New York Color Limited Edition Bronze Bliss Summer Blushable Cream Sticks~ Swatches and Review

Radiant Bronze and Gold Radiance

This summer New York Color (NYC) released a golden-goddess-esque collection named Bronze Bliss. In the collection was two Blushable Cream Sticks which was really exciting for me as I love their regular line Blushable Cream Sticks (you can read my review on Big Apple Blush here). The two shades in the collection were Radiant Bronze and Radiant Gold. Here is an unblended swatch of each.

T-B (Shade): One light swipe of Radiant Bronze, Three swipes of Radiant Gold

T-B (Sun): One light swipe of Radiant Bronze, Three swipes of Radiant Gold

I'm going to start with Radiant Bronze. This shade is perfection. Super pigmented and creamy this applies almost in excess. You'll need a light hand otherwise you'll overdo it. The colour itself is warm and rich with a very very fine gold shimmer throughout. When blended the shimmer is barely noticeable giving a lit from within look. It's lasting power is decent about three hours depending on how heavily you blend the product out. Plus as with all the Blushable Cream Sticks it dries to a powder finish. Unfortunetly the good ends here however. I gave mine to my friend because on me this just ended up looking like a bruise, the beginnings of a rash, or dirt. I've never had any luck with bronzers though so I don't blame the product itself. My friend has quite a yellow undertone to her skin and it really looks awesome on her. Perfect exotic beach dweller effect.

Shade- Radiant Bronze Blended (on N10 skin)

Next is Gold Radiance a white to light gold sparkle highlighter shade. This was the one I was most excited about, but to be honest it kind of let me down. In the tube it looks like it has a white-gold base with fine gold shimmer bits throughout but on the skin it ends up being clear (or near clear) with the gold bits instead. It's still pretty and I like using it along my cheek bones, but due to the translucent base it requires multiple layers to show up adequately (as seen below in the blended swatch). Another slight issue is that this one has a hint of a greasy feel to it not really drying down as quickly or fully to the lovely powder finish the other Blushable Cream Sticks have. It also doesn't have great staying power lasting around 4 hours maximum. I still like the product, the fine gold bits are really subtle and pretty but I was hoping for more.

I got these from Rite Aid for $4.99 USD each (I'm visiting the USA at the moment). They are also quite large holding a huge 8 grams of product. They are limited edition for this summer and can be found in a display.

Gold Radiance in the tube

Radiant Bronze in the tube partially spun up

Sprite Rating: Gold- 5/10, Bronze 7/10

Would I buy these again? If I had a darker and/or warmer skin-tone that actually cooperated with bronzers I would buy the Radiant Bronze one again. The Radiant Gold I probably wouldn't purchase a second time though. I like it and I'll use it but I was hoping for more and it doesn't last all that long for a very subtle gold glinty effect.

Butterfly Dress Wedding Look

The Butterfly Dress

Firstly, I want to apologize for the crumby photos in this post. The lighting sucked and I was in a hurry but I think you get the idea- plus I was really pleased on how it turned out. Enjoy.

 

Products I used

• Fyrinnae Silica Gel Primer
• Estee Lauder Double Wear Foundation in Shell
• Physician's Formula Healthy Wear pressed powder foundation SPF 50 in Translucent Light
• Make Up For Ever Full Cover concealer in shade 02
• Mac Kissable Lip Color in Flaunting It (worn for a bit so the intensity has died down in the photos)
• TheBalm TimeBalm concealer in Lighter than Light
• Blinc Tubing Mascara in Black
• Fyrinnae Jade Ghost (inner corner and onto lid)
• Fyrinnae Sakura (all over lid)
• Fyrinnae Faerie Glamour (outer corner/crease)
• NYC cream blush stick in Big Apple Blush

I also did a manicure and pedicure for this outfit. I used Eyeko Pastel Polish on my toes with OPI Breathe Life over top (this photo does NOT do it justice! So pretty and opalescent!). On my hands I had Color Club Fashion Addict polish a really dazzling holographic lilac shade. (Again photo does not do justice!)

Does any of your clothing inspire your make-up looks?

New York Color Blushable Creme Stick in Big Apple ~ Review

Today's review is on my New york Color Blushable Creme Stick in the shade Big Apple Blush. It's a berry pink cream blush in stick form that comes with a ton of product for hardly anything at most drugstores (in Canada- Rexall, Walmart and some others; in the USA- Target, Walmart, and others I'm sure I'm missing). These blushes are full of pigmentation and come in 6 shades in the permanent range.

Look how much you get!

Although the packaging is cheap plastic, I find it quite sturdy and easy to work with. There is a nice twist-up/down mechanism and a clear top so you can see the shade that matches the outer plastic in colour. I think the packaging is great if you're on the go alot or travelling as the cylinder shape makes it easy to stick in a purse.

Two layers (heavy swatch so you could really see the colour)

Heavy swatch blended out

You only need the smallest dabs on your cheek to get all the colour you'd need. I dab about two half dabs on my cheeks each straight from the stick then blend with my fingers. This blush is really easy to blend and looks like a natural flush on my cheeks. I also adore that these are cream to powder so it never feels sticky or tacky or wet at all. In fact when I wear this, just like my Nars Penny Lane cream blush I can't feel anything on my cheeks throughout the day. This doesn't last as long on as my Nars Penny Lane blush but considering the price and feel it's certainly up to par! This colour does have some shimmer to it but nothing outrageous- I can't see it when I apply it to my cheeks, but I have heard about some of the others shades having a little too much shimmer so something to keep in mind.

Overall I think these Creme Blushsticks are little hidden drugstore gems, and I may have to pick up some more shades. The most popular of the shades is a more yellow-based pink called Plaza Pink but there is also Urban Spice (a bronzer), South Street Seashell (a browned coral shade), Mauvin Uptown (a dirty mauve) and Berry New Yorker (a browned red). I think this colour range is great because it definitely has a couple shades that would work for all skin tones and some that would look best on specific ones too.

Sprite Rating: 8/10- Lost one point for cheapy looking packaging and one for not being long wearing enough to last all day.

Would I buy this again? Yes!!!! I'm already debating another shade! :D

Please Note: New york Color is a Cruelty Free brand, but the company that owns it as far as I can tell is not Cruelty-Free. There are a ton of companies like this out there though, so I take what I can get, especially with large brands such as these.

Review: A Surprisingly Awesome Lipstick

On a whim I caved and bought NYC (New York Color) Ultra Moist Lipstick in Wild Orchid. Reasons I caved on a cheap Walmart lipstick?

1. It was purple and gold

2. I have a need to own just about everything with the word Orchid in it (favourite flowers of all time, so it's not my fault!) and

3. It cost less than two dollars Canadian. Pretty much unheard of.

So I bought this expecting it to be a super dry weird smelling lipstick that would likely sit in my Make-up collection because it looked horrible on. Oh how joyously wrong I was!

This lipstick glided on with startling ease, leaving a creamy sheen of colour across my lips. Easily built up, I found the colour flattering and not at all harsh like other purples of a similar tone due to the gold. In fact once on my lips it seems to morph to an almost rose colour with a hint of purple and a frost gold finish. The gold in it is not a glitter nor a shimmer, but instead a duochrome that shifts and changes with the light. When first applying you get a lovely burst of fruit scent. This quickly fades, but every time I open it I smile and think of fruit juice boxes I drank as a child. The packaging isn't fancy but it is serviceable, with hard non-flimsy plastic and a smooth twist mechanism. I also particularly like that the lipstick is visible through the container, making it easy to identify exactly the shade I'm looking for without opening. Upon wearing it is fairly average in lasting power (i.e. its gonna last 3 hours if you don't eat or drink) and it does keep it's creamy feel for almost the entire wearing period.


The top swatch is only one swipe, whereas the bottom is multiple swipes.

The only cons of this lipstick is that it will feel drying to your lips if you're planning on wearing it by itself all day. A clear gloss can easily fix this though. Another thing to mention is that you need to handle it with a little more care than the average lipstick as it scarily looks like it could happily snap off at the base.

However, overall I have to say this is an excellent bargain for an great quality lipstick.

Rating: 8/10