L'Oreal Paris Nude Magique BB Blush Universal Rosy Blush

L'Oreal Paris Nude Magique BB Blush  £7.99

Something about a double dose of a letter has made the beauty world go crazy. BB, CC, DD... whatever they are, whatever they stand for, it seems as though people are desperate for them. And you know what, I'm obviously one of those crazy suckers because I bought L'Oreal Paris' Nude Magique BB Blush on a complete whim months and months ago. You know the beauty lurkers I mentioned last month, well this product would very happily sit in that category!

I tried a tester of this blush in the Boots store where I bought it and I absolutely loved the velvety feel of it. You squeeze an amount (the amount will depend on how pink you like your cheeks) of this onto your fingers and it is a gel formula - hopefully you can kind of see that in my photos. However, when you rub this into your skin it doesn't stay a gel it transforms into a velvet-textured powder pretty darn quickly leaving you with a relatively long wearing stain. The 'magic' part of this blush is that the gel that you squeeze out of the tube is clear and when you start working with the product it transforms into a pink shade. This is a massive gimmick and doesn't really help anyone in any way but it is quite a fun aspect of the product and is part of the reason I bought it.

All good so far, until I tell you just how difficult it can be to make this look wearable in the short time it takes for the gel to set into its powdery finish. If you're used to working with products like Benefit's Benetint or other gel products (I know Soap and Glory do one called Cheek Mate) then you will be prepared to deal with L'Oreal Paris' Nude Magique BB Blush. However, make-up newbies and people who rely on their make-up brushes to do all of the hard work  then this is not a product you should pick up! 

The colour that the gel transforms into is supposed to be universally flattering rosy blush. I don't actually know if this changes into a different colour depending on the skin tone that it is applied to it but on me it turns into the exact colour that I think of when someone says the word "rosy". I like the shade a lot and it looks similar to the colour I go naturally when my face flushes, but it's hard to apply lightly and evenly and I feel as though it never looks that natural looking when I wear it.

The jury is honestly still out on this. I know that I like it, the texture is nice and the colour is pretty, but I think it is definitely something which takes a lot of time to get used to using. It definitely won't be suitable for a lot of people who might pick it up thinking that anything with "BB" on it is going to be super easy to work with. I do use this occasionally and I will continue to but I wouldn't recommend it to everyone, it might be worth a swatch though because it feels very nice when you apply it to your skin!

Have you tried this? Do you ever use gel cheek products?

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On the Fence: Topshop Cheek Duo in Desert Sun (Review and Swatches)

This Topshop Cheek Duo in Desert Sun was my first ever Topshop make-up purchase. I lusted after it for ages and then one day I just walked into Topshop and said to myself 'It's time!' And folks, as always, better late than never. I don't know what it was that stopped me picking up any Topshop make-up before now. The suppose the prices initially seemed a little bit steep but everybody is always raving about how good they were, I finally just came to the assumption that they must cost so much because they were, well, really darn good. 

Saying this, I have to admit right off the bat that I was, and still am, a little bit disappointed with this Cheek Duo. However, it is not down to the product's quality, not one bit! It's the colours. In the pan the dusky rose blush and golden bronzer look so appealing, gorgeous even. They whisper promises of glowing skin, rosy highlights, a healthy warm glow... but making them work? That part just hasn't actually happened yet. The bronze shade in particular is just a little bit too orange toned to work on my skin. Due to Britain's lack of sun I'm still incredibly pale, and I'm worried that it won't be until I finally manage to spend some time in the sunshine that I'll be able to rock the gorgeous golden bronze shade. It swatches so beautifully, teasing me cruelly. 

The slightly, just slightly, peach toned pink blush is gorgeous, there's no doubt about it, and I have been able to wear this regardless of my pallor. And it is a great blusher! It lasts throughout the day, doesn't settle into pores, can be worn lightly or can be built up. however, I think the magic really comes out when you mix it with the bronze shade. It transforms into the most gorgeous peachy, bronze colour and is completely unlike anything I own or have swatched before. This is the colour I want on my cheeks all the time. But this is a colour that I just so unsure about- does it suit me? Something in my head says no, but something in my heart says 'who cares!'

I want sunshine so I can glow and shine. Britain needs a summer so I can work out if I'm meant to be a shimmery bronzed beauty or if I need to gift this gorgeous Duo away. I'm trying to make the combination of the two colours work, let me know what you think!

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