Tag Archives: blush

BECCA Afterglow Palette Review

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“Happiness does not come from doing easy work but from the afterglow of satisfaction that comes after the achievement of a difficult task that demanded our best.” – Theodore Isaac Rubin

BECCA afterglow palette WOC

I’ve missed you guys so much! I’ve been away for a little while but I’m determined to get back into the swing of things. My makeup addiction has not abated in my absence and I have a ton of new stuff to show you.

First up is my newest addition and it’s the BECCA Afterglow palette. Now BECCA have released two highlighter palettes for the Christmas season with one being exclusive to Sephora and one being exclusive to Ulta. The Sephora palette is a trio of highlighters which includes “blushed copper“, “champagne pop”, and the new “pearl” highlighter. Since I already own two of those highlighters in the full-size, it was a no-brainer for me to choose the Ulta exclusive.

The Afterglow palette consists of mini versions of “moonstone”, “rose gold”, and “topaz“ highlighters in addition to blushes in “wild honey” and “flowerchild”. The palette is very small and it’s the same size as the usual BECCA eyeshadow palettes. This makes it great for travel but it may prove problematic if you like to use big brushes. The packaging is a dark rose gold plastic case which is definitely a fingerprint magnet but it is nice and slim, which is a bonus.

BECCA Afterglow

Becca afterglow palette

BECCA afterglow palette on dark skin swatches

From L-R: “moonstone”, “rose gold”, “topaz”, “wild honey”, “flowerchild”

I think this palette will be especially good for those who haven’t tried BECCA’s highlighters before or those who want something for travel. I actually intend on mainly using this in my makeup kit as I don’t really feel comfortable de-potting/ carrying around my full-size BECCA highlighters. However, my main problem is how small the palette is (each shade is the size of a typical eyeshadow pan) and I also think the colour selection is a little iffy. I don’t understand why having “moonstone” (the lightest shade) and “topaz” (the darkest) in the same palette would appeal to the average buyer. I do however intend to play around with mixing shades to see how it looks on my dark skin. I also definitely can’t use “wild honey” on my skin but I can just about get away with “flowerchild”.

Reservations aside, I really recommend this palette and I think almost everybody will get some good use out of it. You get to try 5 BECCA products for the price of 1 and you can’t really beat that! The BECCA Afterglow palette is available at Ulta for $39.50. 

It’s good to be back!

Nana Adomah

Face Of The Day: Shades Of Orange

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“I wish I could show you when you are lonely or in darkness the astonishing light of your own being” – Hafiz of Shiraz
NARS persia fotd dark skin woc nw45 NARS persia on dark skin nw45 fotd swatch NARS Taj mahal Persia on dark skin woc nw45

I often used NARS Persia eyeshadow as a transition shade but I’ve never made it the focus of an eye look before. This Memorial Day weekend is blessing us with glorious weather and I decided to do a quick orange eye just because. I even wore lashes! This was a super simple look and it wore perfectly for the whole afternoon. Click below for a list of products used. Continue reading →

Colourpop Highlighters: A Review

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“The more you leave out, the more you highlight what you leave in.” – Henry Green

Colourpop highlighters

Colourpop highlighters on dark skin

From L-R: “Sticky Sweet”, “Tasty”, “Avalon”, “Monster”

colourpop sticky sweet and avalon highlighters on dark skin

“Avalon” & “Sticky Sweet” Top- indoor swatch w/ flash , Bottom- outdoor swatch

Colourpop tasty monster highlighters on dark skin swatch

“Monster” & “Tasty”: Top- indoor swatch w/ flash, Bottom- outdoor swatch

Colourpop cosmetics tasty blush highlight on dark skin nw45

“Tasty” layered over NARS “Liberte”

I was a complete saddo and stalked the Colourpop website in anticipation of their new highlighters. Highlighters are in my top 3 makeup items of all time so these were a no-brainer. I restrained myself however, and I only bought 4: “Monster”, “Tasty”, “Avalon”, and “Sticky Sweet”. 

Colourpop’s newest additions are similar in texture to their amazing shadows in that they’re not quite cream but rather more putty-like in texture. Pictures truly do not do these justice as they appear much more shiny and pigmented in living colour.

The colours are described by Colourpop as follows:

“Monster”– light pink with [a] highly opalescent duo chrome finish

“Tasty”– candy coloured coral with multi-dimensional pink and copper duo chrome finish

“Avalon”– a true golden bronze with golden pink duo chrome finish

“Sticky Sweet”– a deep violet with pink duo chrome finish

All the shades (aside from “monster”) can be worn as a blush when built up or applied as a sheer wash of colour for a highlighted effect. “monster” and “Avalon” apply as true highlighters on me whilst “sticky sweet” and “tasty” straddle the line between a blush and highlighter. “Avalon” reminds me a lot of BECCA’s “blushed copper” but I do not own any colours like the other shades.

All 4 colours are beautiful but “monster” was the real surprise. It looks scary and pasty in the pan but it really comes alive when swatched on the skin. It’s like a cool/ pink- toned version of NARS’s “Albatross”.

“Monster” (and another shadow I ordered) came to me damaged as the product had separated itself from its container but Colourpop’s customer service was fantastic and they mailed me another one about a week later.

If you are familiar with Colourpop, these provide the same high quality as their other products and if you’re not, well what are you waiting for?! These babies are only $8 a piece and they are worth far, far more in my opinion.

Colourpop are currently offering a free eyeshadow with any purchase (while supplies last) and there are a few free shipping codes floating around too.

Have you tried any of these new highlighters? Let me know in the comments!

Nana Adomah

Collective Haul ft. NARS, Make Up For Ever, MAC, Kat Von D, Cover FX, Smashbox and more!

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“You’re either in it for the long haul or you’re not” – Crystal Gayle

I filmed a haul video over on YouTube and wanted to share. Look out for reviews on a lot of these products soon!

Nana Adomah

NARS Dual-Intensity Blush in “Panic”: A Review

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“I’m not panicking. I’m watching you panic. It’s more entertaining.”- Lois McMaster Bujold

NARS panic blush dual-intensity

NARS blushI told myself that I would skip this offering from NARS when it was released. However, when I played with them in the store, “Panic” just had to be mine.

Following on from their fantastic dual-intensity eyeshadows, NARS have blessed us with dual-intensity blushes which can be used both wet and dry for full-on or lighter coverage. “Panic” is described as a “shimmering shocking fuchsia/ shimmering orange-pink” and I found that to be accurate.

NARS dual-intensity blush on dark skin dry

Blush swatched dry and blended out. Top- indoor swatch, Bottom- outdoor swatch.

NARS dual-intensity blush panic on dark skin wet

Top: panic swatched wet indoors, Bottom: panic swatched wet outdoors.

The texture of the dual-intensity blushes are very different from the regular line of NARS blushes and they have more of a radiant finish than the matte or shimmer found in the regular line. The blush isn’t soft or powdery and you do have to be a bit more vigorous with the brush action than usual.

The packaging is the usual NARS rubberized plastic and it opens and closes very easily with a magnetic clasp. Inside there is a large mirror and the two shade of blush that can either be worn separately or blended together.

I’ve worn Panic both wet and dry and I much prefer the dry application. It’s too finicky for me wet and I feel as though it’s difficult to get a consistent application. It does blend very easily though and it’s relatively easy to switch from a sheer to full coverage when used dry. It’s perfect for those who want  luminous sheen from their blushes.

Panic is a very pretty blush but I wouldn’t recommend the dual-intensity blushes over NARS’ fantastic regular blushes. Additionally, they are FAR more expensive at $45 each.

Grab one of these if you like a more radiant finish to your blushes and don’t mind paying $45 (!) but in my opinion, there are better options out there. I’d recommend sticking to the regular NARS blushes as they’ve never ever steered me wrong.

The NARS dual-intensity blushes can be found at NARS or any usual NARS stockists. I found mine on eBay and I’d give it a gander for some bargains.

Nana Adomah

Divergent Cosmetics Review

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I read the Divergent series of books by Veronica Roth sometime last year and I really enjoyed them (bar Allegiant; the ending was stupid) and with a huge big-budget film coming out in a few weeks, promotion has gone into over drive. Sephora have got in on the act and have released a nice collection of makeup and nail polish  inspired by the popular first book Divergent.

Divergent cosmetics packagingI had no intention of buying any new makeup for while as I have more eyeshadows than I know what to do with but I was swayed once I saw the collection in person. I’ll also freely admit that I was struck by an acute case of FOMO (fear of missing out) and bought it to prevent any future buyer’s remorse. I’m still kicking myself about that Hourglass ambient lighting palette…. Anyway, on to the review!

The set I purchased is the  multi-piece collector’s kit and it consists of three eyeshadow palettes, a cheek palette, four lip glosses, and a double-ended blush and crease brush.

Divergent Cosmetics palettes

First up is my favourite of the three palettes and it’s the Dauntless palette. The Dauntless are the risk-takers and fearless faction of the Divergent universe and the palette does a pretty good job of reflecting that. It’s a moody palette with darker, cooler, shades with a beautiful creamy highlight colour in serene vanilla. Dauntless ink is a true pure black matte eyeshadow, abnegation stone swatches on me as a cooler version of MAC’s “satin taupe” and the dark greyish taupe is a great every day colour. Erudite sapphire is a dark blue light shimmer with hints of purple but the standout shade has to be diverge. Each palette comes with a “transformer” shade which, according to the blurb, “impart[s] a diamond illusion, shimmery, mirror-like reflection that is transparent when applied dry, and translucent when applied wet, showcasing fluid, twinkling particles that look like they are suspended in air.” 

Divergent cosmetics dauntless eye palette

Diverge has a black base with dark olive-green shimmery particles in it and it’s utterly divine. It swatches like silk and it can easily be worn on its own or layered over another shadow.

Divergent Dauntless palette swatches

l-r dauntless ink, abnegation stone, erudite sapphire, serene vanilla and diverge swatched below.

Best of all, the “transformer” shade can easily be clicked out to carry alone or you can attach it to another palette. Bonus points for creativity!Clicks apart

Continue reading →