Top 10 of 2011: Blushes & Highlighters

It’s so hard for me to pick favorites, but these are ten products that really caught my eye this year for adding color and/or glow to cheeks. Since these are products for 2011, I did exclude any spring 2012 products that may have been reviewed this year, as they’re technically for next – so these feature products new for 2011 and permanent products I discovered this year!

1. Guerlain Parure de Nuit
2. Laura Mercier Rose Rendezvous
3. Guerlain Blush G Serie Noire
4. Benefit Watt’s Up
5. Tarte Exposed
6. Guerlain Terra Inca
7. Tarina Tarantino Feather
8. NYX Menage a Trois
9. NARS Oasis
10. Chanel Beiges Ombres Tissees

What was your favorite blush/highlighter that you discovered this year?

5 Shimmering Coral Blushes

Five of my favorite coral blushes… You know how I adore corals!

1. Le Metier de Beaute Echo Blush
2. Estee Lauder Radiant Peach Blush
3. NYX Menage a Trois HD Grinding Blush
4. Lancome Mandarin Sky Blush
5. Korres #44 Orange Blush

Wet ‘n’ Wild Petal Pusher Look

This is a look I did to test out several products I hope to review (some I’ve reviewed at this point, some I haven’t).

You will need the following…

• Eyes: NARS Smudgeproof Eyeshadow Base (neutral eyeshadow base), Wet ‘n’ Wild Petal Pusher Eyeshadow Palette (lilac, copper rose, burgundy brown), Burberry Trench Eyeshadow (highlighter), Urban Decay Perversion 24/7 Liner (black), Illamasqua Glisten Eyeliner (champagne), Chanel Inimitable Intense Mascara (black)
• Face: NYX HD Studio Foundation (04 Sand Beige), Guerlain Les Violettes Mineral Powder (03)
• Cheeks: NYX Menage a Toris HD Grinding Blush (tangerine coral)
• Lips: NARS Frivolous Velvet Gloss Pencil (sheer pink)
• Brushes: 249 (flat, firm brush), 239 (fluffy shadow brush), 222 (fluffy crease brush), 263 (angled eyeliner brush), 116 (dense blush brush)

For eyes, start by applying Smudgeproof as your eyeshadow base all over the eye area with the 249.  Apply the lilac eyeshadow to the lower half of the lid with the 239.   Next, apply the copper rose eyeshadow to the upper half of the lid and crease with the 217.  Then, apply the burgundy brown eyeshadow into the crease and blend upward with the 219.  Use Trench eyeshadow to highlight the brow bone and diffuse the crease color with the 217.  Apply Perversion liner on the lower water line and Glisten liner on the lower lash line.  Finish by sweeping lashes with Inimitable Intense mascara.

For cheeks, apply Menage a Trois blush on the apples of the cheeks and pat towards the temple with fingers.

For lips, apply Frivolous pencil for a complementing lip.

Check out more photos!

NYX Menage a Trois HD Grinding Blush

NYX Menage a Trois HD Grinding Blush ($16.50 for 0.25 oz.) is one of eight shades of blush from NYX’s HD Studio line. According to NYX, by grinding a blush powder each use, you’ll avoid “oil trappings on powders, contamination, and cracking.” The blush formula itself is supposed to reflect light from the skin while giving pores a smaller and smoother look. Menage a Trois is a soft tangerine-peach with spun gold shimmer-sheen. It’s really a gorgeous shade and one that will work exceptionally well on warmer skin tones.

Next to the blush, you might recognize an elephant–the price tag. NYX is known as a brand with affordable options but still a wide variety and higher quality products than many other more affordable brands (overall). It’s obvious the HD Studio range is at a higher price point, but I think it might be outpricing the comfort zone of some of their customers. Their Powder Blushes are $6, Cream Bushes are $6.50, and Mosaic Powders are $8. The HD Grinding Blush is double the price of their more expensive blush. I’m not worried that NYX is going to change directions and move to mid-tier, but it’s an interesting move.

my thoughts on the formula: The texture of the HD Grinding Blushes is very smooth–definitely finely milled. The colors themselves are a lot less intimidating when applied than they look initially–I did not find that you could quite get the level of intensity as see in the shavings themselves, but you can get close. The softness of the blush powder makes it easy to apply, blend out, and difficult to overdo. On me, it wears around six hours before there is some fading (over liquid foundation, set with loose powder).

Though I haven’t personally tested Smashbox’s Halo powders, the grinding mechanism of NYX’s HD Grinding Blushes reminded me of them. I’m not sure if Smashbox has put out Halo blushes, but they do have the twist ‘n’ shave mechanism for their Perfecting Powders, Perfecting Bronzers, and Color Correcting Powder. It’s neither a pro nor con but more for your reference.

I’m not keen on the grinding packaging, actually.  It’s cool, but any excess powder left inside inevitably seems to get everywhere else.  I had twisted and ground each blush for photos and carried them to my bathroom and left little blush shavings in my wake.  When I opened the blushes, the loose shavings had collected on the outer rim, where the cap screws on, and easily escaped to the freedom of my carpet, sink, and swatching pants!  (And that is exactly why one wears swatching pants…)  The only mitigating factor is that usually you do not twist too much excess, so there is an end in sight, unlike perhaps an entire jar of loose blush.

The Glossover

P	Menage a Trois B+
	I’m not particularly surprised that I’m most drawn to this shade–after all, if it’s gold, peach, or coral, I’m already there. The whole grinding concept is more of a novelty for me, and the packaging could use some tweaks so that any excess shavings stay within the jar, rather than settle around the rim (outside of the recessed opening). It could wear a touch longer; most blushes last all day (eight to ten hours) on me.
	Product 9/10 Pigmentation 10/10 Texture 9/10 Longevity 7.5/10 Application 4/5
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NYX Menage a Trois HD Grinding Blush

NYX Menage a Trois HD Grinding Blush

NYX Menage a Trois HD Grinding Blush

NYX Menage a Trois HD Grinding Blush

NYX Menage a Trois HD Grinding Blush