theBalm Nude'tude Palette

Swatches & Review

When theBalm released their Nude'tude palette last year, I have been wanting to get it, but I never did because I wanted to use up some of my items first. When theBalm was on Hautelook on Thanksgiving, I caved and my boyfriend bought it for me(after the many times it has been on Hautelook).

The Nude'tude palette comes in two designs, Naughty or Nice. They both have the same colors in them. The palette I chose was Naughty because I love how they used the eyeshadows to cover the women's "nude" parts.

Sassy: Frosty white. Chalky, but buildable.
Snobby: Frosty yellow-gold, applied sheer and was powdery.

Stubborn: Frosty light-peach very soft and pigmented.
Stand-offish: Frosty metallic champagne-bronze, very soft and pigmented.

Selfish: Frosty taupe, very soft and pigmented.
Sultry: Matte medium-brown, very soft and pigmented.

Sophisticated: Shimmery dark brown, very soft and pigmented.
Seductive: Shimmery-pearly golden-bronze.

Sexy: Matte maroon/burgundy. Not as soft as the others, kind of dry.
Silly: Sparkly/glittery red-brown. Had fall out & applied sheerly.

Serious: Matte black. Was kind of dry like Sexy, and applied patchy.
Sleek: Matte dark brown. Soft and pigmented.

This palette has frosty shades, matte, shimmery, and one glittery.
A majority of the colors were very very soft and because it was so soft, there were a bit of fallout, but tapping the brush on your forearm before apply would definitely help with the fallout. I found that swatching from my finger and a sponge-tip applicator did not work too well with these because they apply sheer with those, but they definitely apply better with a brush. I found that the darker shades were drier so the first swipe of those applied sheerer than the rest, but after a few swipes, the colors are intense and left stains on my arm (Sexy, Silly, Serious & Sleek). Overall, this palette is a nice neutral palette. You don't really need it if you already have Urban Decay's NAKED and/or NAKED2, but if you love neutrals, this would be a good addition!

What do you think about the Nude'tude palette? Do you like the design? What is your favorite theBalm item?

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Neutral Blushes

Comparisons & Swatches

Throughout the year, I have purchased many blushes. After getting Tarte's Exposed, I looked at my blush collection and noticed that I have two other "neutral" blushes, so I decided to compare them to see the difference. The blushes that I will be comparing is Tarte's Exposed, Sleek's Suede, and MAC Cosmetics Darkly My Dear.

Exposed, Suede, Darkly My Dear

From the swatches, you can tell that they would all make nice everyday neutral blushes, but they are definitely not the same.

Tarte's Exposed is a pink-nude
Sleek's Suede is a peach-nude
MAC Cosmetics Darkly My Dear is a plum-nude.

They all have a matte finish, and are very pigmented. I think my favorite from the comparisons is Darkly My Dear, but it was a Limited Edition blush that came out two Holiday seasons ago for the Venomous Villains collection. The other two, Tarte Exposed and Sleek Suede are in their permanent line with Tarte retailing for $25 and Sleek retailing for $5.99.

Now, being the blush hoarder that I am, I'm interested in trying NARS Douceur, which is also a neutral blush that is described as a soft pink-brown.

What do you think of these blushes? Are there any other neutral blushes that you would recommend me?

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Tarte Amazonian 12-Hour Clay Blush: Exposed

Swatches & Review

Tarte's Amazonian Clay Blush in Exposed blush is a nude blush. After hearing many good things about Exposed, I decided to finally buy this since I have been loving neutral blushes lately.

In the pan, it looked like a muddy light brown shade when I first looked at it, but in different lighting, you're about to see the pink-ish tone to it.

Initially, I thought Exposed would be kind of like a light bronzer, but when swatched, it is a gorgeous pink-nude, so it does not look like a bronzer at all!

Overall, I think this is a nice neutral-pink blush shade as an everyday blush. It is pigmented, but this will not easily give you clown cheeks like Flush would, since it is more on the neutral side.

Also, Tarte is currently running their Friends and Family sale, which is 30% off their site so if you are interested in trying their blushes, you should definitely order now! Their Holiday sets are also included, such as the 4-piece blush set that I have reviewed in the past (link here). The code is FFDEC and is valid from today through the 13th of December at tartecosmetics.com

What do you think about neutral blushes? Are there any that are you favorites? What is your everyday blush?

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Milani Orange-Gina

Swatches & Review

The next item I purchased from CVS's beauty sale is Milani's Orange-Gina lipstick.

This lipstick is housed in a gold lipstick tube. I'm not really a fan of the packaging, but I like that the lipstick itself is not like the normal round lipstick.

Orange-Gina is a vibrant orange with flecks of tangerine-gold shimmer. I have not tried many orange lipsticks before, but I actually liked this on me. This orange was not like an orange that is too bright, but it is bold like wearing red lipstick to me. This applied smoothly & it was not sheer. The only thing I did not like about this was the scent. It smelled like plastic & it kind of tastes like plastic as well.

What do you think about Milani Lipsticks? Have you tried any?

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