Estée Lauder Pure Colour Cheek Rush Cello Shots

A tint of colour on your cheeks rather than a full on powdering of blush creates such a fresh, natural look which I think is absolutely perfect for Summer. Up until now, creams have made the perfect formula to achieve that look but new from Estée Lauder is the Pure Colour Cello Shot Collection and within the collection is four shades that make up the Pure Colour Cheek Rush range.

01 Hot Fuse, 03 X-Pose Rose and 04 Techno Jam* are lightweight, highly pigmented and transparent gels that provide beautiful sheer colour on your cheeks in an oil free, water, very much stain based, formula.

The tiniest amount of product, blended quickly into your skin gives the "just pinched" look that when blended looks super natural in amongst the rest of your make up. These silky feeling gels do create the most lovely of finishes, but you do have to be pretty quick with them and be prepared to wash your hands almost immediately. I underestimated how much these would work and it took a fair bit of soap and water to remove even these swatches from my hand and fingertips, let alone my flushed cheeks. Although they are a tiny bit messy, the quick drying, super tinting formula is perfect for Summer and in terms of staying power, they will stick around a fair while without moving or disappearing from your cheeks.

The colours are very similar to the shade matched pump bottles, although again, once blended into the skin they are much more of a sheer tint so don't be put off in the slightest by the ever so intense shaded gels.

I'm really enjoying using these products, although of course, I'm completely wishing there was a Peachy Coral in amongst the range of four shades.

Costing £24 for a 8g pump bottle, these Estée Lauder Pure Colour Cheek Rush Cello Shots are available to buy online and at Estée Lauder counters in Boots, John Lewis, Selfridges and Debenhams.

What do you think of these Cheek Rush Cello Shots? Is a silky gel texture stain something you would use for a fresh and natural look?

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Nars Gina

I mentioned on last weeks vlog that I finally caved in and purchased Nars Gina, a blush that has been on my wish list for some time now, but for some unknown reason never quite made it into my basket. It's very quickly become a favourite of mine and having applied it daily since buying it, I can see it being super content on my cheeks for a long time to come.

Gina is a soft, beautifully brightening Orange Apricot toned shade that I find sits lovely and complimentary with my make up, adding the perfect fresh looking finish. The colour is very much a me shade and fits in well with my ever-expanding Peachy, Fresh and Coral toned blush collection, probably sitting next to Illamasqua Lover in terms of similarity.

It's perfectly pigmented and has the ability to blend out pretty easily if you do go in a little too heavy handed, which I'm sure we've all done.

I really love Nars products and particularly love the sleek rubberised mirrored compacts. I find they're a really nice size and lovely to work with.

Nars blushes cost £21.50 and are available to buy online and at Nars counters in Selfridges, Liberty and Space NK.

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MAC Harmony

Contouring is probably my favourite part of my make up routine and has been now for quite a while. Ever since I learnt of the beauty that is sculpting your face and creating cheekbones I have been sold and have been on a continuous search for the best products to use.

I have found a handful of matte finish bronzers along the way that I find work absolutely beautifully but  currently find my MAC Powder Blush in Harmony to work the best for me.

I hadn't ever really heard anything about it but picked it up on a little bit of a whim after overhearing a lady in MAC talking to another customer about it.
It's a powder blush as opposed to a bronzer, which is what I would usually go for and is described by MAC as a "Muted Rose-Beige Brown". As much as the description works for me, I would have maybe been put off by the fact that it is is described as Rose toned, previously to trying it. I personally find it difficult to see much of a Rose tone at all, so find that their description is perfect in that it is extremely muted.

Applied with my MAC 168 or my Real Techniques Contour Brush, I pop this just below my cheekbones in the hollow, underneath my chin and along my jawline daily. If I fancy going all out for a much more sculpted look, I also apply it to my temple area and to either side of my nose and find it helps me to create a chiselled and slim looking face perfectly.

I really love this product and personally don't see myself needing to replace with anything else, anytime soon.  

MAC Harmony costs £17.50 and is available to buy online and at MAC stores and counters.

What is your go to contour product? Are you a cream or a powder girl?

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Clarins Palette Eclat Face & Blush Powder

This Clarins Face & Blush Powder* is apart of the Clarins limited edition SS13 collection and has been at the front of my make up drawers for the past couple of months as my go-to product for a flush of subtle colour and to finish any shinier areas of my foundation. 

Though I do use the natural, flesh toned shade quite often with a small powder brush to set small areas of foundation or concealer, I find that I have been using this powder the majority of the time for the beautiful areas of Pink and Peach toned blush, which I swirl a brush over to add a hint of colour to my cheeks. Mixed together, the three shades create such a lovely subtle tone, with the prettiness of the Pink and Peach creating the perfect finish for my make up.

The sleek Gold packaging that holds this mirrored Clarins powder is beautiful and homed alone or in its luxurious Red pouch, is a dream. The beautiful embossed flower detail on the powder further adds to its luxurious finish and makes it a very fancy compact to pull out from your make up bag.

At the moment, I'm finding all Clarins products to be so beautiful, especially those in the limited edition collections and if you fancy treating yourself by adding a special little something into your make up bag, then I really recommend a product like this.

This Clarins Palette Eclat Face & Blush Powder costs £30 and is available online and at Clarins counters.

What do you think of this product? Do you like multi-use palettes or would you prefer a blush and a powder?

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MAC Stereo Rose Mineralize Skin Finish

Over the last few months I have found myself jumping on quite a few bandwagons and although I'm usually pleased in making that decision, this time I have been left a little disappointed. 

MAC Stereo Rose is a Mineralize Skin Finish and is a product that I can remember being raved about a few years ago when it was first released into a MAC collection. Ever since, I have browsed many a blog sale to find it and although I eventually talked myself out of needing it, when it was re-released into the Aprés Chic Collection my lust for it was back and although I managed to hold off buying it for a few weeks, I did eventually cave in. 

If you're unfamiliar with this seriously raved about product, it's a beautiful looking Coral powder with flecks of Pink and Gold running throughout. To look at, it really is lovely and even swatched I found it super appealing, but on my skin, I just wasn't blown away. It can be worn as both blush and highlight but used in both ways, I didn't find it to be very complimentary for me. I had to go really gentle with it, in fear of looking like a shimmered up Noddy, and then with going so gentle I didn't really get it. If you read my blog regularly, then you will be aware that I absolutely love anything Coral, but unfortunately I think the frosting shimmer of Stereo Rose just didn't do it for me and I think that maybe without the hints of Pink and maybe even less Gold running throughout, it could have been a dream.

Stereo Rose sold out extremely fast online (I'm told minutes!), but I have seen it restocked in quite a few counters recently, so if you fancy picking up one of these extremely lusted after MSF powders, they cost £21.50 and are available as a part of the limited edition Aprés Chic Collection at MAC Counters.

Have you tried Stereo Rose? I would love to know how you got on.

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Sisley Phyto-Blush Eclat- 5 Pinky Coral

This Sisley Phyto-Blush Eclat is named quite perfectly and fitting for my ever-growing collection of similar shades. Pinky Coral* is a beautiful blend of yes, Pink Coral shades that when brushed onto either the apples of my cheeks or just dusted lightly all over my cheekbones adds the perfect amount of colour and creates the perfect touch to my make up. 

The embossed pan matches the design of the Zebra print mirrored compact, which although I think is certainly quite daring and flamboyant is very eye catching and adds some fun into your make up bag. 

It's very different to the classic and elegant look that most Sisley products have, but actually it fits in pretty well.

The product is made up of both lighter and darker tones and this is so that you can use both shades separately in order to sculpt your cheeks into perfection. 

I personally like to sweep my blusher brush over the whole pan, picking up both shades together which creates a beautiful, nicely pigmented matte Coral-Pink tone. 

Though I'm careful to not go too over the top, I do like to go quite heavy with colour on my cheeks and the pigmentation of this product works great for that. If you do like more of a subtle look, then a little sweep of product, tapped off before application would be perfect. 

This blush is made up of lots of fabulous active ingredients to do wonderful things to your skin including minimising surface imperfections with its soft focus effect but if I'm honest, although it does feel and look very soft, I'm not sure a blush can benefit my skins appearance too much. 

Sisley is an extremely high end skin care and cosmetic brand, though like I mentioned in my previous Sisley post, they do tend to represent great quality and results. Although Sisley products are beautiful, I do feel that the price of some of their cosmetics are definitely more than what I usually like to spend. 

This Sisley Phyto-Blush Eclat costs £48.50 and is available in Selfridges, Harrods, John Lewis and Liberty.

What do you think of this Sisley Blush? Would you use both shades to sculpt or would you blend them together like I do?

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