Beauty Vixen: blush

Spring came and went, and I started this post a month ago and got distracted/stuck. So with that, here are the things I really enjoyed during the spring months.

Conair Double Ceramic Thermal Round Brush*

I picked this up at the end of March and fell in love with it on the first try. My hair has been less than put together the last while, and frankly, I feel frumpy. I got this and instantly have been able to style my hair better and make second or third day hair look like something other than bedhead.

I can give my hair a little flip on the ends, I can de-frizz the messy waves that developed overnight, and I can make air-dried hair look polished.

I really enjoy how easy it is to use, and the fact that it was only $35 was a real selling point. I cannot believe I was looking at ones that were $200 when this one was available at such a good price point.

Embryolisse Lait-Crème Concentré

I picked some Embryolisse up last year as one of the products for my Vintage Vanity project (which I promise I will get back to), and left it untouched. At the end of March, my skin got very irritated and red. It was bad. As part of my repair routine, I started to use Embryolise. It felt great and smelled amazing. A month back, I got a mini tube in a Shoppers' charity bag, so that one lives in my purse now.

It is a very soothing cream, and I can see why it has been loved since the 1950s.

L'occitane Ultra Rich Body Cream*

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I got this a while back from Butterly to try out. L'occitane has never let me down, and this cream is no exception. It is rich and thick and essentially a 25% Shea Butter cream that is as thick as a Body Butter. It hydrates my skin when dry and cracked, it soothes when it is red and irritated, and it feels nice every time I use it. Best part is I need so little, and it now has a recyclable insert for clean swapping when it is used up.

I like eco packaging ideas, but I know people won't actually rinse and sterilize their containers before refilling properly, and the swap-it-out method, I think, is a great idea.

Shiseido Clear Sunscreen Stick 50+ SPF*

It wouldn't be spring without me using a lot of SPF. While I have a big bin full of face ones I love to use, Shiseido's clear stick has won me over for on-the-go use.

I got this stick at the Shisheido warehouse sale last winter and again at the Lisa Cosmetics sale this spring. I keep it in my purse and use it for touchups daily. I really enjoy the formula, texture and the fact that it won't leak in my bag. It makes touching up my sunscreen so easy, and it feels nicer than any stick I have used before, and it is completely clear, so no mirror is required.

YSL Make Me Blush*-

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This one might not be a shock to anyone. I have not stopped talking about the YSL Candy Glow Tinted Butter Balms or Loveshine Lip Oil Sticks all year long, particularly shade 44. Well, now that I have the blush, I am even more in love. Why can't all blushes blend this well and make me feel this great? Did I also mention I have shade 44 in the cream blush, and that it, too, is fantastic?

Ok, do I love the blush or do I just love shade 44 (Nude Lavalliere)? I think both. The blush looks fantastic on my skin, blends well and is just the right amount of pigment I want. If I want more, layer it with the cream blush. I also have the perfect match for my lips with the butter and oil, so it makes for a really easy wear.

If you are looking for a new blush, I highly suggest you look at these, because they are really nice.
So there you go, 5 things I really loved this past spring. Is there anything you've been loving?

* denotes affiliate link, which may earn me a small commission. - denotes a product I received in exchange for an honest review.

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*This post contains PR Samples

Spring is here, and hopefully soon we will be having the weather to reflect that (it is currently still gloomy in Toronto). Until then, Mary Kay has a whole bunch of new items for the Spring season, some limited edition and some permanent, so let's take a look.

First off we have two new additions to the Mary Kay Clinical Solutions line. These are essentially super awesome actives in serum format. These these two new ones join the line up that already has C Resveratrol Line-Reducer and HA Ceramide Hydrator in its lineup.

Mary Kay Clinical Solutions Ferulic + Niacinamide Brightener is a concentration meant to help with hyperpigmentation, skin tone and texture. It's loaded with antioxidants to help with free radical damage.

It is safe to use with Mary Kay Clinical Solutions Retinol 0.5 program, once you've completed the retinization process. It can also layered with the Clinical Solutions HA Ceramide Hydrator to boost it.

I really liked using this serum the last few weeks. My skin reacted really well to it, my darker spots cleared up faster while using it. My skin also got smoother, which was an issue I was having.

Mary Kay Clinical Solutions PHA+AHA Resurfacer is a hydroxy acid blend that helps exfoliate the skin and with skin cell turnover. It's best to use at night.

I personally have issues with my skin cell turnover, I end up with very clogged pores on both my face and body if I don't use an acid often. I found this one to be really effective and gentle. I used it at night after washing and toning and before my other serums and lotions. I had no tingle reaction to it, and I would definitely go get another bottle when this one runs out.

Next up are new limited edition Duo Sticks. Previously there were blush and bronzer sticks just like this that where limited edition, this time we get 2 bronzer duo sticks as well as 1 Highlight Duo stick. Each bronzer features a cream shade on one side and shimmer on the other, while the highlight stick has two different shimmery highlights it.

Pearl & Gold is the highlight stick. One side is a Pearl white shade and the other Gold (seems obvious I know). The Pearl's shimmer has a pink-peach duo-chrome to it, while Gold has a light old-gold/taupe shade to its shimmer. While both sides are quite shimmery, the Pearl side definitely has a bit more chunk to its shimmer/glitter. When blended out the Pearl shades chunky glitters disperse nicely but that is really all that you are left seeing. I really think this side would be best used on the body as a highlight. The Gold ends up being much more even when spread out. While I really love this stick, I just don't wear that shimmery of highlights anymore, and probably wont be wearing it any time soon.

Bronze & Shimmer is the darker of the two Cream Bronzer Duos. The contour side/Bronze is a relatively deep shade that is has no shimmer in it at all. While the Shimmer side is a beautiful metallic bronzer shade that runs a bit copper with more red leaning tones in it. It also has copper toned shimmer in it. They pair together really well and are very easy to blend out.

Honey & Luster is the lighter of the two Cream Bronzer Duos. It is the one I will most likely be using since I am a paler person. The contour/Honey is just like the other one, it is without any shimmer. Luster is beautiful light bronze tone. It has gold reflecting shimmer in it. They go together very well as they are about the same depth in shade and not too different in colour.

All three of these sticks blend out well, don't feel greasy at all and look fantastic on the skin. As someone who learned to bronze and contour with cream instead of powder I really enjoy using them.

Mary Kay has always had some pretty nice hand products in its lineup, I personally cannot live without Satin Hands Pampering Kit, which is why whenever they do a limited edition of hand creams I get excited. These purse friendly hand reams come in three options, Mandarin & Rose , Mango & Orange Flower and Wild Berry & Passionflower. All three smell amazing! I love how fresh and uplifting they are this time of year. They are 73 ml, so not too tiny but the right size to keep in your purse and not feel like you're going to run out after a day or two.

They contain Shea Butter, Sunflower Seed Oil, Safflower Oil, and Apricot Kernel Oil. All these ingredients make for a great feeling hand cream. I find the cream a bit thicker than the average hand creams, but not so thick that they become a problem to absorb into the skin. It is in my opinion, the perfect consistency for a hand cream.

They all smell fruity, but definitely not overwhelming. They all have a wonderful balance of fruity and floral, in fact they have full Top, Middle and Bottom notes for each one, making them far more complex then I would usually find in a lotion like this. Personally the Wildberry & Passion Flower is my favourite (and currently residing in my purse).

Fragrance Notes:

Mandarin & Rose
Top Notes: Juicy Cassis, Juicy Kumquat, Sparkling Mandarin
Middle Notes: Lush Orchid, Pink Honeysuckle, Jasmine Sambac, Turkish Rose
Bottom Notes: Smooth Sandalwood, Musk, Creamy Vanilla

Wild Berry & Passionflower
Top Notes: Sparkling Wild Berry, Fuzzy Peach Nectar, White Pineapple
Middle Notes: Water Lily, Pink Passionflower, Bright Pink Plumeria
Bottom Notes: Amber Crystals, Creamy Musk, Vanilla Orchid

Mango & Orange Flower
Top Notes: Pulpy Mango, Dragon Fruit, Sparkling Red Currant
Middle Notes: Orange Flower Water, White Orchid, Watery Cantaloupe
Bottom Notes: Coconut Husk, Vanilla, Solar Musk

Mary Kay's Supreme Hydrating Lipstick is one of my favourite lipstick lines. They are rich in colour and silky on the lips all while keeping my lips hydrated. They literally feel like lip balms when they go on the lips, which is probably due to the Sunflower Oil and Vitamin E in it. I personally consider it a tinted lip balm because that is what they feel like.

Mary Kay has added two new shades to the line up Think of Pink and Very Raspberry. Both are very pretty shades that I think are easy to wear.

Think of Pink is a nice soft pink shade that is very sheer. While it show up very well (but still sheer) on my arm swatch, not much pops through on my lips, and that's ok. My one friend commented how pink it looked in the stick but how light it looked on my lips. I actually really like that, it lets your own lip shade shine though while adding the tone of pink to it. It makes pink very wearable for just about anyone.

Very Raspberry has more oomph to its colour. It is a great pinky-raspberry shade that can go on darker but can also be applied more sheer if you go lightly or blot your lips.

Overall, I adore everything in this Spring launch. If I were to suggest three things to get it would be, one of the hand creams for a Mother's Day gift, The Very Raspberry Lipstick because I think it looks good on everyone, and a Cream Bronzer Duo stick in your best shade because they are great.

I honestly can't believe what a great line up this is.

You can find Mary Kay products at MaryKay.ca

*This post features PR Samples. All Views and opinions are my own.

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Years ago, when Hard Candy was just relaunched and a "new" value brand, they had a product that I adored, Fox In A Box. It was a boxed blush, sort of like Benefit's, but much more affordably, with a dinky brush, crusty free and they all had multiple shades inside them. I of course as Mrs. Fox, I ran out and got them all, and honestly still have them today. They were great quality blushes that I know a lot of people really loved.

Sadly, Hard Candy discontinued the blushes quite a few years back and moved towards mineralized bronzers, blushes and eventually their mineralized trios. I really do like the mineralized products, so I wasn't really too upset about the Fox in the Box being gone. That being said when I saw that HC was relaunching Fox in a Box I was super excited, that was until I tried them out.

An Original Fox in the Box, in Smooth Talker

So I guess I should explain that if you are looking for something like the old Fox in a Box, you are going to be very disappointed. The new 'blush' line consist of 2 blushes, 2 bronzers and 1 highlighter. They are all baked mineralized products, so they have minor marbling in them, and range from luminescent-mineral shimmery to full blown shimmer.

They still have brushes inside that don't really do anything, but instead of having an elastic to hold them in place, they have awkwardly placed blob of glue. One of my boxes could not even close until I removed the glue because it was on the edge of the box. Even then the box didn't really close too well (the old versions were like this too though).

The boxes actually are really adorable, with 5 different cartoons of girls with a pop art design on them and all named after each girl's "style" (Uptown Girl, Girl Boss, Girl Next Door, Party Girl, and Glamour Girl). Sadly I have no clue what shade is inside any of them because the colours on the outside aren't remotely related to what is inside, which I never found to be a problem with the old ones or Benefit, but do with these. A all pink box has a bronzer, a green and pink has blush, yellow and pink has bronzer, I just have no clue what is in what until I open them up to use them.

Finally the blushes themselves are now scented, each one different and frankly not something I am overly keen on but not necessarily dinging them for since it is so trendy right now with the PB and Peach scented lines from Too Faced out right now.

The actual blushes are nice, but not amazing. I honestly don't find they have a whole lot of colour pay off. I really find them similar to (but not stellar like) their previous mineralized kaleidoscope bronzers and blushes, which they seemed to have discontinued as well as the trios for this revival.

One of my boxes kind of came unglued inside last week after only using it a few times, now I have a flap moving around scraping up product.

The original Fox in the Box was the thing that got me hooked on blushes back in the day and probably the reason I have all the Benefit Boxes blushes in my collection now, but after forking out $7.98 box I am little disappointed I did. They aren't built that well, the products aren't that pigmented and they sacrificed products I really liked more to launch them. I really didn't think I would buy these and be comparing them so heavily to other products or even the original, but the more I used them, the more I just felt let down. The pigment just isn't there!

So to sum it up, I was super stoked to see a favourite from my past return in a new updated box, only to learn it wasn't really done that well and that other products I liked were sacrificed in the process. *Sigh*

*Products were purchased with my own money.

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Mary Kay has launched some great new items this summer. New mineral blushes that portions of the process go charity, a multi-tasking charcoal mask and a limited edition kit that creates a beautiful look.

Clear Proof Deep-Cleansing Charcoal Mask, $26

This mask is a triple power mask that helps cleanse your skin, reduce shine and help clear pores of impurities. Charcoal is known to help draw out and absorb impurities from deep down in the pores. Kaolin and Bentonite clays help boost the masks potency. It also has honeysuckle and navy bean extracts to help with the appearance of skin discoloration, which is great when you are suffering from post break out marks.

While most clay and charcoal masks burn my skin, I find this one to be quite cool and soothing (it has rosemary and peppermint extracts in it). I love that as it dries I get to see all the little dots of oil and impurities in the mask.

Beauty That Counts Baked Cheek Powder, $23 each

Mary Kay has launched limited edition baked blushes this summer. Giving Heart with is a rosy colour and Kind Heart a luminous soft peach. Both blushes are in a cute heart shape and a sleek black compact.

These blushes are soft and silky, apply really nicely and blend out well. I think they can be layered up quite nicely to the pigmentation you like.

The best part of these baked blushes is that $2 from everyone sold between May 16th and August 15th will go to the Mary Kay Ash Charitable Foundation. The foundation contributes to Look Good Feel Better which helps women dealing with all stages of cancer and by providing grants to women's shelter and community outreach centres. Overall it is a great cause and another good reason to like these blushes.

Summertime Jewel Look, $89 ($97 value)

Mary Kay's Global Beauty Ambassador, Lusi Casco has created a set just for Mary Kay Canada. It features three eye-shadows (Sweet Cream, Hazelnut and Emerald), a mineral cheek colour (Sunny Spice), a black eyeliner (MKBlack) and a Semi-Matte lipstick (Mauve Moment).

I personally really love the Semi-Matte lipstick line, and Mauve Moment was one of my favourites.

As for the eye-shadows, I really like the Mary Kay formula, Sweet Cream and Hazelnut are fantastic matte shades that blend amazingly well and look great when applied. Emerald is a very pretty green but doesn't have a heavy payoff, you've got to pack it on.

The retractable eyeliner in MK Black is a very dark solid black that is darker then many of the black liners in my collections. The formula is almost gel like (but not quite). The blush is a really nice mauve that match the lipstick perfectly.

The look Lusi Casco created is has the Sweet Cream eye-shadow all over, Hazelnut in the outer corner, black liner along the lash line and then Emerald on top of the liner. Overall the set is a great set, I love how the lipstick and blush look great together, the green looks great with mauve.

I created this look but with the modification that I put Hazelnut all over my eyelid area.

I really like this look, it works really well and Emerald is given much more pop when placed on top of the liner then on its own.

Overall I am really loving this collection. The Summertime Jewel Look is a great set that I think will look great on lots of people. All the colours in it work really well together to make a great overall look. The blushes are a great mineral blushes that have a great texture and payoff. The charcoal mask that really helps pull gunk from your skin. Really it is a great overall collection.

What do you think of Mary Kay's Summer Collection? What products are you most interested in?

*Products were sent to me for review, all views and opinions are my own.