Obsessions | The Balm How 'Bout Them Apples Lip and Cheek Stain Palette

When it comes to makeup, blush and bronzer fall behind on my list of products I lust over because applying colour to that large an area of skin is terrifying. I typically stay away from bronzers and have been using the same blush for six years. I use the Covergirl Cheekers blush and it might be in the shade Pretty Peach? It's peach something. Anyway, I received my first Birchbox subscription a couple months ago and one of the items was a mini sample of The Balm's How 'Bout Them Apples? Lip and Cheek Stain in Apple Pie. Weary of cream blushes after I tried the Revlon Photo Ready Cream Blush in Coral Reef last year and looked like an actual clown, I approached this sample with extreme caution. I was also afraid I would break out with a cream blush, but my cheek area has remained blemish-free. I dabbed my fingers into the product and onto my cheeks and lightly patted it in, working from a light coverage to a really flattering glowy look. At that moment, I knew I no longer had to fear cream blushes and became obsessed, wearing it nearly every day the past three months.

Top 5 summer lippies

Left to right: Topshop Infrared, Rimmel Lasting Finish Matte by Kate Moss in 109, Revlon ColorBurst Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Sweetheart Valentine, Fresh Sugar Lip Balm in Rosé and Tanya Burr Cosmetics in Aurora and Vampire Kiss

Summer is in full swing and for me, the most exciting bit of this hot weather is altering my makeup routine. I'm not one to limit certain shades and finishes to specific seasons, but I do tend to reach for the brighter shades and a lot more pastels in the spring and summer. That being said, I've been reaching for the following lippies quite a bit so I think it only right to share my top five lippies for summer! *Fair warning - I attempted to be a little more creative at the end and not just post the standard pictures here and I'm not quite sure I love how they turned out, as in they're quite weird. A little weird. Maybe just different.*

Obessions | MAC Plumful

Shakespeare once said, "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate." Now, I'm 1,000% sure he was musing about lipstick and not just any lipstick the lipstick - MAC's Plumful. Okay, he was probs actually just proclaiming his love to a person, but why can't that love be transferred to the most perfect lipstick of all time? After hearing Estée from EssieButton talk about it for so long on her YouTube channel and mention it in her blog, I decided to treat myself and finally bought it on my 22nd birthday a month ago. Like the beauty product addict I am, I applied it the second I got in my car and was so shocked by how different and darker it appeared away from the MAC lighting! Boy was it stunning!
As you can tell by looking at the lipstick and from its name, Plumful is a plum-based color that is more mauve and natural, not so dark and vampy. It has that pink undertone to it that really sets it apart from most plums, but it's so subtle that it doesn't belong in the pink family. If you read our previous top 5 lippies for spring post, you will know I don't wear true nudes as they don't look good on me. Instead, I prefer the "my lips but better" look so that my lips still appear natural, but have that little oomph. I love Plumful because it is a definitely my kind of natural, but it still gives me the color I crave.

DIY L'Oreal Paris Preference Ombré Touch Review

After watching a couple videos on the L'Oreal range of at-home ombré kits, Cristina decided to take the plunge and dye her hair! She didn't want to damage her roots and dye all of her hair because she wanted to retain as much of her natural color as possible, so she opted for an ombré look. To the left is a photo of Cristina right before she was going to dye her hair. Her natural hair color is a very dark brown.

Using the L'Oreal Paris Preference Ombré Touch in light blonde to light brown, C prepped all of the products and began to apply the dye by covering the small brush that came in the box with the dye and combed it through her hair in small sections. The brush fits on your pointer finger, so it can only handle small sections. Cristina said it wasn't the best method of application because the brush was so small and because it took a long time to apply. By the end of it, her hair didn't have a lot of dye in it, so her hair was only slightly colored. C's hair had subtle highlights along the bottom rather than the ombré affect she was going for.