How RUDE! Illamasqua Cream Blush in Rude

Hello everyone! How was your week? 

This week went by pretty quickly for me but currently, I am trying to survive this sudden attack of allergies. Gahhhhh, it's been bad these past few days, but it just hit me like a BRICK today. Probably because the weather was nice, so all the pollen just lingered in the air. My allergies just kept getting worse and worse as the day wore on. I nearly clawed my eyes out because they itched so bad. My boyfriend had to hold my hands down so I wouldn't destroy my poor eyes. I took some Claritin when I got home though, and I am feeling much better now. Thank goodness for medicine!

It looks like I'll be rockin' my glasses for now since my allergies are so severe. Nerd alert! ;)

So, on to real reason why I'm writing this entry...

I picked up this Illamasqua cream blusher from Sephora a few weeks ago, and I am loving it so far.

The shade I purchased is called Rude (the name reminds me of Stephanie Tanner's famous line, "HOW RUDE!" I loved Full House when I was growing up) and it's a warm, coral color. I wasn't too sure about it at first because the color is a bit out of my comfort zone. It looks a little intimidating in the pan because of its bright color (at least, it made me feel intimidated), but the color is much more low key once you blend it out. If you're wondering, I use my fingers to blend out the color. I'm usually in a rush in the morning, and I feel like cream blushers are easier when you use your fingers. I haven't had any problems with it so far. Just remember to make sure your hands are clean.

The color is lovely on my cheeks; it gives me a natural flush. I love that natural flushed look! The pigmentation is great, and lasting power is excellent. It lasts all day when I wear it over powder, and my days are pretty long! It gets me through a 12 hour (or longer) day. Not bad, eh?

If you're interested in trying out a cream blusher, I'd recommend this one! It'll cost you $24 at Sephora, excluding tax. And if you live somewhere that doesn't charge tax, then lucky you! Illamasqua offers 9 shades of their cream blusher at Sephora, but not all stores carry the 9 shades. Some of the blushers might only be available online. I'm not too sure. The Sephora I purchased mine from only had 4 colors. Check out Sephora's site for a list of the available blushers. I want to try Seduce, Laid and Betray next. Hahaha, these names crack me up. Especially in the order which I listed the ones I want to try. First, I seduce, then I get laid and finally, I betray (or get betrayed?)! Haha, ahem. It's late, and I'm tired... so please excuse my somewhat inappropriate comment. I'm silly.

Anyhoo, I swatched Betray when I was in the store, and it's a beautiful rosy plum color that would be great for the cooler seasons.

Beautiful coral color! Isn't it lovely? I think it's perfect for spring and summer. It's so cheerful. I looooooove it. It's so easy to use and I don't have to use a lot to get some color on my face. I'm obsessed with blushes. I pretty much don't leave my house without some color on my cheeks. I feel like it makes me look alive. It's true. I'm kind of pasty and pale with just foundation and powder on... blush gives some life to my face. 

I always want to buy new blushes, but I'm generally pretty good about resisting those urges. I feel guilty buying more of something when I can't even manage to finish up one blush. I don't think I've ever hit the pan on ANYTHING! That's my goal this year... to hit the pan on something in my makeup collection. Anything. ANYTHING. You know, when I think about it, my blush collection is pretty small compared to some other beauty bloggers. Maybe I'll post a picture of it one day. I have a lot of sample blushes too, but I hardly ever use those (read: never). They're all those "Free Gift with Purchase" Clinique eye shadow and blush palettes. Almost all the makeup bags I have at home are from Clinique. They know how to get me, with their free gifts and whatnot. 

Swatched heavily.

Blended out. My hand looks like it's blushing! 

Have any of you tried Illamasqua's cream blushers? If so, what did you think? 
What are some of your favorite cream blushers? 

The "I didn't forget about this blog" haul

Hello there friends! 

It's been nearly a month since I've updated, but fret not, I haven't forgotten about my little blog. Life has kept me busy, so I haven't had much time to update. My bad. I told y'all I sucked at blogging. Buuuuuut, I've been thinking a lot about what I want to write about on here. I had originally planned on doing a post about my daily make-up routine; I had the pictures taken and everything, but they're a bit outdated now so I'll save that post for another time. 

Today, I went on a bit of a shopping spree. I was meeting up with some friends for lunch so I decided to run some errands beforehand. Might as well be productive, right? Hmmm.. I had to return a few things, and somehow I ended up with all of these things. Whoops. The good news is, now I have something new and exciting to blog about! Moahaaa. Yay for hauls! 

My overall haul. Please excuse the pile of books and papers on the right. I need to organize my life better.. 

Sephora: This week, VIBs and BIs get 15% off their purchases until Friday, April 6. I'm not sure about BIs, but VIBs can use their coupon as many times as they want. Booyah! I actually made these purchases at two different Sephoras (because I'm crazy like that). I bought the Illamasqua cream blush in Rude and Jack Black lip balm in Lemon & Chamomile in the morning, and the Clarisonic replacement head in the afternoon. I'm excited to try to the Illamasqua blush; I've heard a lot of great things about it so I hope it works out for my skin. Review coming soon!!

Origins: I had originally gotten their Clean Energy gentle cleansing oil, but it clogged up my pores so I had to return it. I really wanted to like it, but it just didn't work out. It did leave my face feeling very clean and soft though, so maybe it'll work out for someone else whose skin is not as sensitive as mine. If you're looking for a nice cleansing oil, I'd recommend this one! It smells lovely too :)

Rite Aid: Rite Aid is having a month long promotion on Maybelline, Garnier (hair and skin care products), and HerbaShine hair colors. It's BOGO1/2 off so I thought it would be the perfect time for me to try out Garnier's BB Cream I've been reading so much about. Will definitely post a review once I get a chance to try it out. Has anyone tried it out yet? What are your thoughts about it? Leave me a comment :) 

LUSH: This is my very first purchase from LUSH. I've been looking for something to help with the sad condition of my hair. I have very fine, oily hair and there's not much of it. It's also very flat. Soooo, I walked in with the intent of getting on of their shampoo bars I've heard so much about. That's the blue bar sitting in the little tin in my picture: the Seanik shampoo bar. Clearly, my plan of buying only one thing did not work out the way I planned since there are so many other items in the picture.. I was worried my hair would get too dried out by the sea salt in the shampoo bar, so the SA at LUSH recommended the Veganese conditioner so I just went for it.

Then she gave me this mini hand treatment and it left my hands feeling sooo soft. Aaaaand since I am so easily swayed by lovely beauty products, I decided to bite the bullet and get the Buffy body butter (it was one of the products the SA used on my hands). When the SA said that it can be used on wet skin in the shower, I was sold! I really hate applying lotion on my skin after I shower, so Buffy seemed like the perfect solution. I don't like the way lotions leave a oily, sticky feeling (even the ones that claim they don't!!) on my skin afterward. And the two black jars are samples of their Big shampoo and Flying Fox shower gel. Let's see how all of these goodies work out!

All righty, that's everything! Let me know if you've ever tried any of the products above and your thoughts about them. I would love to hear other people's opinions :)

Have a lovely week!