Color makes me happy

A couple of weeks ago I placed an order on Sephora for some makeup goodies.  I finally got around to testing them out so I thought I'd share my thoughts with you.

I remember a little while back there was a TON of hype surrounding the Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush (particularly the shade Exposed).  I gave in and bought it (Exposed) to see what all the hoopla was about.  I swatched it and wasn't too impressed with the color payoff but I did notice that it lasted pretty much all day.  So this time around I wanted to try a more pigmented blush.  It was very difficult to decide on a color since they were all very lovely.  I ended up picking one that was unique to my collection.  The color is Natural Beauty, which is described as a strawberry colored blush. And it totally is! I think this shade is really flattering for all skin tones.  Note: if you're ghastly pale like me, use a light hand. very light.

While browsing Tarte products this limited edition Aqualillies palette caught my eye.  I'm a sucker for aqua and coral.  It's a very nice neutral palette that's perfect for travel.  It has eyeshadows, blush, bronzer, and highlighter all in one! The eyeshadows are super buttery.  I'm excited to take this with me on a trip!

top swatches from left to right: highlighter, bronzer, blush. bottom swatches: eyeshadows starting with the darkest brown on the left and working towards the blue eyeshadow in the right.

I also purchased another blush.  This one is from DHC, a Japanese skincare line that I really love.  I really like their skincare items but am so-so on their makeup and hair products.  This blush in the color coral bloom is pretty nice but it's really light.  I guess you could say it gives you a more natural look. 

I swatched all three of the colors separately in the photo below.  I also swirled them together so you could see what it would look like.

 

Left to Right Swatch: Tarte Natural Beauty, DHC individual swatches, blended swatch on right

I hope you find these swatches somewhat helpful. I'm still new to this whole blogging/ documenting makeup thing.  Any suggestions are more than welcome!

In other news, the weekend of the San Diego Marathon has finally come! I know I've been really flaky about journaling my training.  I'll definitely recap everything once I return. It's surreal to think that 4 months of training have gone by and that race day is really here! (Excuse me while I freak out a little bit).

Anyway, enough of the rambling. Have a wonderful day/night/afternoon!