Nars Penny Lane Cream Blush Review, Photos and Swatches!

Nars Penny Lane Cream Blush

Nars Penny Lane Blush ($28) is described on the Nars website as a nude pink. It's a very soft and delicate bridal pink with neutral undertones. If you look closely, it has a little bit of a white pearl, but it looks mostly matte on the skin. It's a great every-day blush that you can't really do wrong with. It's very subtle, yet it gives your skin a hint of color that your cheeks need to look healthy and lightly flushed. It's very similar to the effect MAC Cubic Blush would give me (one of my favorite neutrals).

Nars Cream Blushes are a cream to powder formula, and are very soft and creamy to the touch, but they blend into a seamless powder finish on the skin.

For Penny Lane in particular, I've used a few different methods - a small stippling brush, a foundation brush and my fingers. Because the color is so light, it's not a shade that you can easily overdo. So, I don't find a stippling brush to be necessary, as it doesn't apply enough color to the cheeks unless I pack it on the brush. Although I rarely like using my fingers for application of makeup, I find that the fingers give me the best control and color.

To be completely satisfied with the color, I usually apply two layers. I think this blush is best suited for light skintones, but can also work well for light-medium and medium skintones. I'm around the MAC NC35 coloring right now, and I can tell if I were any darker, it may start to show up ashy. If you're darker than the MAC NC40 coloring (medium-dark/tan), you may want to skip, otherwise you can use Penny Lane as a base for a neutral blush that suits your skin better.

Wearing Nars Casino Bronzer all over my face, with Nars Penny Lane on my cheeks and MAC Superb across the top of my cheekbones.

Winner of the Pick Your Palette Giveaway!

The WINNER Announced!

I wanted to thank you all so much for entering my recent Pick Your Palette Giveaway! I had no idea I was going to receive so many entries. It was so much fun to host, and I loved reading through all of the comments! I'm already planning out the next giveaway, so stay tuned! :)

It literally took me over four hours to count all of the entries. I went through each entry, making sure to count every one and sort through any duplicate entries.

There were 833 entries in total, and the winner was picked at random using random.org.

Without further anticipation, the winner is....

Khalia @glamourandlove

Congrats! I'll be contacting you shortly!

I will also be announcing the winner of my Physician's Formula giveaway later on today. Thank you all again for reading my blog, and entering my giveaway!

Revlon Cherish and Charm Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains Review, Photos and Swatches!

Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains

Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains ($8.99) is a lip balm infused with a lightweight stain in a convenient retractable crayon.

These have been pretty popular in the beauty blogosphere over the past few months, and although I admittedly don't like giving into products that seem to be fads of the moment, I've read nothing but good things, so I had to give them a try.

Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains are available in (12) shades: Honey, Crush, Darling, Cherish, Lovesick, Sweetheart, Smitten, Charm, Rendevous, Romantic, Precious and Adore.

I have two shades: Cherish, a light, cool-toned pink. The cool blue/purple undertones are so strong that when built, it looks rather purple on my lips. With a light wash, it's a pretty natural pink. The other color is Charm, a light, warm peachy nude.

The balms are very firm/waxy and keep their shape well. Even after several uses, they haven't placed much of a dent in the tip.

I would have never expected these balms to be moisturizing - you never really think of a product labeled as a "stain" to be anything but drying, but these are shockingly moisturizing on my chronic dry lips. I wouldn't use it to replace an actual lip balm, but they keep my lips moist and don't dry them out.

The pigmentation is very good. They are sheer, but very buildable. After the color has been on my lips a while, Cherish stays just about the same color and brightens just slightly. Charm darkens a little bit from a light nude to a light coral. If I wipe my lips off, Charm leaves an orange-red stain behind, which is something I really don't like about it. It's not exactly the look you want if you're going for a nude lip. Cherish leaves a bright pinkish-red stain behind.

E.L.F. Studio Lip Exfoliator Review!

E.L.F. Studio Lip Exfoliator

E.L.F. Studio Lip Exfoliator ($3) is a stick made up of sugar, vitamin E, shea butter, avocado, grape, jojoba oil and waxes that together work to remove dry and chapped skin as well as smooth and condition the lips.

Directions: Apply to clean, damp lips and massage the lips in circular motions. Use a moistened cotton pad with water to gently wipe away the scrub (or just simply rinse with water). *It's important that the lips are damp so the skin will remove easier.

As a part of my morning routine after I brush my teeth, I always use the E.L.F. Studio Lip Exfoliator.

What I love most of all is the convenience of this product. I have very dry lips 24/7 and I need a good daily scrub for my lips, but I rarely ever do it. Between managing my crazy hair, plucking the hairs on my face till my hands cramp up, exfoliating, cleaning and moisturizing my face - I try to get away with the least steps possible. Most often my lips are neglected.

The stick takes a few uses before it reaches the grit, and because there are some large pieces of grit it can sometimes feel a little scratchy, but overall it feels really good. What surprises me every time is how soft and supple my lips feel right after. I apply some lip balm on my lips to keep them from drying out, and I'm done in less than a minute. It's not at all messy so I can use it without disturbing the makeup around my lips if I'm using it mid-day or on my way out the door.