Author: liftbakelove

I’ve been wearing way more warm eyeshadow lately (I know, who is she?). This started because Rose did a look with MAC Venom as a welcome to fall type look, and she looked incredible. My husband had actually just picked out Venom for me to review, and I remember looking at it and thinking there was absolutely no way I was going to make that color work. But Rose paired the warm eye with a pink blush, and it looked so pretty that I decided I had to try my own version.

I loved the look so much that I was sending pictures of myself to basically everyone I know, and then started experimenting with pink blushes and gold, bronze, warm brown, and all the eyeshadow I normally think I can’t wear. I’ve been wearing some version of this almost every day, and these are the 5 blushes that I’ve found work the best for this look. These are blushes that still look pink on me, but are warm enough that they still feel like they go with a warmer eyeshadow. 

In this post, all links are affiliate links (thank you for your support!), but all opinions are my own and I bought all these products myself. Swatches are under a ring light to show true to color (photo #1) and then standard lighting to show the formula a little better (#2) for all the products.

I swatched A’PIEU Juicy-Pang Jelly Blusher in BE02, Merit Flush Balm in Fox, and Haus Labs Color Fuse Glassy Blush Balm Stick in Glassy Cinnamon next to the five blushes I’m talking about today so you can see what I mean. The five blushes in this post definitely lean warm on me, but they’re still very pink and not orange. For fall, I actually do want to be a bit of a pumpkin, just not a Dorito. Warmth is good sometimes! But I know that I can’t go all the way to coral/orange/peach without it being A LOT warmer than I was planning on. 

And a closer swatch of the five blushes in the order they’ll be reviewed below:

Nars Insatiable Longwearing Liquid Blush in Fast Ride – This is the one I’d recommend trying if you want to play with this look without putting on a very, very bright pink. It’s actually the one I used with Mac Venom and loved that kicked off this whole thing. Nars calls Fast Ride a cool pink, but on me, your very green friend, it really doesn’t look cool at all. 

As a comparison, Rare Beauty Daydream is described as a muted cool mauve, and on me that turns into what I would actually consider a cool pink. Something basically needs to start as a cool mauve or purple to actually end up cool pink on me. So, if it’s described as cool pink, it’ll probably just be regular pink like Fast Ride. And if the brand is already calling it warm pink, we are probably headed toward very orange. Since I started trying all these “cool pinks” that are actually just pink (or even a little warm) with warm eyeshadow, I’ve found a place for them all instead of just going “ugh they said this was cool and it’s not cool what now.”

The Nars liquid blush formula has that serum-y gel texture that’s really easy to work with. It blends out very easily and evenly, and I haven’t had any patchiness or other issues. It also doesn’t completely dry down like a matte liquid blush. It keeps a little bit of luminosity and has a really pretty skin finish. I’m not a huge liquid blush person, so I’ve been surprised by how much I’ve been reaching for this one.

Merit Flush Balm in Le Bonbon – This looks really bright when you swatch it, but the Merit formula sheers out so well that it doesn’t look anywhere near that bright on your face, as long as you don’t build it up. I love how this formula just sinks into my skin, and the color gives me a really pretty bright flush.

This is also the only regular cream blush in this group, so it’s the easiest one to just tap on and go. I love this formula and have the Flush Balm in a bunch of shades, but the more I use Le Bonbon, the more I realize how warm some of my other shades, like Fox, actually are. I really hope Merit comes out with more of these kinds of colors because I think the range otherwise leans pretty warm. Although now that I’m looking, it feels like I need Apres since it seems like the one other than Le Bonbon and Postmodern that might really look amazing on an olive undertone. 

NYX Buttermelt Blush in Butta With Time – Of these five blushes, this one is the most pigmented and I would say hardest to work with even though it’s not really hard to work with at all. It just happens to be a traditional powder blush (not my fave blush formula with my dry skin), and this one in particular is very pigmented. Especially with a color this bright, it’s really easy to go overboard if you don’t know what you’re getting into.

But! The formula is really smooth and really easy to work with as long as you go in prepared. I make sure to use a brush that isn’t super dense, and build up slowly rather than slapping a bunch on. I also like using this on top of other powder (e.g., setting my cream makeup first with a finishing powder and then going in with this). The color is also just so pretty – it’s a berry pink if you’re not olive, and if you’re me, it’s just such a pretty bright pink that goes really well with warmer eyeshadow. 

Morphe Cloudlight Soft Glow Diffused Blush in Whirl – If you normally avoid warm makeup because everything turns orange on you (One of us! One of us!) so you’re a little scared of this idea, this is the blush I’d recommend starting with from a color point of view (Nars is still my pick formula-wise). It’s the coolest and most berry-leaning of these five while still being in this pink family that isn’t purple leaning. 

The formula has a little bit of a satin glow to it, which makes it really easy to blend and gives it a really pretty finish that still manages to be a little blurring without it needing to be matte. It doesn’t have any sparkle or glitter either. I wish they had more shades of this, but so far this and Breeze seem to be the ones I can get to work. 

VIOLETTE_FR Plume Blush in Rose Fumé – I’m honestly shocked I haven’t talked about this blush before, especially because I’ve been using it so much and I love the formula. I have this in two other shades, and I’d totally buy more if they released more (but the current shade range is fairly limited. This kind of hybrid blurring cream to powder blush is one of my favorite formulas so I’m sure it’s no surprise how much I like this one.

Rose Fumé in particular gives me a softer version of this look without having to be careful with it. It’s more matte than the Nars or Merit, but it doesn’t look dry or flat at all. It’s so blurring and easy to blend – just make sure you’re using a denser brush than you would think you should use. Basically the opposite advice as the NYX blush. I also wanted to make sure y’all know that these have a vanilla scent, which doesn’t bother me, but if it’ll bother you, it’s worth looking for a different blush in the same type of formula, especially because there are so many now.

I blended all five out too (apologies for my arm basically turning pink because of all the swatching). I think this gives you a much better idea of how different they actually are once you put them on. The Violette_FR, Nars, and Merit are much easier to blend into a softer wash of pink. The NYX and Morphe stay a lot brighter and more saturated, so I think a lot of which one you’ll like if you decide to try this out comes down to how much pink you actually want and how bright you want it to be.

I’ve been aksing my chat for requests for what to get in my fairly frequent YesStyle review orders, and this order was 100% picked by chat. I posted my order when it got here, and folks voted on what they wanted me to review first so I’m doing that for my “things you asked me to test post” for August. I normally try to spend at least a few weeks, if not a few months, testing things before I write about them. This post is a little late because I wanted to test each of these products at least a few times, and it’s still technically August! If you’d like me to review anything else from YesStyle (or anywhere else), leave a comment or join the chat – we’d be happy to have you!

In this post, all links are affiliate links (thank you for your support!), but all opinions are my own and I bought all these products myself. I also have a YesStyle and Stylevana favorites shelf on my ShopMy if you want to see more of the products I’ve tried and would recommend. Swatches are under a ring light to show true to color (photo #1) and then standard lighting to show the formula a little better (#2) for all the products.

Gege Bear Brightening Concealer in 02 Frost Blue – I’m not sure I’ve ever actually talked about this before, even though the one in this order is actually a backup because I’m almost through my first tube. This is one of my favorite and most used products for fixing foundation that’s a little too dark and/or too orange on me. I usually put my foundation on first, add a few tiny dots of this directly on top, and blend it in with a brush. It cancels out the orange just enough, adds a little brightness, and makes everything just a little more green. Perfect match every time from a not so perfect match. I’ve never noticed it changing the texture or finish of my foundation at all. I have other blue correctors I like, but this is so cheap and works so well that I will absolutely keep buying it again and again. I also do use the green version of this as an actual color corrector where I have redness before I put on foundation.

Gege Bear Water Light Mirror Lip Gloss in 01 – This gloss does have enough blue pigment to actually cool down a lipstick that’s pulling too orange on me, but it’s still sheer enough that I can wear it by itself without looking like I’m wearing a BLUE lip gloss. It also has a ton of really pretty sparkle that doesn’t feel gritty or chunky that makes my lips look really nice. The formula and packaging are very clearly inspired by the Risky Be Bold Lip Glosses I’ve reviewed before (or at least it seems that way looking at them side by side; maybe it’s not inspired by Risky at all). I do still think the Risky gloss is ultimately a better formula. It’s more moisturizing and smoothing, and the Gege Bear feels thinner and less nourishing. Gege Bear is around $5 though compared to $19 for Risky, and I really do love the color, so I’m not mad about the formula difference. 

I’M MEME I’m Multi Stick Blusher in 005 Bliss Mauve and 006 Blooming Lilac – The formula of these blushes feels exactly the same to me as the shading stick that I reviewed in my last post. It’s super easy to blend with a brush or fingers, I can swipe them directly onto my face without it getting patchy, and the formula has a slightly blurring finish that I really love. My face also doesn’t eat this formula super quickly like it does with some other cream products. 

Bliss Mauve is not mauve at all on me – it’s just pink. Importantly, it stays pink on my face instead of going orange or coral, and it has enough saturation to actually show up on me as someone who is high contrast. It brightens up my face really well is a really good base layer for when I want to do a pink blush look and don’t want to have to worry about powder fading as fast. Blooming Lilac is a bright, pale lilac with a lot of white in it. I honestly have only been able to use this as a mixer to make another blush lighter and cooler. This is one of the few non-shimmery formulas in this color I’ve found because it does feel more like a highlighter. I think it’s really unique for that reason. I also do think there are people who will love this as an actual blush, especially if you’ve been looking for something this color and have never been able to find it. 

House of Hur Moist Ampoule Blusher in Lavender Flush and Cherry Blossom – I already had Rose Brown and Berry Purple, and then someone in chat asked what some of the other shades looked like as I was putting this order together, so I picked up Lavender Flush and Cherry Blossom. This formula is super sheer and watercolory, so I was actually a little worried about Lavender Flush when I swatched it because it looked like it might do basically nothing on my face. Once I put it on, I loved it. It’s very much a barely there blush on me, but somehow I just look prettier and more put together with it on.

Cherry Blossom is a little more pigmented and way warmer on me. It definitely goes pinky coral, but luckily it doesn’t go full Cheeto orange. I really like it when I’m intentionally doing a bronzy/warm look because it brightens up my face and is warm without going too much in that direction. This formula also blends out super easily with a brush, and it’s basically impossible to put too much on, which is perfect with a brighter color like this one.

Laka Bonding Glow Lipstick in 202 Boy and 217 Babe – Boy is honestly so special, and everyone in my chat who’s gotten it so far would agree. It’s a little brown, a little gray, a little purple, and stays cool toned on me. Boy also has that same kind of muted, slightly grungy feeling as MAC Alone Time (original shade!) while being even cooler toned. I swatched them next to each other and Boy actually makes the original Alone Time look warm. Babe is a really good pink, and I’m happy I bought it. I’ve been wearing it with mauve and lavender looks when I want something a little brighter on my lips, and it stays pink on me instead of going orange. It’s just really easy to wear, and I’m glad y’all asked me to test it.

I honestly forgot how much I love this lipstick formula until I started testing these again for this post. Both shades are now sitting at the front of my makeup station because my lips just look so good with them on. It’s moisturizing and glossy enough to make my lips look much smoother without being too shiny or sticky. The color also lasts pretty well considering this isn’t a matte lipstick or a stain, and it’s pretty easy to build up the level of pigment without it getting weird. My lips just look better when I wear this lipstick. There’s a little bit of a fruity scent, but it doesn’t last very long, and I can’t taste it at all.

Laka Mono Eyeshadow in 926 Liberty – I was super excited about this one because it seemed like it could be Urban Decay Space Cowboy, but not orange. And I was right! This shadow is so sparkly and pretty. It has a neutral brown base with a ton of silver sparkle, but the thing I like most about it is that the brown actually stays neutral. I swatched it next to Urban Decay Space Cowboy so you can see how not orange Liberty is. On my eyes, it actually pulls a little cooler than it does in the swatch which almost never happens. With a lighter layer, you can see more of the brown base, and if you build it up, it gets much more silvery. It’s sheer enough that it works well as a topper, and I’ve used both a brush and a finger to apply this shadow without any problems.

That all said, I would absolutely use a primer with this eyeshadow. I tested it with primer on one eye and nothing on the other, and the side without primer had a ton of fallout. The primer side was almost entirely fallout free so it definitely made a big difference. 

What should I test for the next round?

I wanted to do a post about the products I’ve actually been reaching for over and over when I’m not testing something else. These are the things I’ve been using almost every day, even if they aren’t perfect. They’re super reliable and easy to use, and they also just make me feel pretty and put together with very little work.

In this post, all links are affiliate links (thank you for your support!), but all opinions are my own and I bought all these products myself. Swatches are under a ring light to show true to color (photo #1) and then standard lighting to show the formula a little better (#2) for all the products. 

L’Oréal True Match Super-Blendable Foundation in W2.5 – My arm swatches were not doing this shade justice so I decided to show a photo of half my face with and without the foundation instead. Hopefully it’s easier to see how it actually looks on me. I did a side by side of the photo and then the same photo with this very professional green line so you can see exactly where the foundation starts – it’s on the bottom half of my face. W2.5 is described as a warm light-medium, and it’s a touch too yellow and a touch too deep for me, but it blends into my neck really well. If I weren’t nitpicking the match because I test so many base products, I probably wouldn’t notice. That said, it also definitely doesn’t turn Cheeto orange on me like a lot of foundations described as warm do and so I don’t have to color correct which is awesome. I would skip this particular shade if you’re a cool olive, but if you’re a more saturated warm olive, I think it’s a really good option.

The formula is also just really nice. It self-sets, smooths out my skin, and gives me enough coverage to make a difference without looking like a lot of foundation. You can hopefully see in the photo it color corrects the redness on my face and makes everything match my neck while being pretty imperceptible. It’s basically what I want out of a skin tint, except with more coverage, and it happens to also be affordable.

Lilybyred Luv Beam Cheek Balm in 14 – I was using the Leemember Cheek and Lip Cream in Y03 a bunch before I got this and thought that was a pretty perfect blush color for me. Until I tried the Lilybyred, which is actually the perfect blush color for me. The Lilybyred is a much cooler pinky purple and just works so much better with my skin. The formula is also really easy to use with a brush or fingers and lasts pretty well for a cheek balm. It also works by itself or as a base for another blush without having issues layering. I’ve been so pleasantly surprised by how much use I’ve been getting out of this one. 

Soshe Blurring Pillow Bronzers in Bronze Linen, Olive Bronze Drift, Bronze Speakeasy, and Bronze Dusk – I already love the Soshe blushes so much, and these are that same really lightweight cream to powder formula that is my personal favorite. They’re really easy to blend, super blurring, and set down nicely without looking too dry. I’ve mostly been wearing Olive Bronze Drift and Bronze Dusk as bronzers and Bronze Speakeasy as a blush. Bronze Linen isn’t quite right for me because it’s too peachy orange, and I can confirm it also goes orange on some of my green, blue, and purple friends. Most shades are sold out on Soshe’s site but Ulta has almost all of them right now!

I also swatched Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Bronzing Powder in 90, Olive Bronze Drift, Bronze Dusk, and Marc Jacobs Legally Bronze Powder Bronzer in 20 next to each other since they’re all pretty similar. Marc Jacobs in 20 is actually the most traditionally bronzey on me and this helped me see why I still love that one so much. It has enough brown warmth so that it looks like what I expect bronzer to look like on my skin without going too orange (Armani), green (Olive Bronze Drift), or rosy (Bronze Dusk). If I could have Marc Jacobs 20 in the Soshe formula, I’d be so happy. That said, these are all great on me and blended out, it’s really hard to tell the nuanced differences between them.

I also swatched Gucci Bronzing Powder in 02 and 01, Fara Homidi Essential Bronzer in Bois, Bronze Linen, and Bronze Speakeasy so you can see how the rosier shades look against a couple popular rosier bronzers. Honestly right now in the summer, none of these is a good bronzer shade for me. Gucci 02 and Linen are definitely too orange or peachy, and the other three can all be used as blushes or transition type powders.  

Bobbi Brown Crystal Eyes Shadow Stick in Pink – I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this one if you want to wear it by itself because it can get a little patchy, but I really like it as a topper. This is one of the sparkliest eyeshadows I own, and I’ve been throwing it on constantly. It’s definitely a super chunky glitter formula rather than a smooth shimmer so I would skip this if you’re not into a chunky glitter. I personally am very into this level of sparkle right now.  

It has pretty good staying power, but honestly it’s so sparkly that I don’t really care if it moves around or creases a little. These swatches are absolutely not doing it justice. I have one of the darker shades as well and find that one even patchier and harder to apply, so I’m still not sure I would recommend every shade in the formula. Pink specifically is really easy to use and stays a really pretty pink instead of going orange or peach on me. Did I mention it’s just really sparkly and glittery? 

What have you been reaching for lately?

Today’s post is a collaboration with my amazing, incredibly talented friend Kathryn, who I’m sure you know already as Simply Swatched on Instagram or her website. We both love arm swatches, interesting colors, niche brands, and overanalyzing why the exact same shade can look completely different depending on someone’s undertone.

When I realized we had both independently bought the new Risky Blur-Rush Sticks, I reached out to see if she wanted to do a joint post reviewing everything we have from the brand, and luckily she said yes! We thought it would be fun to compare notes and turn the posts into a little undertone experiment. Make sure to check out her review for her thoughts on the products and to see how the shades look on her very fair, muted, neutral skin. Her swatches are also much better labeled than mine, and she does videos! Let us know if you’d like to see us do more comparisons like this – we love to buy too much makeup and write reviews!

Risky makes exactly the kinds of colors I’m always trying to find: muted mauves, grungy purples, genuinely cool browns, and purple blushes that allegedly stay purple. I bought all 14 products in this post myself because I needed to know what they’d all look like on me and have been testing them for the past few weeks.

In this post, all links are affiliate links (thank you for your support!), but all opinions are my own. Swatches are under a ring light to show true to color (photo #1) and then standard lighting to show the formula a little better (#2) for all the products.

Overall, Risky is more expensive than most American drugstore makeup, but still less expensive than most prestige makeup. YesStyle is also almost always running a sale and lets you stack codes too, which is one of the reasons I grabbed so many glosses. Most of the packaging is fun, functional, and feels more expensive than it is (except for the blush sticks, which are just…sticks).

Risky Be Bold Lip Glosses in Hissy Fit, Guilty, Sicko, Oddy, and Mumbly – These glosses are so good, and I’m honestly just very happy I own all five. These remind me of the liquid lip balm formulas everyone was obsessed with a few years ago. I’m still personally a huge fan of that type of formula, and these are such a good version of it. They feel buttery and smooth, make my lips look noticeably better, and give me a pretty shine without feeling sticky. They’re extremely comfortable and moisturizing, with just a slight cooling tingle. I also haven’t noticed any scent or taste that bothered me.

They last better than I expect a gloss to last. The color and visible shine eventually do wear away, but the nourishing feeling sticks around. I tested one while working on this review, washed my face, took a shower, and could still feel some of it on my lips afterward. I wouldn’t use one of these as an overnight treatment, but as a shiny daytime liquid lip balm, I am extremely impressed.

Hissy Fit is an perfect everyday, my-lips-but-better mauvy pink. It’s the most everyday shade of the five, but it still feels special because it actually stays mauve instead of drifting into peach or orange. Guilty is deeper and grungier, with a beautiful desaturated mauve/purple/brown tone. These are the two I’ve been wearing most often.

Sicko is much sheerer and gives me a translucent wash of desaturated gray-purple. It’s beautiful by itself, but I also love it for cooling down another lip color. Oddy is the sheer grape color I keep hoping to get from Clinique Black Honey type products, and it 100% delivers.

Mumbly is a cool toned brown gloss that stays cool instead of turning Cheeto or orange. This was the first shade I put on when these arrived because I don’t think I had ever tried a brown gloss that actually stayed this color on me. I don’t think everyone needs all five, but they’re each special, none of them go orange on me, and I would honestly buy all of them again.

Risky Blur-Rush Sticks in Tinut, Heartish, Mauvement, and Purpler – These have become some of the cream blushes I reach for most, and I honestly haven’t really touched my others since I got them. They’re so easy to throw on and blend, and they have a really pretty, skin like finish. They also layer really well so I can use them together to make a custom shade.

The formula is a little sheer and buildable, although the pigmentation varies by shade. Mauvement is softer and sheerer, while Purpler has noticeably more payoff. They’re easy to control if you’re paler than I am, but they also build up without much effort. My only complaint is that all four tubes look identical from the outside and the part of the packaging that matches the shade is inside, which isn’t particularly helpful when I’m trying to grab the right one.

Tinut is an orangey nude-beige that I bought specifically because I wanted to know whether it would be olive-friendly. On me, it has too much of that strange orange tone I’m always trying to avoid. It isn’t the worst Cheeto situation I’ve ever seen, but it’s the only one of the four I wouldn’t recommend. Heartish is the perfect brightening cool toned pink. It gives me a fresh springy or summery look without turning peach.

Mauvement is my perfect (really, PERFECT) cool, grungy, slightly gray and desaturated mauve. Purpler is a genuinely cool purple blush that stays purple instead of turning pink. It’s deeper and more pigmented than Mauvement, and this kind of purple looks so good against olive skin.

Risky Be Bold Lip Blushed in Moly, Thistle, and Peacock – Blurred K-beauty liquid lips are one of my favorite makeup categories, and these are no exception. The formula is super thin, smooth, and easy to wear. It gives me the soft, diffused matte effect I want without feeling dry or heavy. They’re a little sheerer than some similar formulas, which I actually really appreciate. I would rather gradually build a blurred lip than start with an extremely pigmented formula and end up with an AHHHH PIGMENT situation. They aren’t 20 hour bulletproof liquid lips, but they’re comfortable, easy to reapply, and leave behind a little bit of a stain as they fade.

Moly initially looks like a warm coral pink but in some lighting it does go Cheeto. It also has a little visible sparkle, which I don’t mind, but I also don’t understand. I will still wear it because sometimes I do want to wear orange on purpose. But if you’re buying Moly because it looks pink and you’re also a green friend, this is not for you.

Thistle is yet another cool toned mauve. It stays mauve, doesn’t go orange, and gives me exactly the easy blurred color I’m almost always looking for. Like the other mauves, Risky did a fantastic job. Peacock is a deep berry purple that actually stays purple instead of turning pink. Just like the blush, I love this kind of purple on my olive skin.

Risky Pigment Eyeshadow Palette in Harsh – This palette has eight eyeshadows, focused mainly on burgundy, pink, purple, and red tones. I find these colors surprisingly easy to use for everyday looks, especially because red plus green equals brown. These shades often look more better on me than a warm brown palettes that just ends up looking orange.

Compared with most of my other K-beauty eyeshadows, these are more pigmented, especially the deeper shades. The darker shades all have strong payoff, while the lighter shades are softer and useful for blending. The formula is consistently good, easy to blend, and flexible enough to apply with either my fingers or a brush. I don’t get much fallout or noticeable creasing, and it’s the kind of palette I can grab without worrying that the formula is going to cascade into a bunch of mistake fixing all morning. The shimmers are smooth and pretty rather than extremely intense or sparkly, but that’s been great for every day.

Risky Pigment Eyeshadow Palette in Cosmic Love – Cosmic Love is essentially a palette of eight sheer, sparkly toppers. There are two really pretty browns and then a bunch of fun colors. The base colors are fairly translucent, so I prefer wearing them over another shadow – I showed them all over black in the swatches so you can see how they transform over a darker base. I also recommend using a tackier glitter primer or glitter base to help with longevity especially if you’re wearing these alone.

These shades give you a really pretty, ethereal look, but with more sparkle than I usually get from this type of palette. If that’s what you want, I think this is a great option. For me, though, if I’m adding sparkle, I want SPARKLE. I’d rather put the money toward one or two really special shades from Half Magic, Hourglass, or Victoria Beckham.

What should I test next? As always, all reviews/opinions are completely my own and unsponsored.