NYX Baked Blushes | Chiffon & Foreplay

Anyone who's involved in the beauty world has a weakness (or two). My weakness is blush (and lipstick) and when I was perusing the aisles of Ulta recently and stumbled upon the new NYX baked blushes ($6.99 for .23 oz), I could not walk out of the store without at least one. I picked up two of the twelve magnificent shades; I grabbed Chiffon and Foreplay. 

These can be applied either wet, for more pigmentation, or dry. Upon first use, I noticed right away that there is a very rough exterior to the blush. Once you work your way through that tough top layer, you break through to a nice soft blush underneath. Just swirl a brush around on the top for a bit until you break through to the soft powder underneath.

I thought these provided a pigmented wash of color, along with an illuminating dewy glow. Once applied, my cheeks looked radiant and glowing in a way I haven't had a blush do for me before. 

NYX Baked Blush in Chiffon

NYX Blush in Foreplay

On the NYX website, Chiffon is described as an "iridescent highlight" and Foreplay is described as "pink with gold shimmer". I would say Chiffon is definitely more pigmented than "iridescent highlight" makes it sound. I was wearing it in my Justin Timberlake FOTD, for those of you curious to see how it looks on the face. 

Product: 5/5

Pigmentation: 4/5

Texture: 4/5

Packaging:  5/5

These blushes provide a gorgeous wash of color that leaves the cheeks looking dewy and glowing without looking oily or greasy. I think the formulation that allows them to be applied either wet or dry is innovative, and makes for a very versatile blush. I really like these blushes, and how natural they look on my cheeks. I definitely want to pick up a couple more! 

Have you tried the NYX Baked Blushes?

FOTD | Justin Timberlake Concert

My friend Paul  + I!

This past Sunday, I had the pleasure of seeing Justin Timberlake in concert. I've been a huge JT fan through his whole career, and when I heard he was going to be in my neck of the woods for the first time in 7 years, I could not miss out. 

One of my best friends (Paul) and I go to many concerts together, and have seen nearly all of our favorite bands, and both of us agree, this Justin Timberlake concert was *the* best concert we have ever seen. What really made the night special was during the second half of the show; The front part of the stage broke off and rolled right in front of our seats! It was stunning! JT sang 4-5 songs right in great view! Amazing!

I thought I'd show you what makeup I was wearing, as I always like to sport something bold in some way when I see a show. For JT, I went bold lips all the way! 

To achieve this look, I used (my favorite!) Covergirl 3-in-1 Outlast Stay Fabulous foundation in Ivory. To conceal any darkness under my eyes and brighten the under-eye area, I used the Covergirl & Olay Simply Ageless eye concealer in shade 205. On the cheeks, I used one of the new NYX baked blushes. This one is in the color Chiffon, a bronzey mauve color. (more on these blushes coming later!) 

On my eyes, I primed with my Maybelline Color Tattoo in Nude Pink that I forgot to put in the picture - oops! (see my review on this product here) and then used the starred matte brown color from my Crown Brush Neutral Smokey Eye palette and used that in the crease and outer V of my eye. I then used the starred pink-white color in the middle and inner corner of my eye to brighten things up. I lined my eyes with my favorite Wet n Wild Mega Liner, and lined the waterline with the Rimmel ScandalEyes liner in Nude to make my eyes appear bigger and more awake. For mascara, I used this little mini Benefit They're Real!

I used the Wet n Wild Kohl Brow/Eyeliner pencil in Taupe to fill in my eyebrows, followed by a coat of Maybelline Great Lash in clear to set them.

For the bold pop of color, I lined my lips and filled them in with the NYX retractable lip liner in Fruit Punch before going in with one hell of a red lipstick: L'Oreal's Colour Riche La Lacque lipstick in Lacque-onic. (read more about these lipsticks here) I loved the bold pop against my very fair skin. I always love an excuse to go mega-bold with my lips and this was just the right night for it!

Just for fun, here's a clip from the show!