Blushes are yummy

I am of Asian descent. South East Asian specifically, unlike my mother I do not have a soft pink glow, I'm incapable of blushing. My face looks really dead without color, so I cheat and I wear blush. This is probably my makeup staple. While most girls probably can't live without mascara or eyeliner, for me its blushes, I think it just adds that hint of glow to make your face really stand out.

I know if applied incorrectly you can look like a circus clown, I've seen quite a few girls who go heavy on the blush and it looks pretty scary. But I think it looks kinda sad when a girl is wearing full on makeup with no cheek color, it looks a bit unnatural.

My blush rules:
1. apply with big soft fluffy brush, do NOT use the crappy small brushes that come with blush compacts, unless your head is the size of Barbie's. I think the reason why people don't like blush is because they're either applying it wrong or the brush is just too small, so you get a streak of blush on your face that just looks wrong.

2. Don't automatically assume that everyone blushes in pinky pink. With me only specific pinks look nice on me, many of them look chalky. With different skin tones, comes different colors of blush. Most people would advise to choose a blush color similar to your actual blush color. The only time I "blush" is when I'm at the gym, but I look slightly gross at the gym, so I'm not going to take that example.

3. I think the most universally flattering colors are coral, peach and soft pink. I don't think you can really go wrong with this. Rose is also pretty, but you need a light hand, or else circus freak comes in mind.

4. Applying blush. I lightly dip the brush into the blush, I swirl very lightly and then I dab it onto the lid, swirl it around some more so it evenly covers the brush. By the way you don't necessarily have to see the color on the brush to see if you have enough.

5. I then take the brush and bring it to the chunky part of my cheeks and brush upwards towards the top part of my ear, then I buff it in to create a smoother finish, make sure there are no lines. I do that to both sides and that pretty much it.  .

6. If you applied too much add a bit of face powder and try to buff it away.

7. My way of seeing whether I applied too much blush is squinting at the mirror. You shouldn't be able to see color or only small amount. But if its obvious color when you're squinting, then you've applied too much.

Everyday Minerals Blushes

 Everyday mineral blushes L-R: All smiles, Summer Stroll, Weekend Getaway, Snuggle

Okay. Enough with the rules. I'm going to do a review of my new blushes that I got form Everyday Minerals. I have 5 colors. They are: Summer Stroll, All Smiles, Snuggle, Weekend Getaway, and Nick Nack. I think these blushes are gorgeous, I got All smiles, weekend getaway and nick nack in their coral try me package. The other two I got off lowyat. They're very smooth and quite pigmented, I don't have to keep reapplying over and over again to achieve the look I want.

Weekend Getaway

I know it looks like such a simple color, but its my favorite of the bunch. It has the perfect amount of soft pink and coral to look very natural. There's no sparkle whatsoever, but it looks amazing on my cheeks, I think if I were to ever really blush this would be the color I'd hope to be flushed with.

All Smiles

I think everyone who's used EDM has tried this blush. its extra pretty and its matte. Its a peachy pink, its very vibrant and pigmented, so you would need a light hand to apply this. Its a nice glowing color for tans out there.

Snuggle

I would describe this as a soft medium pink with sheen. I don't typically wear sparkly blushes because they tend to look gaudy, but this is so pretty. It makes my cheeks pop in the nice way. I was so freaked out when I saw this, because all I thought was wow, that's glitter. I was reading some reviews about it, and quite a few people would describe this as Nar orgasm, I have no idea about that since I don't buy expensive makeup. But if you're looking for something with a warm pink and slight sparkle, this is it.

Summer stroll

This color would freak most people out because its so orange. It has a bit of sheen(not as much as snuggle) but it goes on pretty matte. Its also very pretty and doesn't turn up orange on your skin, I don't know how to describe it, like peachy-apricot. My only issue with this blush, it doesn't want to stick to my face. I have to use a heavy hand for this and its gone after a couple hours.

Nick Nack
Cool muted pink. I don't wear this, it just looks chalky and doesn't show up on my skin

I think these blushes are amazing and the fact that they are minerals just add to how perfect they are.

Mineral makeup is awesome

So I've been playing around with makeup for the last couple weeks. More so than usual. The reason why is because I'm trying to get into mineral makeup. My friend from Singapore bought Everyday Minerals like TONS of samples. She found her color and she gave me the rest which was like 10 foundation colors. And picking and choosing the foundation color was hard as hell. But anyways, I kinda pushed them to the side because I was using Maybelline Pure Minerals (not so pure by the way) and it was working pretty alright for me. And then one day  I decided to try to pick my color. So tons of arm and face swatches later, I chose Golden medium / Light medium. And for some strange reason I was having "good" face days as in no breaking out, none of that tiny random adult acne. And I was ecstatic, its a breakthrough! I tried to go back to Maybelline one day and broke out just sporadically. It was very sad for me, since I love the coverage of Maybelline and the fact that it keeps me oil free all day long.

So yes, I thought this is absolutely amazing I'm going to just wear mineral makeup from now on. Now I haven't really fully utilized the makeup, you know going out into the sweaty sun for long periods of time, I usually go from non-sunny room to non-sunny cab to non-sunny train to non-sunny mall. So yeah, I went out with it one day and I took fresh makeup pictures and when I came back, it looked really dark. Like super dark, like I went out and decided to stay in the sun for 6 hours type of dark. I was like okay?? This is weird. I went online and I read that the problem with mineral makeup is the fact that it Oxidizes. I know...WHAT?! Yeah apparently, when you sweat in generous amounts the mineral makeup mixes with your skin to create that not so gorgeous orange glow. So you don't see it initially til its too late :'(

So some of the solutions of oxidized mineral makeup was to choose a lighter shade. Seriously, that's exactly what I want to look like a geisha. So back to choosing the foundation color, AAAAGH! Helpful hints or tips for choosing mineral make up(I have experience[kinda]):

• 1. Make sure your arms are clean before applying swatches(you don't want oils or other crap on your arm to effect the color of the foundation)
• 2. Use your fingers. For every foundation color use a new finger(don't mix) or wipe your finger before dipping into another color.
• 3. Make sure you remember the order of which you applied the foundation colors, they end up looking the same and its gets insanely confusing.
• 4. I use the upper inside of my forearm to test the color because that's the closest color to my face OR just swatch it straight onto your face
• 5. Here's the best tip. I apply them wet. I started becoming delerious because they all began to look EXACTLY alike. Plus I think with them wet it shows what would happen if I sweat with it on. 

• So I pretty much lightly(very lightly don't just plunge it) dip my finger in water and then into the sample and onto my arm and continue to do that with the rest of the colors until I have a nice tiger-like design running down my arm. When your testing it on your arm keep laying it on thick, dip a lil water if necessary so it doesn't look like just plain powder.

From there I sit and wait, its even better if you do it in partial sweat, yea, go for a jog or do it my easy way and just turn off the air conditioning. The waiting part is because the color of foundation changes either darker or orangey-er, atleast for me.
The golden medium that I totally thought was my color turned a light brown, which is not very golden or medium. I finally settled on 3 colors, Light, Light neutral and Winged Butter(too yellow tho).

Initially the colors look pretty pale on me, but then after 15 to 30 minutes to 2 hours it was my shade. So pretty much I start the day 2 shades too light, but instead of orange they do turn slightly yellowy-er Which is fine because I'm pretty yellow.

So after I've chosen which colors I think suit me, I test them on my face. What I did was use 1 color on half my face and another color on the other half. And then I go about my day bumming around and check my face for changes, whilst sweating(very important). Couple hours later I decide which foundation is best suited for me. They probably both look very similar, so its up to you. Yup this whole process took me a week. hahaha, I was very indecisive and the turning orange on me was unexpected

I wish I did not oxidize mineral makeup, but I'm not really willing to give it up. I haven't had clear skin like this since elementary school.