Urban Decay Naked Flushed Palette

Naked Flushed was originally an extension to Urban Decay's Naked line, which has since been extended to include a total of four palettes.

I purchased the original after much back and forth about if it was something I really needed. I have plenty of blushes, bronzer and highlighters, but I didn't have them all in one, compact palette, so of course I decided I needed it. 

The colours are beautiful and pigmented, and the texture of the powders are all smooth and of the standard you expect from Urban Decay. The bronzer, which has a semi-matte finish, adds definition and warmth to the face and isn't at all orangy or muddy, and the rosy pink blush adds colour. As for the highlighter, who can't love a shimmery, champagne pink? It compliments the blush perfectly and completes the palette.

Although there are other colours in the flushed range now, I believe this is the most universally flattering and I like that each of the shades can be used individually or layered. There is no divide between each of the shades and, so far, I haven't had a problem with shimmer sneaking into the bronzer or blush when I have wanted to them alone.

At £22 I think this is a real beauty gem, on my recent holiday this was the only cheek product I carried because not only is it beautiful but it is also compact and fits into my makeup bag easily.

Naked Flushed can be purchased from Debenhams and House of Fraser stores, online from lookfantastic, and if you are in the Middle East get yours in Sephora. 

Benefit Fine One One review

Benefit have kicked off the new year with a brand new product in their collection, Fine One One, which is described as sheer brightening cheek and lip colour.

I was lucky enough to be invited to an event at the Spitalfields boutique, where we got to have makeovers, a 'photo shoot' on a segway and a talk about the brand DNA from the daughters of one of the founders, Maggie and Annie Danielson.

Some segway time with Grace from ‘All That Slap'

Fine One One is made up of three shades — pink champagne, sheer watermelon and soft coral — which blended together form a sheer coral pink, which gives a subtle and natural cheek but can be built up to bright pink.

The packaging is very cute. The rose gold finish looks good and complements the colour of the product. The plastic casing does feel a bit cheap, compared to other Benefit products, but it is light weight and compact, which is great for travel.

To use the product, you twist it up and then glide it across your cheekbone. As with all Benefit’s products, it is designed to be easy to use and it really is. I really like the flush of colour it leaves on the cheeks, and it can be built up to something more if you want to. Since the cheek isn’t flat, I did find that I had to go over the area twice, angling the product to get an even amount of each shade.

The Benefit ladies said that Fine One One was tested on all skin tones and is suitable for all, but I think that darker skin tones will find it difficult to build up into anything more than a flush of colour.

I did a small colour test of my own using my mum and sister since we all have a slightly different skin tone. Standing side by side, wearing the same amount of product it is interesting to see how much of the colour could be seen. Personally I think it was the most flattering on my sister. For some reason the colour looked barely there on me compared to the top photograph.

The product also can be used as a lip colour but I don’t imagine I will be using it for that, mostly because it’s awkward to apply on the go.

I love the colour and the finish on me but, unfortunately, I didn’t find that the product lasted very well. After applying it at around 7.30am, I could see very little, if any, left by lunchtime.

At £23.50 for 8g, it is a little pricy, especially since I can imagine getting through this much quicker than a regular powder blush.

What do you think of Fine One One?

Me Me Me Blush Rouge

I only own three blushes, an ELF blush and bronzer duo, Benefit Coralista and a pink Bourgeois one. I tend to reach for Coralista on a daily basis since I love everything about it, but I know it is not always suitable!

I have had my eye on MeMeMe blushes for a while, I have heard they are very similar to Benefit, the packaging is almost identical but they only have 4 shades, a bronze, pink, coral and peach shade. Each are beautiful, I love the bronze shade but I don’t know how often I could wear that and opted for the shade ‘rouge’. I am always nervous swatching products in stores since the lighting is so misleading. I assumed from the name rouge would be a red shade but it is actually more of a peach/orange tone. Although it is not a matte shade, it does not have a lot of shimmer and to me makes it more wearable daily than coralista. It is also more pigmented than I expected so only a light touch is needed and I imagine even with daily use this will last for a very long time.

Coralista above and Rouge below, both with blended and unblended swatch

Other blog posts have compared rouge as a potential dupe to coralista, which at first got me very worried that I had chosen the wrong thing! However, I do not think this at all. If anything MeMeMe’s coral shade may be more comparable although I have not looked at them together. Rouge is far more of a peach tone in my opinion while coralista is more shimmery and is more pink.

I am really pleased with my purchase, and would love to go back and pick up the other shades in the future. You can find MeMeMe in Superdrug and the blushes usually retail at £8.50, at the moment they are on promotion for £1.50 off making them £7 each.