pretty bad. My face color without self tanner would probably be like a NC20-25.. and with tanner its a definite NC35-40. And I know the Mineralize Foundation (I have it in NC40) would look horrid and extremely yellow if I didn't have a good tan on my face. I find that its somewhat true for Fix Fluid too. I don't have that problem with my Estee Lauder Double Wear.. it always looks the same. The mineralized foundation is slightly dewy and pearly.. and gives wonderful coverage. I think the main thing I didn't like about it is that it's slightly more yellow/beige than Fix Fluid. I liked the more golden tone. Maybe If I tried this in NC37 it would be better.. but I think next time I go to the MAC counter I'll try out a sample because it really gave me an airbrushed look today.
Here's a comparison of foundations. they look almost the same but there's a slight difference.
I was laying down.. lol
I used MAC Mineralize Foundation in NC40, Palladio Yellow Concealer, Ben Nye Banana Luxury Powder under my eyes, Chanel Bronze Universel Bronzer on the hollows of the cheeks, Ben Nye Cool Pink Blush on the apples of my cheeks and MAC New Vegas msf for a highlight.
I planted tons of marigolds and only one grew :(
LOL, i always take foot pictures.. i think they're cute. these are my michael kors gladiator flats.. love em!
