TOWER 28 BEAUTY Bronzino Illuminating Bronzer in "Best Coast" ::: Review & Swatches!!!

I took a month long vacation to visit family back home (in India) in February and I somehow got back into USA just before the world went into lockdown mid-march. So by Mid-May I have been quarantined (and working from home) for about 2 months! Along with the rest of the world, my mind was sad, anxious and obviously my overall mood was very sullen. Early in the lock-down phase, everything was so uncertain, and it made my mind even more anxious. I didn't even want to buy any new makeup which typically helps me to fight sad feelings in normal times. 

I still browsed through Sephora's 'New Arrival' section to see if retail therapy could help. This Bronzino Illuminating Bronzer from Tower 28 Beauty caught my attention for two reasons -

1. It had such a clean, simple packaging.
2. It was available at a much reasonable price, especially compared to some unnecessarily expensive bronzers.

I decided to buy it, mainly because the price was very approachable. That purchase did actually really, really help me divert my mind from the negativity and anxiety stemming from the world events and just focus on something positive, something joyful for a change!

It has been 3 months since I got it; I think it's time to gather my thoughts  and talk about it.

Every summer, I buy a bronzer! It is like a little makeup tradition I have built over the years. I am glad I bought Bronzino this year. I have almost used up my beloved RMS Beauty Buriti Bronzer (briefly talked about it in this post), so it was the perfect time to try out a new cream formula.

Shade/Color (I got it in Best Coast): I ordered it online; it took Sephora more than a week to send it my way (it's completely fine in a pandemic world). When I swatched it for the first time, I was a tad bit disappointed! I was apprehensive after looking at the pan and swatching it on my hand; I assumed it would not be a good shade for me. When I looked in the pan, I could see that it has a strong orange-red undertone along with a ton of shimmer. I love a little bit of shimmer and I love a red undertone, but even for someone like me who enjoys these attributes in a bronzer, it felt like it was too much! Atleast at the first glance/swatch! But upon using it a couple of times, and playing with it more, I got over that initial disappointment! Now, after using it almost every time I have been wearing makeup in these last  3 months, I can confidently say that I love the red-undertone - it does really suits my warm medium skin-tone. And yes, the shimmer is a lot, but I use it somewhat carefully and blend it out without any problem!

One other thing - Bronzino comes with only two shade! It is a bronzer, not a foundation product so one shade can cover a bigger range of skin-tone (than a foundation) but it still is not entirely inclusive right? I refuse to believe that two shades of bronzer is enough for the entire skin-tone from pale to ebony skin-tones. I sincerely hope they are working on adding more shades!

Formula:  It's a cream product; I mean you already know that 😂! It's a lovely (cream) formula; very soft and emollient. The formula doesn't have much rigidity to it so it is easy to blend out. I use my fingers to get the product from the pan and pat it down on the specific areas of my face and then, I use a slightly damp beauty blender (the same one I use for my foundation) to blend out the bronzer. I typically apply bronzer in the shape of a 3 around the perimeter of my face. But, I do NOT apply Bronzino on the jawline or right on the extreme end of my forehead near the hairline coz sometimes, in photos  Bronzino can seem a little bit too shimmery and unnatural in those places. I mainly keep it on my forehead (just on the very top of it) and on the cheeks. Oh, and this layers quite nicely on top or under other cream formula. I have used powder bronzer on top of it without any problem.

Tower 28 is a clean beauty and Bronzino is a "Clean at Sephora" product. As found in Sephora -"Clean at Sephora is formulated without a list of over 50 ingredients, including sulfates (SLS and SLES), parabens, phthalates, and more. For the full list, check out the Ingredients tab. It is a Cruelty free, vegan product. (I recommend reading more in Clean products and what you consider to be clean; like a lot of beauty concepts, Clean is also a concept that is not universally defined. What is 'clean' for me, may not be 'clean' by your standard.)

Staying Power: For a cream product, this has decent staying power. Of course, this summer has been different and I haven't been able to test it out for a full active day! For a normal day of mainly staying  at home (with a full face of makeup 😉 and some light-weight activities like walking around the neighbourhood), the bronzino lasts decently throughout the day. After 6-7 hrs, the fierce warmth and red color fades a bit but it leaves behind the shimmer and the shine which by that time melts into my skin to give a melted-down/lived-in bronze-y look and I love that!

Packaging: It comes in a beautiful clear square compact. I love the clean, simple design. There is no mirror- but I am absolutely fine with it. Also, because of the clear packaging I can see the shade which is something I appreciate. It looks sturdy to me, I have only travelled with it once and it hasn't given me any problem. But I have heard that the packaging can be problematic and can mul-function with more usage.

Price & Availability: This will cost you $20 for 0.16 oz (4.5 g). Available in Sephora and Tower 28 Beauty website. Here is a comparison with some other cream bronzer price!

Comparison with RMS Buriti Bronzer: If you follow me in Instagram, you may already know that I love the Buriti Bronzer from RMS Beauty. I have almost used up one full-size of it! This is the only cream bronzer I have used before trying Bronzino. Let's quickly compare both -

They are both different types of bronzer; Buriti Bronzer is a much densely bound cream product; it is still very easy to blend and move around. But it much rich and dense in texture! Whereas Bronzino is a much more softer in consistency; much more emollient. Despite that difference, both bronzers are very easy to blend. Buriti Bronzer has a shimmery finish as well, but it is much more cooler in tone; I do see a bit red in it. Because of it's cooler tone, I can use it to shape my face, to an extent! Bronzino is much more warmer and redder! Buriti Bronzer will cost you $28 for 0.2 oz of product so price per oz, it is slightly more expensive. Both bronzers are "Clean at Sephora" - cruelty-free and clean products. I am not sure if Buriti Bronzer is Vegan or not, but Bronzino is.

OVERALL THOUGHT: To sum it up, I have been really enjoying this bronzer - you can see my three months of use on it in the last picture. I have been using it non-stop for my weekend makeup play sessions - I wear it alone or mix it with some other bronzer, cream or powder bronzers. And I can see myself enjoying this for rest of the summer!

Is there a new bronzer you have been loving this summer?

Love,

~Arrru

JUVIA'S PLACE Mini Masquerade Palette ::: Review & Swatches!!!

Today I am talking about the Mini Masquerade Palette from Juvia's Place.

I have heard about Juvia's Place so much, they have so many palettes with such great color stories! I have always wanted to try at least one palette from them, but everytime I look through the palettes, I get overwhelmed! There is just so many options!  

I got this palette with The Nubian 2 palette in a bundle deal about a month ago! The brutal killing of George Floyd by the police had stirred the nation and that initial charge of change had reached the Beauty Industry as well. Most of us, the beauty consumers were frantically looking for Black Owned Beauty Brands to invest in and to show our support to the black community. (We as consumers should have made this a practice long time ago, but I digress!). Juvia's Place had a sale and the profit were to be donated to Black Lives Matter causes (I now do not recall all the details). But with all that was going on I was emotionally charged, (like a lot of you) and I bought these palettes. I am really glad that I got  a discounted price but also because I got a chance to be a part of a nice initiative. I honestly did not thought a whole lot about which palette and just grabbed the bundle that called out to me at that moment! 

Anyway, onto the review -

Color Story: I think this palette has a beautiful, very cohesive color story. There are two rows of neutral and two rows of vibrant shades. Also, there is a great balance between matte and shimmer shades!

All the colors in the top row speak to me! I love those blues and I love that they included mattes that are colorful! The bottom two rows have 4 mattes, all of them are some version of brown and this is where I find myself wanting some variation in depth and color. Looking at the pans, I can see different aspects of these browns; one is warm, one is more neutral, one has a lot more red in it etc. But when applied on the eyes, these four shades aren't entirely distinguishable from one another. Burkina & Fulani are dangerously similar to each other. Same with Zulu and Ada. I wished they would have made one shade a much deeper brown, and one a few tone lighter. But it is just a thought, and I am not really complaining here. The market is saturated with lighter browns! So, I am okay!

Here are the colors:

Chi (shimmer): This is a Deep Navy. Very Pigmented. Easy to work with. 

Mali (shimmer):  Turquoise Blue. Very Pigmented. Easy to work with. 

Dalia (shimmer): Beautiful Cobalt Blue. Very Pigmented. Easy to work with. 

Zola (shimmer): This is a Deep Sky Blue. Very Pigmented. Easy to work with. 

Makeda (shimmer): This is a gorgeous Royal Purple. Quite Pigmented. Easy to work with. 

Zobo (matte): This is a muted Berry shade. I love the subtleness and muted aspect of this shade. 

Calabar (shimmer): This is also a Berry shade. Very pigmented. Easy to work with.

Bori (matte & shimmer): This is a bright Fuschia with lots of Gold shimmer. I mainly use it as matte.

Gisa (shimmer): This is fantastic Champagne Rose-y shade. It's delight to wear.

Burkina (matte): This is a matte Neutral Brown.  Not very pigmented so had difficulty building it up.

Cairo (matte & shimmer): Deep Orange with lots of Gold shimmers. Another good shade.

Ada (matte): This is a Warm Brown. Not very pigmented so had difficulty building it up.

Dahia (shimmer): I see this as a soft Rose Gold. Very Pigmented. Easy to work with. 

Zulu (matte): Another Warm Brown. Similar to Ada.

Casablanca (shimmer): Very shimmery Bronze-y shade. Quite pigmented. Easy to work with.

Fulani (matte): Another matte Neutral Brown. Very similar to Burkina.

Formula: As I said before, I have heard great things about these eyeshadows. The shimmer shades are definitely upto my expectations. They are VERY pigmented and applies as vibrantly as you see on the pan. I have used a flat liner brush, my fingertip, shadow brush and pencil brush and the shimmer work great with any of these brushes.

The mattes in here looks delicious in the pan and honestly, I was expecting a lot from them. When I use them on the crease or as a wash of color on the lid, they build nicely while still keeping the pigment. But when I want to apply it strategically on a specific area (let's say I want to darken the outer corner on the lid or a very intense lower lashline), I don't get the payoff right away! May be I am spoiled by the quality of my beloved Viseart mattes (and their intense color payoff) but with these I need to work quite a bit to build up the color! Bottom line, the matte neutral applies much lighter on the eyes than they appear on the pan. This could be a great thing for a beginner or for someone who tend to be a little rough with their eyeshadow application. It is a just a tad bit disappointing for me!

Bori and Cairo has matte base with glitters running throughout! And I do love using them on the crease;  they look beautiful when blended. But I have seen the glitters travel to nearby matte shades in the pan. That I do not like. Also, note that the palette comes with the following disclaimer -  'Zobo, Bori, Burkina, Cairo, Ada, Zulu and Casablanca are not intended to use around the immediate eye area', I have used some of these shades in my eye-looks but please make your own decisions.

Staying Power: I almost always wear eye primer. So when I have primer on and I do a full, intense eye-look like the ones I have shared here, the eyeshadows last all day (at least 8-9 hrs). The vibrancy of the pigments starts to slowly fade after 6-7 hrs. But they still stay on! I tried to use one of the brown shade as a thick eyeliner with a primer on! But it did not really impress me. I had to apply a few layers to get the color show vividly and after around 4-5 hours it faded (granted, I was outside doing engineering work for about 1-2 hrs). That was a bit a disappointing to be honest.

Packaging: It's a very colorful palette and the outer package also shows that. I love the bright pink colorful packaging and the beautiful artwork on it. It brightens up my day whenever I use the palette. There is no mirror but that's perfectly fine for me! 

Price & Availability: Juvia's Place products are available at very approachable price and I absolutely enjoy that. This palette is priced regularly at $25 for a total of .84 oz (24 g). But I always see some sale on their website. So, if you look around you will find a sale or coupon and you need not pay full price. That is awesome. You can buy the palette from Juvia's Place website and Ulta Beauty. Also, don't get apprehensive about the "Mini" in the palette name, these pans are quite decently sized!

Additional Random Thought: As I mentioned before, I conduct extensive research before I buy any makeup. Especially if it is from a permanent line. I spend time looking for deal and swatches to get a feel of the products. But because this was a very impromptu purchase, I did not have a clear idea of what to expect. When I got the palette and swatched the shades, I was taken over by an initial sense of let-down. 

Although the palette has beautiful vibrant shades, they are still commonly found shades.There is royal blue, a teal, a deep purple. One pink! There is no intricacies or uniqueness to these shades! For a makeup enthusiast/(or a hoarder) like me who already have larger collection, these are not going to add any novelty to my collection. That being said, when I actually started to play with the palette I could move on from from my initial bout of disappointment and eventually started to enjoy playing with the palette. 

Here are the looks. I have summed up my thoughts at the very end.

Overall thought: It is a good, well executed palette with well curated shade range! The 'very approachable' price tag is definitely a huge plus. I can see this as a perfect palette for you if you have a smaller collection and/or if you trying to slowly venture out to colorful eyeshadows. This has all the basic colorful eyeshadow like purple, pink, orange and blues - perfect for you to play with and figure out what you like best. You will definitely get a lot of use out of this palette. And supporting a black-owned brand is always a plus in my eyes!

But I do have to say that, if this was a palette I got early in my makeup journey, I would have loved it way more than I do now. I have been definitely enjoying it for now! I think it's new, so the initial excitement is still there! But only time will tell if I actually reach for these colors over my existing favorite products as time passes. 

Love,

~Arrru

Monthly Favorites ::: June-July 2020

It's been a month and a half since my last 'Monthly Favorites' post! In that post, I talked a bit about how makeup has been a very positive distraction from all the chaos in the world during this quarantine. Well, I am still continuing that habit and during weekends, I am creating full face of makeup looks! It is giving me a lot of chances to test out new products that I have bought as well as get a lot of use out of my stash! I am still having too much fun creating different eye looks, but this month, for some reason not a lot of eye product jumped out at me as my favorite!

Check my Instagram @arrru_t to check out some looks I did with these products!

Anyway, onto the favorites:

Rituel De Fille (RdF) Color Nectar Pigment Balm in "Bloodflower": This is a new product in my collection. See my post here for detailed review! It looks like a very strong red shade on the pan but it has a beautiful sheer-but-buildable translucent formula. I absolutely love this product; it is designed to be used everywhere - eyes, lips, and cheeks. I used it once or twice on the eyes and I loved the edgy vibe of the looks I created but I don't think that will be my main application type. I have been mainly using this as blush and occasionally as a lip-shade!  I love that I can wear it as a wash of color (to look more lively) or I can build up the intensity to make my cheeks look super red and editorial! I love it for summer but it would actually look extra brilliant in winter!

Rituel De Fille The Alchemist Highlighter: Along with Bloodflower I picked up a few things from RdF and this was one of them. I haven't talked about this in depth on the blog yet, but I have absolutely fallen in love with this. This is how RdF describes this product "The Alchemist is the highlighter for your highlighters, a transformative topper for your favorite luminous products. This remarkably radiant, glistening crème product enhances glow, adds a dewy finish and creates mesmerizing iridescent glimmer while maintaining the color of the highlighter beneath."  Based on my experience with this for the past 1.5 months, I completely agree with all the claims. When I first swatched it, my heart sung, for a quite some time. I apply it with my fingers and everytime I swatch it to apply, my heart sings again. And when I take my pictures,for sure, my heart sings again :-) Okay, enough romancing a highlighter, Aru! This is very aptly described as the highlighter for highlighters, it has very visible but very intricate, beautiful glitter particles suspended on an emollient base that feels like solid oil. It melts into the skin like butter, and after a minute or so sets beautifully! And granted I haven't been doing day-long rigorous activities during this quarantine, so I wouldn't know strong is its longevity. But for a simple day in a simple weekend, it did not budge the entire. I also absolutely LOVE to wear it on the eyes, it elevates any eye look I do and gives it a very wet, high fashion vibe. And the glitters does not fall-out throughout the day!

Tower 28 Beauty Bronzino Illuminating Bronzer in Best Coast:  This is another new product, I bought it when we first went into quarantine. I have been using it past 2-3 months and I have really started to love it. When I first got it and swatched it, it came across as a bronzer with ton of shimmer and a very strong red undertone. That was a bit intimidating! But upon application on the face, that feeling went away. Of course, it is very red and very shimmery but it really does compliment all the dewy colorful looks I have been creating! I intend to do a more detailed review and compare it against my beloved cream bronzer - RMS Beauty Buriti Bronzer. But yes, I have been really loving it!

Urban Decay Heavy Metal Glitter Liners in "Midnight Cowboy" & "Spandex": Like I mentioned above, I am still having fun with creating eye-looks. And that has ignited a love for wearing glitters in my looks. I am constantly adding glitters to add some extra oomph to my looks! Naturally, I have been reaching out to these two glitter liners from Urban Decay. I love the longevity, ease of application and the glimmer they add to any look!

Laura Mercier Cavier Stick in Plum: Yes, still lovnig this! I have a feeling that this will appear in my yearly favorites. This is a very a soft eye pencil but has quite the longevity. I have been wearing it on my lashline almost every time I wear eye makeup. It gives my eyes such a sultry look; I love it! Read my review here. 

Now this product below is just a honorary mention!

Danessa Myricks Beauty Color Fix Cream Color Matte in Primary Red: This is a VERY new product to me, honestly I have only used it once or twice. But this red is a TRUE RED, and that's enough to make me very happy. I will continue to work with this but I have a feeling that it will definitely be a favorite.   

Thank you so much for visiting my blog! Have a good week ahead and I will talk to you very soon!

Love,

~Arrru

RITUEL DE FILLE Color Nectar Pigment Balm in Bloodflower ::: Review & Swatches!!

Lately I have been obsessed with the color RED! I have always loved it! I especially love wearing deep shades of red in my outfits! I have been told it that RED makes me look brighter and happier! I also love a bright, bold red lip for the same reason.  But my love for red in makeup never expanded beyond lip shades.

(PS: review starts after the next pic below) 

Over the quarantine months, something changed and now I am absolutely obsessed with all kind of red products - eyeshadow, eyeliner  or anything other than lipstick that I can slather on my face! My research for cool red makeup items was going on in full swing! 

Meanwhile, one terrible night in May, George Floyd from Minneapolis lost his life to police brutality! We all know what followed was one of the biggest civil uprising in recent history of the times! Uprising that demanded much needed changes regarding racial inequality and injustice that black community faces in the society. This is a fight that has been fought from a long time and it is a fight that we still need to keep fighting! The waves of changes reached beauty industry as well; among many things, beauty brands were hold accountable for their business practices; practices that are not diverse and intentionally (or unintentionally) hurt black community. There was a lot of unrest going on and I, personally thought this was a much needed unrest'!

About a week later, Rituel De Fille (RdF) announced the launch of their newest (at that time) product in a very unique fashion. 

The product I am talking about is the "Color Nectar Pigment Balm"! RdF was supposed to produce the very first batch of this product to be distributed as PR among Beauty Influencers. But instead, they made this batch available to everyone to buy! Additionally, 100% of profits from this first batch of sale were to be donated to Black Lives Matter, the ACLU Foundation & LGBTQ Freedom Fund. Excerpt from their IG page -

"Pride's revolutionary start, protesting police brutality and abuse of power, has never felt as close to us during our lifetimes as now. White supremacy is the brother to all forms of deadly bigotry, and we believe it is our duty to defend black lives, LGBTQ+ lives, and the lives of every member of our society. None of us are free until we are all free, and none of us are safe until we are all safe. 

However, there are many other voices more important than ours to listen to right now, and we want to put everything we have behind taking tangible action in pursuit of justice, rather than just making statements of support. We have been asking ourselves, as a small indie beauty brand, what we can do to meaningfully help right now. After careful discussion and consideration, this is what we have as our next action:⠀

MOON DROP⠀

BEGINNING FRIDAY, JUNE 5 AT 12PM PST ON RITUELDEFILLE.COM

For the first time ever, we are releasing information on an upcoming Moon Drop in advance, in the interest of doing the most good possible.⠀

On July 31, we will be launching an entirely new product category that we have had in development for over a year, Color Nectar Pigment Balm, in 5 vibrant new shades. In preparation for the launch, we'd produced a batch of each shade for PR. We've decided instead to make this first production run available to everyone, and for June's Moon Drop, you will have advance access to our upcoming launch.⠀⠀

Most importantly: until they sell out, we will donate 100% of profits from the new Color Nectar Pigment Balm colors across donations to Black Lives Matter, the ACLU Foundation, and the LGBTQ Freedom Fund.⠀⠀

We believe that these organizations are doing essential work on a national scale to promote justice, fight for civil liberties, and battle against LGBTQ overincarceration."

I was drawn in to the fact that they were participating in a measurable way in the fight for justice. Not with a performative blank black square in IG but with quantifiable actions. And then I saw this shade called Bloodflower; MY MY! It's a blood red shade and it's STUNNING! It immediately pulled at my heart strings which was already longing for all these red hues! I had to get it, I HAD TO! And I  greatly appreciated the cause behind it; so that was an added bonus. (Gentle reminder: You don't need to buy makeup to donate to a cause! I do however appreciate if my beauty purchase can contribute to someone somewhere, even if it is in a small scale.)  

RTF as a brand is inspired by the magical side of natural ingredients and the ritualistic ceremonial power of pigment. It is founded by three sisters Katherine Ranos, Caroline Ranos and Michelle Ranos who are accomplished in their own artistic field. To me RTF comes across as quite an unique brand. Their product shades are stunning; they are bold and has such intricacies to them! And they have such a way with words when they are describing their products! (It makes sense as Katherine is a writer). I absolutely love it. Overall, I am basically enjoying the whole aesthetic and vibe of this brand. They have quite a few eye, lip and face products like highlighters and blushes - all of them are in such mesmerising shades. Their 'Ethereal Veil Conceal and Cover' concealers only have 12 shades which I think have varied depth, but I still do think they could explore possibilities of adding more variation and more shades. 

Oh, one more thing I love about the brand is that they are 100% cruelty free brand and are certified by Leaping Bunny and PETA. This is what I found in their website - "We never test our finished products on animals, nor do we outsource any manner of animal testing to any other company. We only source raw ingredients that are never tested on animals. We do not sell our products in any market that requires animal testing." I greatly appreciate that clarity as I am very slowly trying to move towards a cruelty free collection. And I love a brand which is absolutely transparent on their cruelty free status. 

Now that all of that prelude is over, let's talk about the Nectar Balms. After all, that is why you are here, right?

RdF describes the Color Nectar Pigment Balms as "Color Nectar Pigment Balm is a range of perfectly translucent yet stunningly vibrant shades inspired by sweet flowers in bloom, the wild lure of pollinators, glistening honey, and the hum of the hive. These are ambrosial formulas with an irresistible jelly texture and finish." I mean 👀!! It sounds so beautiful right? I know it may sound almost too good and fancy to be true.  Translucent, jelly texture and finish in stunningly vibrant shades! Believe it or not, that's actually is the perfect description of the product. 

Anyway, I have been using the balm for about a month, very regularly. Let's try to share my thoughts!

Shade: The shade I have is Bloodflower and it is is a beautiful deep red. It looks quite intense on the pan but it actually has a brilliant, buildable 'translucent' formula. So, you can wear a wash of color to look more lively or you can build it up to make your cheeks look super red (I explain it more in the next paragraph). I love it for summer but I think it would look extra brilliant in winter. They have four other gorgeous shades! I am proud of myself that I did not pick up more! 😀  

Formula, Quality & Staying Power: Like the name says it is a balm but it does not feel waxy! I have used cheek products that were called 'balm' and was too waxy to be applied on the face! The Nectar Balm has a very light formula but it is full of pigment; this allows me to wear it either as a wash of color or I can build it up to create an intense look. Layering with this is so, so easy! These are meant to be worn on the eyes, lips or cheek or wherever your heart desires. As you can see below, I have worn it on my eyes, cheeks and lips! It turned out to be a sophisticated monochromatic red look and I absolutely loved it. It made me feel soft but also bold - and my heart is definitely happy using 'red' all over my face! You know what I mean! 

So, can you actually wear this all over your face?

On the Cheeks: I will be honest, I am mainly using it on my cheeks. And I have cheeks that has a ton of pores and incredible amount of blemishes left behind from previous acnes! 😊 So, I always need to be very careful about my cheek products. This balm blends out perfectly. Sometimes, I use pore filling primer underneath, but I can easily wear it directly on top of foundation or on over bare, moisturized skin. I use my fingertips to apply it and if needed I use my beauty blender to blend out the edges.

Wearing RdF Bloodflower on Lips, Cheeks & Eyes

 

I even layer it over or under other blush formulas. It plays so nicely! What surprised me was it's  staying power. It is quite long lasting! Granted, I have not been going out much these days! When I am wearing this for my weekend makeup play looks, I am mostly staying indoors except for long walks around the neighbourhood. It has been quite hot and humid out here! But I can still see the blush on my cheeks at the end of the day. See the photos below for more information.

This is after 5.5 hours of wear and a nap

This is at the end of the 10 hrs of wear

 

One day, I wore it on my cheeks for a quick site visit that lasted about 2 hrs. It was a hot day and I had my face mask on. But when I got home, I was surprised to see it still hanging on. I have also worn it for another outdoor site visit that lasted 6 hours. I was wearing a face shield, safety glasses, hard hat and of course, a face mask. Throughout that 6 hours, I had to drive between buildings - so I had to keep taking the face shield, hard hat and mask off when I was driving! It also involved at least an hour of walk outside and another hour in a dusty document room with the mask on! Needless to say the blush was gone by the time I got home! I expected that!

Wearing Bloodflower as blush on top of bare moisturized skin

 

This is after 2 hrs of site visit (I am an Engineer 😃)

Wearing Bloodflower as blush over foundation 

Wearing Bloodflower as blush over foundation and layered it with a pink powder blush

 

On the Lips: I have never used a product that's marketed as 'lip & cheek duo' on my lips. I try once but I never like the formula on my lips, something about how the texture typically feels on my lips. And I never wear it again on my lips. But I am loving this balm on the lips as well. It is lovely because of it's much light texture! The color does not get as intense as you see on the pan; that would have been stunning but I can definitely layer it to make it more noticeable. And I typically do top it with a clear balm. 

One thing to note here is that, because of the balm-y texture, it might settle into your fine lines of your lips or into your cheeks if you have big pores! It does that on me a little bit (you can see it in the pictures), but I don't really mind it! Is that weird? I like how it makes me feel natural & fresh but still gives me the satisfaction of playing with color.  

 

On the Eyes: Oh...it is so gorgeous on the eyes! Such a pretty, pretty look. In the motd below, I built it up with two layers and I loved the effect. It immediately creased because it is a cream/jelly texture after all! I completely I expected that. But throughout the day, that sheer wash of color was there; and I thoroughly loved that! I have worn it once or twice on my eyes till now, but I don't think that will be my main application.

Wearing Bloodflower on Eyes, Lips & Cheeks

 

Wearing Bloodflower on Eyes, Lips & Cheeks

Price: This will cost you $24 for a total of 0.11 oz (3.2g) of product. Their regular blush formula (Inner Glow Creme Pigment) will cost you $29 for 0.13 oz (3.8g). The compact size looks smaller and significantly cuter though. 😍  

Availability: This will officially launch on August 3, 2020 at 12pm Pacific Time on their website. This is what I can collect from their website and IG handle when I published this post. I know that some of RdF products are available on some other websites like Credo, Detox Market etc. I am not really sure if this going to be available anywhere other than their website.

Packaging: It comes in a precious little compact which reminds me of Becca blush & highlighters. It has a mirror and the label on the pack of the compact is red, which I would hope color coordinates with the shade so that if you have two or more shades it is easier to differentiate. It's simple effective packaging. The balm also smells a tad bit aromatice, for lack of a better word. I happen to enjoy it. It is not strong and it does not linger. 

If you cannot already tell, I am really enjoying this product! Quite a lot! I think it would have been a staple for my everyday makeup if I needed to go to work (to the office that is, rather than working from home for the pandemic)! I am very sure that I will continue to wear it, especially on my cheeks and lips. We will see if it becomes a long-time favorite! I have an idea that it might!

I am contemplating to pick up more shades when they officially launch. But I really do not need another blush or lip-shade! My apologies for such a long review, but hey I love to write a lot about products, especially products that I love & enjoy!

~

Love

Arrru