Sephora Must-Have: Smashbox "Radiance" blush

Back many months ago when I visited a Cosmetics Company Outlet, there was an extremely pigmented hot fuchsia Estee Lauder blush. I passed on it, and regretted the decision for months. I decided to go to Sephora to try and find a similar product, and I ended up with a Smashbox blush in the shade "Radiance". You can tell it's bright, but it's even brighter in real life! It has nice, simple packaging. There's a mirror in the bottom of the container that swings out, which I never even noticed until I took these pictures. Cute, but pointless. It looks scary when you swipe it with your finger, but it actually goes on pretty sheer when used with a blush brush. It's a color that looks really natural & pretty on my skintone, and it's become on of my go-to blushes. I also like the finish- no sparkle here, which is nice for when I want to do something more subtle. I've never tried any Smashbox products before this one, and I don't think there's anything else from the brand I'm dying to try, but this blush has become Holy Grail for me. At $24 it was a splurge, but a worthy one!

Darling Girl Spring Fling collection swatches

Susan from Darling Girl was kind enough to send me samples of the Spring Fling collection so I could swatch them for my readers :) Sadly, it seems I've lost the shade 'New Grass', so here is a link to one of my favorite blogs; she has some great swatches of this collection. Top 3: Sorbet, Mango Tango, Forsythia Middle 3: Garden of Weedin', Butterfly Flutterby, Lily of the Valley Bottom 3: Plum Blossoms, Shower of Flowers, Lala I wish my camera would show the complexity of Shower of Flowers, it has a great blue flash to it. Lala also has amazing pink shimmer, which is what I tried to capture with that last picture. Those two are my favorite colors from the collection. A lot of these colors are heavy are the shimmer, so I would recommend using Pixie Epoxy or a similar type product with these. I got on the roof to take these pictures and my kitty Gloria decided to come up too! Here's a look I did with Showers of Flowers and Lala... and a more fun one with Forsythia, Butterfly Flutterby, and some Collection 2000 glitter liner. A customer at work told me I looked like I was going to the carnival :P

Hard Candy Glossaholic review

From reviews I've read, Hard Candy seems to be pretty hit-and-miss with their product line. I can't say myself, since aside from these glosses I've only tried the primer, and I don't see much else from the line that seems too exciting. That being said, I do really like these glosses. They cost $5 and are only available at your local evil empire, Walmart. They have a REALLY strong vanilla-frosting scent to them, which I don't like, but luckily it doesn't stay long. They also sport a giant applicator, which I didn't like at first, but now I do- it has kind of a dip in it, so it can get a lot of gloss in one go, and cover your lips in one go too. It's the same size as the gigantor MAC Wonderwoman glosses- here's a size comparison. Hard Candy, MAC Wonderwoman, Rimmel. I have 3 different colors- Fairy, Tipsy, and Chill Out. Tipsy is a sheer hot pick, and Fairy and Chill Out both show up mostly clear. I love these glosses because they have FLAKIES! Much like my favorite lip gloss of all time, the MAC Superglass (of which I only own one). You can click on the pictures to see them full size so the flakies are much more visible. I just think it looks so cool, I love wearing these with a neutral eye, layered over lipstick, to give my look something more interesting. These glosses are really sticky, which I normally don't like, but I can deal with it for these because they're so gorgeous. Do you have any of these Hard Candy glosses, or tried any others from the line? Do you have any of the coveted MAC Superglass?

Darling Girl Cosmetics Holo-Gloss Review

Right as Susan from Darling Girl Cosmetics was releasing her new collection of Holo-Glosses, she sent me samples of a few colors so I could review and swatch them :) Basically, a Holo-Gloss is a pretty sheer lip gloss, and it has TONS of gorgeous glitter, or an amazing sheen. If you've seen the Lorac 3D glosses, than you have an idea of what I'm talking about. Since they're so sheer, I think they're best for layering over another lipstick or gloss. What I liked about these is that even the ones that are PACKED with glitter don't feel gritty on my lips- the glitter is really fine. It does tend to stay on my lips though, even after everything else has worn off, much like MAC Superglass or the Hard Candy Glossaholics- I don't think there's really a way to avoid this. I get about the same wear time on these as I would any other gloss, which is maybe 2-3 hours. I'm a huge lip licker :P The Holo-Glosses are $4.25 for a 3.5 ml tube, which I think is a great price. These are so amazingly gorgeous, and there's quite a few shades now. After using these, I can't see myself paying $22 for any of the Lorac glosses I was lusting after. Now for the fun part, swatches! I left these first 2 pictures pretty big so you can really see the detail if you click to enlarge. Top 2: Wish You Were Here, Violet Hill Bottom 2: Blue Suede Shoes, Pennies From Heaven Blurry so you can see all the sparkly! Wish You Were Here Violet Hill Blue Suede Shoes Pennies From Heaven Pennies From Heaven is my favorite, and not just because the name was my idea ;) I really want to try Jar of Hearts and Queen of Hearts, I'm sure those will manage to find their way into my cart on my next DG order. Have you tried the Holo-Glosses yet? Which shades are you after?