Project Swatch: Hourglass Illume Bronzer Duo in Sunset

I'd wanted to buy the Hourglass Illume Bronzer Duo in Sunset for a long time but held off because I was concerned that the bronzer would be too dark on my fair, NC20-ish skin. I won't lie, the bronzer is a little tricky for me to work with and it takes a lot of buffing in to look natural. It can also look a wee bit orange on me if I'm too heavy handed. You can see how the duo looks applied on my face here.

Despite the effort required with the bronzer, I don't consider this a bad purchase because I particularly wanted it for the blusher. In an ideal world, I would make up my own palette with the bronzer from the Illume Duo in Bronze Light and the blusher from Sunset. When I've had my makeup done at the Hourglass counter in Liberty, that is the combination they have used.

I find the texture of these creams very pleasing to work with. They are described as a cream to powder formula but I don't find the finish to be especially powdery, instead, for me this just means the product melds with my skin without leaving a shiny finish. I apply both the bronzer and blusher with my Illamasqua blusher brush but would love to invest in one of the Hourglass brushes to use with it one day.

I have wondered how the texture and colour of these Hourglass Duo Bronzers compares to the popular Chanel Bronze Universel. Unfortunately, I don't own the Chanel to make the comparison but if anyone has seen side by side swatches let me know. I will update this post with any appropriate links as I find them. UPDATE: You can see a comparison of Bronze Light and Chanel Soleil de Tan/Bronze Universel here on Cafe Makeup.

The Hourglass Illume Duo in Sunset costs £40 and I purchased mine palette from Zuneta. Hourglass products are also available from Liberty and SpaceNK.

Kevyn Aucoin The Lip & Cheek Palette

With the sunny weather we've been having recently, I thought it would be a good time to revisit this Kevyn Aucoin palette. I first tried the Lip and Cheek Palette in 'the corals' a couple of months back and it wasn't instant love. From experience, I know it's always worth giving things a second try and I'm pleased I didn't write this palette off.

The palettes contain (from left to right) three lip glosses, a cream blusher and a lip colour. The glosses all have a nice texture, they don't feel especially sticky and have a sweet, vanilla scent. The blusher is quite a thin cream texture and acts almost like a stain. It reminds me a little of the effect I get with the Hourglass Aura Cheek Stain. It's a pinky coral colour and for me, best suited for Spring/Summer wear.

The lip colour is the item I didn't get on with first time around. My mistake was to apply it with a lip brush and this produced a finished that I didn't like. Today, I was very cautious and applied a really thin layer with my finger. I built up the colour in layers like this, patting it on and I was much happier with the effect. Topped off with one of the glosses, it looks and feels very nice and gives good wear time.

Swatches in the order as the palette

Although I'm not the biggest fan of lip products in palettes, I think this would be a nice item to take away on holiday as the colours are really summery and it would be convenient for adding a little colour on the go. Probably best to avoid getting sand in it, of course!

There are a couple of negatives which I want to mention. Aesthetically, I don't think it looks as sleek as other items from the line. It's black all over rather than the usual two-tone red and black packaging plus it has a rather cheap looking gold fastening. I realise this all sounds a bit nit-picky but this brings me onto my other point. I feel the palette is quite expensive for what it is. None of the pans, apart from the cream blusher, are particularly big and with regular use, they would be used up quite quickly. Usually palettes offer a better deal than buying the items separately, so I think a price around £30 might be more enticing.

The Lip & Cheek palette comes in three colour ways: the corals, the pinks and the mauves and are available from Mise Beauty. The palettes cost £42 each.

Disclosure: This item was sent to me without cost for review purposes.

Stila Convertible Colour in Lilium

I want to start this post by saying that I really like the Stila Convertible Colours in general and I've posted about Stila CC in Orchid before. I was really excited to receive Lilium in an event bag and wanted to love it like my other cream blushers. It's a pretty petal pink shade with a hint of beige when swatched. On paper this sounds like the perfect shade for me. Unfortunately, I find the colour doesn't do much for me when applied.

I have quite high colour in my cheeks and as Lilium is quite pale and delicate, I find it doesn't really show up very well against my natural colouring. It's not light enough on my colouring to be a highlighter either. I find that it creates a sheen on my skin but because of the lack of obvious colour the sheen seems to accentuate the imperfections in this area (I really wish I could ignore those eye crease, can I pretend it's lack of sleep?).

This is simply a case of the colour not working for me. I still intend to add some more of the Convertible Colours to my collection and at £16 they're quite reasonably priced. Stila products are available from Boots, Escentual and BeautyBay.


Disclosure: Press sample

Rouge Bunny Rouge Blush Wand in Manet

I was intrigued by Rouge Bunny Rouge Blush Wands for some time. I love cream formula blushers and stick packaging can make for very convenient application. It can be tricky to get the consistency right so that it applies easily from the wand without being to 'runny' to hold it's shape in the packaging. You'll be pleased to hear the Rouge Bunny Rouge Blush Wand has a good consistency.

Manet is one of those blusher colours that looks scary in the tube and when swatched but looks very pretty on the cheeks. It's easy to blend and has a sheer quality to it allowing the skin to show through a little. Colourwise, it reminded me of Illamasqua Rude but when swatched side by side, Rude is a brighter and more vivid coral to Manet's muted pinky-ginger.

Trying Manet has piqued my interest in the other Blush Wands. The Blush Wands costs £28 each and there are four colours altogether: Vermeer, a rose petal pink; Rubens, described as a medium sangria; Goya, a peachy coral and Manet. I can only see Rubes and Manet on the Zuneta website at the moment, no doubt because of the recent 20% off event!

Have you ever tried these blushers? Are you a fan of cream blush?


Disclosure: PR sample