Canmake Powder Cheeks Blush PW20 review/ swatch

I went through a phase of Canmake blushers and collected quite a few colors. This particular shade was one which I reached for quite often for about a month.

Canmake 'powder cheeks' are small compact blushers housed in a plastic container and also contains a very small blush brush. It's handy to have the brush inside but it's definitely nowhere near the convenience or ease of use of a proper full sized blush brush.

This shade is "PW20" , which is a soft candy pink in the pan:

You can see in the pan there's visible shimmers in the blush, sort of silvery shimmers:

Some swatches (below on the left is Chanel irrellee blush #80 tea rose, just as a random comparison), on the right is Canmake PW20 blush.

All swatches below are Canmake PW20 blush.

You can see it's really finely milled and does have a slight silvery sheen (rather than visible silver flecks). It's a true soft, milky candy pink, adds that pop of innocent pink on the cheeks.

While it's a rather adorable shade, after a while I got a bit bored of it- I think Jill Stuart blushes often have a quad in this particular pink (e.g. #13 milky strawberry mix blush), which is more flattering than Canmake in general because Jill Stuart blushes have a bit more 'translucency' to the finish which looks even more natural than Canmake. Of course, Jill Stuart blushes are like about 4 or 5 times the cost of these..

Nevertheless I would still recommend getting one or two Canmake blushes to have a try- they are good quality drugstore blushes that retails for like less than $10USD in most places. These are also sold in Taiwan.

Rating: 3.5/5.

MAC Tropical Taboo SIMMER Mineralize Blush and MAC NC20 Pro Longwear foundation fluid swatch/ reviews

MAC 2013 Tropical taboo collection came out with a bunch of usual mineralize blushes. Here's a review of the "Simmer" mineralize blush.

I thought I got an unusal one where there's way more of one shade than the other. Then I looked around online reviews and turned out it did seem like MAC intended this to have less heavy shade and more light shade in the same pan.

It's a apricot-beige-gold shimmer on one side and a plum on the other. It's a warm plum (though could be because the pan size is so small it's hard to pick up the shade without getting a bit of the apricot beige color in it too), not very dirty plum .

I'm not sure how the veining works underneath, but it does seem like there's gold shimmer on top for a few layers then there might be more plum underneath.

Here's the swatch: 

You can see it's a typical MAC mineralize blush consistency, there are bits of 'flecks' of shimmers while the rest of the color seems more evenly pigmented. It's not chunky by any means but does show up as visible shimmer under the sun.

Here it is on my cheeks- I used an even mix of both. I had to use a stippling / skunk brush (just a cheap sonia kashuk one, which is like MAC 187 brush but less bristles).  The lighting is indoor so overall a bit warm.

I also listed the other items I was wearing. I'm wearing Fancl skincare base creamy in shade "Natural pink", which is an illuminating foundation base, and trying my new MAC NC20 pro longwear foundation too. Then followed by a sheer application of Cezanna UV powder foundation (one in the blue case, shade #1 Cream Beige) then the MAC Simmer blush.

My cheeks are naturally a bit red so any blush shade does get influenced by that. It comes out as a plummy red. I thought the shade was a bit of de javu, like easily replicated by a lot of other plum blushes on the market, especially given my red cheeks which probably changes the color a bit. Unfortunately I didn't love the effect under the sunlight as it accentuated pores.

Here's MAC NC20 Pro Longwear foundation.

On my arms a quick swatch- I was in a bit of a shock when I applied some and realised how yellow the shade seems. I purposely applied some near a tiny bruise on my arm to see the coverage.

Below is before blending:

Blended out a bit on top of the bruise- again you can see the yellow tone.

Blended more

Fully blended. Yes it does have a decent coverage, probably covers half the bruise.

It's creamy but pats in to the face easy- though if you don't blend quickly or have dry skin it probably sticks to creases a bit like below.

Again, finished look. It gave a refined finish actually, it's not a full coverage (but I'm sure it's buildable). But after powder foundation on top it's medium coverage even though I applied a rather sheer layer.  A little also goes a long way.

I'm quite surprised it didn't turn out as yellow as it looked on my arms (my arms are probably a shade paler than my face though), but as I applied it over face I can still see a yellow cast, not sure whether it's because I had an illuminating primer underneath plus a paler powder foundation on top so the yellow tint didn't come through as much.

In terms of longwear of the foundation, I thought it was average, after 5-6 hours I still see a bit more oxidation like how my skin reacts with most liquid foundations- it always look a bit more dull in the afternoon. In the cold winter at the moment I think this is not very forgiving if you have any flakies or uneven skin, it does tend to sit in the lines a bit. The finish is a satin matte finish, it's not glowy or dewy or super 'natural'. It looks like "you have good skin, but I can see you are wearing makeup" sort of finish.

Blush rating 3/5. Foundation rating 3/5.

Chanel Irreelle Blush #80 TEA ROSE review/ swatch

I did a major clean up of my stash and threw out a lot of things which I had for a while to make room for new things and came across this old baby.

Do you ever read some random blog reviews and feel like you must have something?

Well a few years ago this happened to me and that was Chanel Irreelle blush in shade #80 tea rose.

I think the Irreelle blush line was continued a few years ago already. So the only one I could find was a tester on ebay. None the less I was happy I got to try this.

In the pan it looked lik a muted medium pink berry with a hint of peach undertone and a subtle glow.

It swatches like below. The irreelle formula was nothing like the joues contraste blushes which are more soft and powdery nowadays. It was a bit hard to pick up any color (and the surfaces go hard after a while making it even harder to pick up enough color with brushes).

You can see it's a subtle cheek color, almost melts into the skin on my arm- like a natural red pink glow.

It's a bit of soft red, pink and peach- flattering and natural.

Below is more heavily swatched with fingers. It picks up slight more red pink finish.

After years of makeup collection I was finally ok to let this go because makeup has came such a long way since the Chanel Irreelle blush times- you can find a lot more lovely blushes with better finishes nowadays.

Rating is 3/5.

Beaute de Kose Esprique Precious Face Styling Powder (contour/ highlighter) review/ swatch

So I'm finally getting through my massive stockpile of skincare pictures and reviews so now I can look at more makeup and nail polishes again!

Here's a recent staple item in my makeup bag- Kose Esprique Precious "Face Styling Powder", shade is #00. (Currently I'm not aware of any other shades being released).

When I received this I was slightly disappointed and worried since it looks a bit dull- in the pan it looked like a plain beige vanilla highlighter and a probably too dark taupe brown looking contour powder.

It comes in a nice white compact with crystal designs on the corners.

Back of palette has instructions on suggested usage.

Contains 9g of product total and also a dual ended brush applicator is included.

Plastic separator on top:

Here's a closer look at the color. You are not mistaken- the contour side is matte so there's no visible shimmers. While on the highlighter side you can see subtle shimmers.

Brush is dual ended, one with longer bristles and the other with shorter. I can't read the back packaging but I'm sure they recommend the longer bristle for 1 product and shorter bristle for the other. I think it's a smart idea having a dual ended applicator since given highlighting and contouring are pretty much the opposite objectives, you really wouldn't be wanting to use the same brush to apply both!

For me personally, I use the short bristle side for highlighter since it allows more precise application, the long bristle end for contour since it's a larger area application and the longer bristles seems to pick up a bit less powder so I can build it gradually.

Here are the swatches. I had to swatch quite heavily to get more color payoff:

The vanilla beige side is rather soft and finely milled. There are some flecks of larger shimmers but they are not large like MAC mineralize blush or skinfinish sort of large, just comparatively larger. The base color is really quite finely milled.

The Contour shade does not have as much taupe as I imagined. Instead it's not "flat" matte either, it's more a very finely milled satiny shade of natural tan that you would see on Asian skintone if I was actually a bit more tanned. It applies so subtly that makes it excellent for contouring and building up to desired shadow (without looking dirty).

I know I don't sound like I'm giving glowing reviews above, but this is an excellent and compact highlighter/ contour in one. The highlighter shade is very nice on my NC15/NC20 skintone. (I wear about the lightest or 2nd lightest shade in most foundations).  It provides that extra glow and highlight and make me look really refreshed.   I swipe this on bridge of nose, just under eyes and above cheek, and on C-shaped zone outside brows along temple.

The contour shade helps with that morning bloated face that I sometimes get from too much fluid retention. I apply the contour shade at the edge of face where the face meets the neck- this is also great as my neck is a shade lighter than the face so when I wear foundations that actually match my skintone, it can look like it's actually too pale compared to the neck, what this does is seamlessly blending the edges together to make it look more natural.

I think the contour shade is extremely natural especially on pale Asian skintone. I generally do not contour as I had a bit of difficulty finding a right contour shade- a lot of Western brand bronzers tend to be too 'tanned' in base color and too pigmented to allow a really subtle, buildable application.

While there are probably better highlighters out there, you can't really beat the convenience factor of this one. (The highlighter in this compact probably beats most Japanese drugstore highlighters I've used like from Canmake or Fasio or even highlighter shade in Coffret D'or blush compacts, as most of the shimmers in other brands are usually too chunky or the base color is too white or silvery to look natural).

Rating is 4/5. This retails for 25-30USD depending on where you get it. There's also no scent, and not a lot of powder flyaway. It stays in place quite well throughout the day and great for the 'refreshed' look and office days.

Stila Duo Convertible Color Lillium / Lip-gloss Petal Shine swatch/ review

Like most makeup users I once had a Stila phase a few years ago too- back when Stila was a cool, chic brand with great colors and gorgeous designs. (Until Estee Lauder bought the brand then it was all down hills).

Found this while I was cleaning up my makeup, this did bring back some good memories!

This was a limited edition Stila duo with half convertible color in shade "Lillium" and half is Stlia's lip gloss in Petal Shine.

Lillium is meant to be a soft pink creme blush (also usable on the lips) while petal shine lipgloss is meant to be  a pink shimmer.

It's basically a paper cardbox packaging with a plastic rim to make it more durable. Flips open but there's no mirror.

On the left is the Lillium convertible color, on the right is petal shine lipgloss.

Here are the swatches. Lillium convertible color is a surprise isn't it, looks dull in the pan but comes out as a soft creamy pink. And once you blend it out, it's a soft pink dewy finish.

The petal shine lipgloss was a bit of a meh for me, it's a mauvey-pink nude shimmer gloss,  bit thick and too much shimmers for my liking. 

Overall I can see why Lillium was always a convertible color that got good ratings on makeupalley.com, it's such a easy to use pink. I know once blended out, depending on your skintone, it may look a bit more generic. However if you saturate a bit more, it does give you that dolly pink cheek look. 

The convertible color isn't so brilliant on the lips especially as the shade does have that pink creme base to it. However it's nice on the cheeks.

Rating is 3/5 for the duo (given the gloss is a fail for me).

Max Factor Miracle Touch Creamy Blush #07 Soft Candy review/ swatch

I was overseas and accidentally left my blush in the hotel room makeup bag, so I randomly bought a quick cheap blush in the local Watsons .

I picked Max Factor's miracle Touch Creamy Blush in shade #07 Soft candy.

In the pot it looked like a juicy strawberry red, or fresh raspberry sort of shade. It's rather creamy and not too dry, definitely on the more moist side.

Comes in a rather no-frills type of packaging, a bit cheap looking to be honest. It's a screw top cap, which is lightweight to carry, but the screw mechanism is only a few twists so it can be accidentally opened in your handbag if not careful.

Made in Ireland :

Once applied it goes on like a light tint, buildable, and does not appear to be a heavy 'creme' finish that some cream type of blushes can have. (which makes some cream blushes quite hard to blend since if applied on top of foundation , they can ruin the finish of the foundation).

As with most cream blushes, it's probably best applied before liquid or powder foundations. However I find that after using a BB cream or a liquid foundation, I can carefully dot this on, and lightly pat in, without ruining the base makeup.  (Does not work so well over powder foundation though). 

Sometimes I apply a pretty heavy swipe then wait for it to set (like 15 seconds), then apply other liquid foundation or powder foundation, which then tones down the shade.

When blended out, you can see it really sheers down.  I'm not sure what 'soft candy' shade would really translate to, while I was hoping for a true sheer tint of natural red, it actually comes out more like a red coral, maybe it's with my Asian skintone it adds that yellow to the red base so it really looks like a peach coral on my skin.

This is as sheer as it can look when fully blended out below, which really says how buildable it is.

Overall it's a nice cheap blush, the color is nothing special though and the formula is standard, not bad but not brilliant. Rating is 3/5. It's something cheap to try (was like about $6USD in Asia), but in terms of real value for money, I found I got rather bored of this shade after a few weeks (whereas I'd happily hit pan on my Jill Stuart blushes). Also the surface of the blush can get a bit dirty after a while, since it's best applied with finger rather than brush. So it also makes it less appealing in the makeup bag.