Holiday 2014 Preview: tarte's Pin Up Girl Amazonian Clay Blush Palette!

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Can you believe it is time to talk about the Holidays already? Yes, it is that time! The Holiday Season is, hands-down, the best time to purchase makeup sets and palettes. Most of my favorite brands, like tarte, annually release limited edition Holiday sets and palettes. These sets are not only beautiful and available for a limited time, but also they are usually an amazing value, too!

Tarte has a fabulous lineup of Holiday Sets and Palettes this year! I got a chance to try out the amazing new Pin Up Girl Amazonian Clay Blush Palette which is exclusive to Sephora.

I am a total blush fanatic. Not only do I love blushes, but I also collect palettes. So, yes...this Pin Up Girl Amazonian Clay Blush Palette is pretty much my dream makeup item. What makes it even better? The gorgeous vintage-inspired packaging! This gorgeous slim clutch is perfect for travel and pretty enough to keep on top of your vanity! 

This set includes five exclusive brand new Amazonian clay blushes and two pretty hair pins.

The blush shades are:

• Breathless (pinky beige)
• Embraced (plummy rose)
• Whimsy (light pink)
• Bashful (rosy peach)
• Irreplaceable (mauve rose) 

This gorgeous blush palette makes a great gift for a friend or for yourself! The blushes are so pretty and like all tarte Amazonian clay blushes, they are extremely pigmented, stay true to color, and are extremely long wearing. At $42.00, this is a really great deal for 5 blushes from tarte!

Have you seen tarte's Holiday collection? What are you eyeing from the collection?

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A Cream Blush Lover's Dream Palette: The Balm's "How Bout Them Apples"

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I can easily say that I am a blush lover. When it comes to makeup, the top of my list for items that I just love to use are blushes and palettes. Plus, I have a particular love for cream blushes. So, as you can imagine, the "How Bout Them Apples" palette from The Balm Cosmetics is pretty much my dream palette! Plus, have I mentioned how darn cute it is? As always, The Balm hits a home-run with its cutesy packaging.

The Balm: How 'Bout Them Apples? Palette:
I am so excited about this new palette from The Balm that is available in the Birchbox shop. An entire palette of gorgeous cream blushes? Swoon! Plus the super-cute packaging? I am all over this palette!!!

The palette contains 6 cream blush/lip shades. That is right, these versatile creams can be used either on your cheeks or your lips. The formula is creamy and easy to blend. The product has a bit of a wet feel and leaves a bit of a dewy finish. Each pan of product looks like an apple and has an apple/pie themed name. Too cute! The shades are: Cider, Cobbler, Pie, Crisp, Candy, Caramel. You can use these shades on their own or mix them together to create custom shades. Personally, I like the Cider and Candy shades the best. I find that Cobbler, because of the shade, is really best suited on me as a lipstick. I tend to use these primarily as blush but find that I sometimes just dab the excess on my lips after doing my cheeks.

The Skinny:
This palette retails for $32.00 and is available at Birchbox.

Are you a Birchbox subscriber? It is one of my favorite beauty sample subscriptions! I have subscribed, and been pleased with the subscription, for years. If you are not a subscriber yet, here is my referral link. Sign up and enjoy the fun of a monthly Birchbox full of deluxe beauty samples!

BeneFit Powder Pop Palette

BeneFit Powder Pop Palette

This little blush/bronzer palette is adorable! 3 GREAT BeneFit powders in one box!!! Great for on-the-go or travel! True to BeneFit's style, the packaging is adorable!!! This kit contains small/travel sized pans of "best sellers" from BeneFit including: Hoola (bronzer), Dandelion (blush), and Dallas (blush/contour).

Hoola is a medium matte bronzers. Perfect for those who don't like shimmer and use their bronzer for contouring. Tip: Apply in a "3" shape with a light-hand on your face hitting the top of your forehead, down your nose, and the hallows just under your cheekbones. I like this for contouring.

Dandelion is one of my "top 5" blushes; and, certainly my favorite pale blush. It shows up as a baby pink color on my uber-pale skin. It is just one of those face powders that makes my skin look "naturally healthy" (yet, not overly "made up"). But, I could see how this might not show up much on darker skin tones. It has an ever-so-slight shimmer that just looks beautiful on the skin (no noticeable sparkles, just a "glow"). I reach for this blush when I want a very natural look. So super pretty!!!

Dallas is a pretty bronzy-berry color with a slight shimmer that can be used as a contour or a blush. I love it as a blush. It gives a nice rosey-bronzy glow. I apply this with a light hand on my fair skin. I think this would look good on a variety of skintones.

One down-side to this product is that the pans are so small. So, depending on what bronzer/blush brush you use, it might not fit into the pan. The brush that comes with this set is pretty useless (I prefer a fluffier blush brush and use a kabuki for bronzer). Luckily, I have a small travel-size kabuki from my Ecotools travel kit that fits perfectly into these small pans. These blushes and bronzers apply great with that tool. But, the small-size is also a plus when you consider this item for travel. You get 3 products in a size just slightly wider and flatter than a normal BeneFit blush/bronzer package. So, I certainly plan on traveling with this!

I lucked out and found this for a steal on ebay! I believe it is discontinued???, but you can still find it at places like TJ Maxx and online (ebay). Hopefully BeneFit will bring this back with a new assortment of shades!

I admit, with BeneFit, I do fall for the cute packaging...but, the products are really fantastic too!

Love this little blush/bronzer palette! Super great for travel!
Hope you enjoyed this little review!

XOXO!
Pammy