Marc Jacobs Beauty Air Blush Soft Glow Duo - Flesh & Fantasy

Marc Jacobs launched the Air Blush line a couple months ago. It is marketed as a palette that lets you use either side individually or combining the shades, thus giving you three color options from the one blush. As an aside, I had to chuckle at the description stating that this gives a "dance-floor flush" because it has been some time since my clubbing days, which makes me feel old. I digress... I chose the color Flesh and Fantasy, as it seemed like a nice neutral to see if I like the formula and I am definitely not disappointed.

The blush itself is housed in a nice shiny black package. It is plastic, but does not feel cheap. I like the metal push button opener; it feels more special than just pulling the blush case apart. The pan is a really large size, which is nice considering the cost of the blush is $42. You can sweep the color on the left side for a lighter, more highlighted shade, or the right side for a deeper blush. The brand recommends sweeping a brush over the palette vertically to get the colors from the sides, which I did find worked pretty well. If you are truly looking to get only one of the colors without any hint of the other, you are going to need to squeeze your brush to do so.  The color is a light, nude blush that I can pair with more vibrant eye or lip looks. It lasted all day on me when tested.

Close up of the pan:

Swatches below. All swatches in order of first photo.

Outdoors:

Indoors (no flash):

Indoors (with flash):

I am happy with this purchase, as I like the customization aspect of the blush. It has a really nice finish and blends so well. The shimmer is noticeable but not overly dramatic, and it can be worn during the day/at work. If you are looking for a neutral blush that adds a light flush to the skin, you should definitely look into this. I purchased mine at Sephora, but it is available at Marc Jacobs Beauty stockists. There are four other shades available if you like the idea of the palette, but not this particular shade.  Have you tried any new blushes lately? Any tried and true favorites?

CHANEL Fall 2016: Joues Contraste Evening Beige and Rouge Profond

After loving the Candeur et Experience eyeshadow palette from the Chanel Fall Collection, I purchased two of the blushes. I chose Rouge Profond, which is from the Le Rouge Collection, and Evening Beige, which is from the Ultra Wear Flawless Collection. Rouge Profond is a pretty true red and Evening Beige is not, as the name implies, beige, but more of a warm coppery tone. I like that they are both warm colors that have a Fall feel to them. 

Both colors have a great level of pigment and show up on skin without having to build up the product. Evening Beige is a bit more sheer than Rouge Profond. They both blend easily on the skin and lasted a full work day without any fading. Evening Beige has a shimmer in it that is noticeable, but it is not glittery. Rouge Profond is more of a matte shade. 

Close ups of the pans:

Evening Beige:



Rouge Profond:

 

Swatches:

Direct sunlight:



Outdoors in shade:



Indoors (no flash):

Overall, I am happy with all of my picks from the Chanel Fall 2016 Collections. I really love the colors and feel that while they are different than what I would normally choose, they are very wearable. The quality is superb, as is typical from Chanel. Have you tried any new blushes recently?

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Edit - Surreal Light

The Hourglass Ambient Lighting Edit in Surreal Light was one of those instant purchases for me. I love Hourglass powders and think that the quality is amazing. The palette is housed in a marble printed case and contains 5 pans of product. Although the marble is pretty (and, let's face it, Instagram worthy), I think I would have preferred to keep the metal packaging. To me, the metal seems more luxe than a marble printed plastic case and is also in keeping with the overall aesthetic of the brand, but that is more personal preference than anything else and does not affect the quality of the product inside.

I have to say, I think this palette is better suited to the lighter side of the skin tone spectrum. I am light-medium and the only items that show up really well on my skin are the Surreal Effect Blush and the Surreal Strobe Light. The Finishing Powder that takes up the left side of the palette is meant to blend into skin, but if you have a darker complexion, this may make you look ashy (I would definitely recommend trying in store). The middle column sort of blends into my skin and is hard to see. All of the powders blend well and are buttery soft. They each lasted all day on me when tested.

I definitely take exception to them labeling/marketing this palette as universally flattering - the bronzer is too light for my skin, and I am on the lighter side. What would someone with medium to dark skintones use it for? One thing I have noticed is that Hourglass has not seemed to put out a palette for medium-dark complexions, and I really think that they need to. Their powder products are, to me, the highest quality on the market and it is a shame that they are under-serving such a large part of the market.

As with the palette from last year, the pan sizes are really small. I wish they would go back to the trios or use this size palette and make it a quad. It is really difficult to dip a brush into this and not pickup the adjacent powders. The size would not be as much of an issue for a different product, but bronzer, blush, and highlighter fan brushes all tend to be larger. You basically have to squeeze your brush to dip it in the pans, which I am not a fan of doing.

One thing that is a bit odd to me is how they labeled/numbered the palette. I would think that normally you would start at the left, which they did, and do the top row first, then bottom. They did not do that. The far left pan is 1, which makes sense, but then 2 is actually the bottom middle shade, then it goes up to the top middle shade, over to the top right shade, and down again to the bottom right shade. See diagram below. Most people that I have seen swatch it did not do it in that order. I did not either, which is why I labeled the swatches below with the numbers. That is something they should probably think about for next time, as it can make it confusing for people who are trying to look at swatches.

Palette Swatches. All swatches in order of first photo.

Outdoors in full sunlight:



Outdoors in shade:



Indoors (no flash):

I pulled some of my other Hourglass Palettes and individual items so you can see how the new palette compares to some existing products. First, the blushes. I swatched two blushes from the new palette, an individual blush in Radiant Magenta, and two of the blushes from the Ambient Lighting Blush Palette, Luminous Flush and Incandescent Electra. In case you are looking for dupes, if Radiant Magenta and Incandescent Electra had a baby, it would be the Surreal Effect blush. 

Blush swatches. All swatches are in the order of the first photo.

Outdoors:



Indoors (no flash):

For the bronzer, I pulled the Hourglass Luminous Bronze Light (reviewed here). Surreal Bronze Light is noticeably lighter than the Luminous Bronze Light bronzer, which was already made for lighter skin tones. It really does not show up on my skin tone very well as a bronzer. For me, it acts more as a nude blush, but even then it is very hard to see. See swatches outdoors in full sunlight:

I used the Ambient Lighting Palette highlighters as comparison shades for the highlighters/finishing powder in the Ambient Lighting Edit. See swatches below:

Overall, this palette is very pretty, and the quality, as always, is incredible. I do wish the pan sizes were larger and would love to see Hourglass put out a new trio or a quad, instead of trying to cram 5-6 powders into one palette. I probably should have waited to see this in store because I most likely would not have purchased it, as a lot of the colors are really hard to see on my skin tone. If you have a lighter skin tone, run out and buy this - you will not regret it. I would absolutely love this if the colors showed up on my skin better. Medium to darker skin tones really should test in store to see how the colors work on your skin.

The palette retails for $80 and is sold at Sephora and Hourglass. What are your thoughts on this palette?

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Edit - Surreal Light - Sneak Peak

I thought I would give everyone a quick peak at the new Hourglass Palette. I just received it, so I will be testing each of the items separately to see how they wear and will provide a full review next week. I will make sure to include some comparison swatches with other Hourglass powders in the full review so you can see if you already have Hourglass items that are similar. For now, I am previewing some swatches of the palette. Initial swatches seem to be of the usual Hourglass quality, as their highlighters are on the more subtle side of the spectrum. 

Reverse of the palette:

See swatches below.

Outdoors in sunlight:

After just the initial swatching, I think that if you have more of a fair complexion, you will most likely find this very flattering. I think it may wash out or look ashy on darker skin tones. Stay tuned for the full review. 

Wander Beauty On-the-Glow Blush and Illuminator

Wander Beauty is a newer beauty line that recently became available at Sephora. The products are designed to be portable for travel or just carrying with you in your purse or makeup bag. I purchased the On-the-Glow Blush and Illuminator, which is a dual ended stick that contains cream blush and highlighter. It comes in 3 different shades currently, but I purchased the Coral Rose/Nude Glow option.

The color payoff on the blush is pretty buildable, which I like. I am not a fan of blushes that are too strong because I feel it is harder to sheer things out than it is to build them up. The blush is a sheer satin finish without any sparkle to it. The highlighter definitely has shimmer, but it is not overly frosty. See swatches below.

In direct sunlight:



Indoor lighting (no flash):

I really like having something full size that takes the place of two products, especially for travel. Performance on the blush is average, but the highlighter definitely has longer staying power. I did not use a setting powder with these, as I wanted to keep more of the glow. I am sure setting it would help with longevity, but I opted to just add a little touchup of the blush and keep the glowiness.

Overall, this was a winner for me and I look forward to trying other items from the line. The dual ended lipsticks look very promising and may be my next purchase from Wander. The On-the-Glow Blush and Illuminator retails for $42 and is available at Sephora and Wander Beauty. Have you tried anything from Wander yet? What are some of your on-the-go favorites?