Palladio: Herbal Matte Blush

Hope everyone is having a happy Thursday!

Today's review is of the Palladio Herbal Matte Blush in the shade Peach Ice. This blush retails for $7 on the Palladio Beauty website and is currently on sale for $5.99 at Ulta. I've never tried any products from the Palladio Beauty collection before, so I thought I would pick up one of their blushes the last time I was at Ulta to give it a try. Palladio Beauty is known for having herbal and vitamin enriched beauty products. According to the Palladio Beauty website, this blush was the winner of a Best Beauty Buys award from Family Circle magazine in 2014.

This blush is available in four shades - berry pink, bayberry, peach ice, toasted apricot. I purchased the color peach ice thinking it would be a nice subtle blush color. Unfortunately, this isn't the right shade for me as it's much too light and not very peachy on my skin. It enhances the natural redness of my face which I'm trying to cover so it's just not the right shade for me. I think this color might look best on very fair skin tones. While I do think that the blush has decent pigmentation, I don't think it would show up too well on darker skin tones. For being a beach shade too, it's not too orange based which depending on what you're looking for could be a good or bad thing.

Palladio beauty describes this product as, "An enhancing blush brushes onto cheeks smoothly for a soft matte look and an even finish. Satin finish flatters the face and helps hide the appearance of line and wrinkles shimmer blushes may enhance." Also, this blush is formulated with Apricot Kernel, Ginseng Root Extract, Aloe and Chamomile Extract to help condition and protect the skin from free-radical damage, and Kaolin Clay and Zinc Oxide to help deliver flawless, velvety coverage. I do find that this blush is very blendable, but I find that it doesn't have the longest wear time.

I do really like the packaging of this blush, it's a nice slim plastic compact with a see-thru lid. It feels and looks like a higher end blush. I also like that the blush compact is a decent size - I have a pet peeve of when blushes are too small so it's hard to get your brush (which is then too big for the compact) decently coated in order to apply it without looking patchy.

I'm sorry I don't have any swatches of this product, I actually returned it before I had the chance to photograph it. If you would like to see swatches of all four shades of the blush, I recommend checking out this video by Krystal Lynn on youtube. If you see her hand swatches of all four shades, I think you can tell that the shades Berry Pink and Peach Ice are much more sheer and less pigmented than Toasted Apricot and Bayberry.

Final Verdict
I apologize for not having my own swatches of this blush! All in all, I wasn't all that impressed with the pigmentation of this blush and decided to return it since it was not the right shade for my skin tone. I am intrigued to try out the shade Toasted Apricot, but at the same time I have many other drugstore blushes that I prefer over this one in terms of formula, color, and texture - like the City Color Cosmetics Matte Blushes which retail for only $5. I don't hate this blush but I really don't think it's anything too special.

Have you tried any of the Palladio Beauty blushes yet? Which color do you like most? Please leave a comment below, I would love to hear from you!

Thanks for reading!

Update - New Shade! theBalm: InStain Long-Wearing Blush in Argyle

Hi everyone!

Today's review is an update to my review on four of the six shades of theBalm's InStain long-wearing blushes. I recently purchased the shade Argyle off of Hautelook and thought I would do a review on it for you all. 

This product, like the other shades in the line retail for $22 each and contain .23oz of product on theBalm's website. As I said in my full-length review, I was able to purchase some of them (not Argyle) on Overstock.com for only $14 each so I definitely recommend checking that site out if you're interested in purchasing this product. I however was able to purchase the shade Argyle off of Hautelook not too long ago during theBalm event for $11, which is an even better deal than Overstock! But, you have to wait around for the event to take place and it's not guaranteed they'll have the shade you're looking for. Also, Hautelook charges for shipping for orders under $100 while Overstock only charges shipping for orders under $50. While it's only $5.99 for Hautelook's shipping, I definitely hate paying for shipping so it makes more sense to purchase several items at once to make the most of paying for it.

In terms of this packaging of this product, like the other shades I reviewed, it has adorable packaging! The product comes in a small, cute cardboard case that has a depiction of a magazine cover on the front. Each blush has a different image on the front and states whether it is a fall or spring color. On the inside, there is a large mirror which is helpful when applying the product either on the go or when traveling. 

Like the other shades, I found that this product definitely delivered in terms of being a highly pigmented, long-wearing blush. It truly has a "staining" power, although I find this shade more natural than some of the others. While highly pigmented, you can achieve a very natural, subtle look with this color that you can't do as well with some of the other more intense, bright shades. Like with the other shades, I use either the Real Techniques blush brush or stippling brush to achieve the look I desire - I use the blush brush for a more subtle look and the stippling blush for a more intense look.

This shade, Argyle, is a pretty petal pink colored blush, perfect for fair-light-medium skin tones. I don't think it would work too well for those with darker skin since it's more subtle than some of the other colors in the line. Additionally, like the other colors in the line, the formula of the blushes is so smooth and creamy, not at all powdery or cakey.

What do you think of this shade compared to the others I previously reviewed? Please leave a comment below, I would love to hear from you!

Thanks for reading!

Milani: Baked Blush in Luminoso (#5)

Hi everyone,

Today's review is of the Milani Baked Blush in shade #5, Luminoso. This is the first product I own from this make up brand. Both Walgreens and CVS sell this product, as well as, it can be found on the Milani website for $8.49. 

The packaging of this product is great, very small and compact. I especially like that there's a mirror which makes on-the-go applying easy. Additionally, the gold detailing around the sides makes the product seem very expensive and luxe. It's also great that the product has a see-thru lid on top, which makes it easy to see the actual color of the product when you're sorting through your make up collection.In terms of the color of the product, it is a beautiful rich light orange coral. Milani describes the blush color as a "luminous peachy pink". I think it would look good on a wide range of skin tones, from fair to dark, as it's a very universally flattering color. Being a baked product, it does contain shimmer. I personally generally prefer matte blushes, but if you like shimmer blushes this is a nice one. The shimmer is very finely grained so it gives off a nice radiance rather than large visible flecks of glitter on your face. This color of blush would also be a great highlighter for fairer skin tones as it has a gorgeous sheen and radiance that makes the skin glow.Unfortunately, I did find that the product was very powdery and had a lot of fallout, especially when you try to use the included brush. The photo below shows all the fallout that I experienced just swatting the product on my hand with the included brush. However, when you apply the blush with an actual blush brush or stipple brush, or even with your fingers like I used in my swatches below, I found that the product was much less powder and applied nicely. They do blend out very easily on the skin.In terms of longevity, I find that the product lasts a good amount of time, but definitely not as long as theBalm's InStain blushes, which I reviewed a couple of days ago.Below are some hand swatches of the blush. Each photo contains one heavy swatch and one lighter swatch to show you the versatility of this product and how when blended in it can really give the skin a nice radiant glow. Additionally, when blended out, the color almost blends in with my skin color which really makes it appear that I'm not wearing much make up and just have a healthy summer glow. Side note: I do like that this product is vegan!Final VerdictOkay so here are my final thoughts - the blush is definitely not my favorite by any means, but I think with the right look it can be beautiful. I tend to shy away from shimmer blushes as they enhance facial flaws like acne scars, large pores, etc. However, since this blush has more finely grained shimmer than most, if I was reaching for a shimmer blush in my drawer, this one would definitely be a contender. All in all, I probably wouldn't repurchase it just because I rarely use shimmer blushes. Do you own any of the Milani Baked Blushes? What shades do you own and how do you like them? 

theBalm: InStain Long-Wearing Blushes

Today's review is of theBalm's InStain long-wearing blushes. This product comes in six different shades - Argyle, Lace, Houndstooth, Pinstripe, Swiss Dot, and Toile - that flatter all skin tones. 

I purchased four of the six shades - Lace, Houndstooth, Swiss Dot, and Toile. I decided not to purchase Pinstripe as I felt it was a little too dark for my light/medium skin tone, and I would have purchased Argyle, but unfortunately it was sold out at the time of my purchase. 

On theBalm's website, the InStain blushes retail for $22 each and contain .23oz of product. I was able to purchase mine on Overstock.com for only $14 each so I definitely recommend checking that site out if you're interested in purchasing this product.

The packaging of this product is absolutely adorable! The product comes in a small, cute cardboard case that has a depiction of a magazine cover on the front. Each blush has a different image on the front and states whether it is a fall or spring color. On the inside, there is a large mirror which is helpful when applying the product either on the go or when traveling. 

I found that this product definitely delivered in terms of being a highly pigmented, long-wearing blush. It truly has a "staining" power! I love this blush because you can apply it softly for a subtle glow or more intensely for a bold look, but no matter how you apply it, it always lasts all day! I love not having to worry about reapplication during the afternoon/ evening. The color of the blushes is extremely pigmented, but I found that they were easy to apply lightly when using a stippling brush. (I often use the Real Techniques stippling brush.) Additionally, the formula of the blushes is so smooth and creamy, not at all powdery or cakey. 

Swatches
Here are all four blushes swatched heavy on the left and light on the right. The first row is in natural light with no flash and the second row is with a camera flash.

Lace - bright pink with a matte finish

      

Houndstooth - mauve with a satin finish

Swiss Dot - peach/coral with a matte finish

Toile -  strawberry with a satin finish 

 
Final Verdict

All in all, I definitely think this is a great blush to purchase. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a new blush to try out!

Please leave a comment below if you've tried this blush and liked it or if there are any other blushes that you're loving right now! I would love to hear from you!