Aromaleigh and My Mineral Blush Collection: I Want Candy

I got my Aromaleigh loot (and a few more coming), and whenever I look at them, they remind me of candy. I love the colors, the textures, the vibrancy and the sheer ease in application of these pigments. I also included some pigment swatches.


My mountain of Aromaleigh pigment samples


Full sizes under natural light without flash


With flash


Some swatches applied over MAC Soft Ochre paint pot



My Mineral Blush Collection

Some of you have been asking about my mineral blush collection. I used to collect NARS and Cargo blushes, but I've begun to gravitate towards mineral blushes lately. Here are my full sizes and my samples of these blushes. I also love that they last forever (no expiration date).


Full sizes, except my J.Lynne generous samples that are taking me forever to finish




Must Have Minerals (MHM) was the old name of Lumiere.


The little pots in the second to the last row marked "Joyous Jennifer", "Thistle", "Secret" were bought from Corina of Colorful Sprinkles, before she stopped selling Bare Escentuals. These are generous 1/4 tsp samples of Bare Escentuals blushes.


Joppa blush samples




More Cory blushes from a more recent purchase

And lastly, I haven't posted a picture yet of my MAC Cool Heat eyeshadows together, so here they are (love the colors!):


Correction: Solar Heat should read Solar White.

Re-Visiting An Old Love

I'm talking about a mineral makeup brand that I've fallen in love with last year, but stood at the sidelines for so long because I'd been enjoying my newer mineral discoveries: my J.Lynne mineral foundation. I finally tried it again after so many months lying dormant in my drawer, and I am amazed again by the beautiful finish it gives. Part of it is because it gives the perfect balance of coverage - it is neither too light to melt easily off the face, nor is it too heavy to feel and look cakey. I just really, really, like it, and now that summer is done, I think I'll be using this more frequently from now on.

Here's another green look; the difference however is that I just love the creaminess of the new MAC McQueen paint pots. They (McQueen paint pots) are essentially matte, unlike the frost finish of most of the regular paint pots, so they really go tacky and make pigments and shadow adhere to the lid like they've been glued. I don't need to foil the pigments as they really stick to the skin, and of course the paint pots make the eye colors pop vividly. I just love these new paint pots. I wish MAC would come up with more paint pots of the creamy texture instead of the frost.







Eyes:
MAC Beige-ing shadestick as base
MAC Other Worldly paint pot on lid
MAC Chartreuse pigment on lid
MAC Guacamole eyeshadow on mid to outer lid
MAC Scarab eyeshadow on outer V and crease
MAC Ricepaper eyeshadow to highlight
Indelible gel liner in Endangered
MAC Zoomlash mascara

Face:
Camellia Rose skin smoothing primer
J.Lynne mineral foundation in Ivory Light Golden 1.9 and Light Golden 2.5 (60-40 mix)
Mary Kay undereye concealer in Ivory topped with
Bare Escentuals Well Rested
Bare Escentuals mineral veil
MAC Emote blush to contour
NARS blush in Sin

Lips:
MAC lipliner in Whirl
MAC lipstick in Mellow Flame
MAC lipglass in Lightning

J.Lynne Minerals, Lumiere Khaki and MAC Mellow Flame

Lumiere has some of the best mineral shadows out there. They are really pigmented and apply very smoothly on the lid, and the best part for me is that I don't need to foil them to achieve maximum color pay-off. I have several of these in my stash, but my favorites are the plums and greens. I am featuring Lumiere's Khaki eye shimmer. It is described on the site as a "medium khaki brown green", and my camera I believe faithfully captured the essence and nuances of the color. I used it on my outer V and I just love, love, love the color! It gives depth to my otherwise boring green eye look. I lined my eye with MAC's Mystery kohl power from the Smoke Signals collection, and I just love these kohl powers. They are some of the best pencil liners I've tried, and the colors are absolute coolness.

I have not picked up my J.Lynne foundation in months and now I am kicking myself in the butt for not using this. J.Lynne amazes me each time with its flawless but adequate coverage. It is not as light-weight as other brands like Meow, but man, the finish is outstanding. Since I've developed a tan over the summer months, I feel that my old shades in Meow are becoming way too light on me, but J.Lynne's is always perfect. J.Lynne's blushes and illuminizers are outstanding as well (soooo love the Latin Rhythms blush collection), and Jess, the owner, is so nice and easy to deal with each time.

I used my MAC lipstick in Mellow Flame from the Smoke Signals collection and I now know that this is hands-down my favorite among all the lipsticks from that collection. It goes well with my warm-toned skin and doesn't make me look washed out, and it doesn't look garish either. NC30-35 gals, we have a winner in Mellow Flame!







Eyes:
MAC Beige-ing shadestick as base
MAC Moss Scape paint pot on lid
MAC Juxt eyeshadow on lid
MAC Humid eyeshadow on outer V and crease
Lumiere eye shimmer in Khaki outer V
MAC Ricepaper eyeshadow above to highlight
MAC Myster kohl power pencil to line
MAC Zoomlash mascara

Face:
Camellia Rose Skin Smoothing primer
J.Lynne mineral foundation in 2.5 and 1.9 (mixed)
Mary Kay undereye concealer in Ivory topped with
Bare Escentuals Well Rested
Bare Escentuals mineral veil
MAC Emote blush to contour
NARS Angelika blush on apples of cheeks

Lips:
MAC lipliner in Whirl
MAC lipstick in Mellow Flame
MAC lipglass in Lull

J.Lynne Latin Rhythms Blush Collection

I received some lovely blush samples from J.Lynne Cosmetics' fab Latin Rhythms collection, and I am SO SO in love with them. Some of them are matte, which I absolutely love, and some have shimmer but the latter is very subtle, you almost can't detect it until light hits your cheekbones, and even then, it isn't garish. Here are some swatches. These are applied dry using a Q-tip. I used a heavy hand so as to make the color pop against the glare of the flash. Keep in mind though that it is very easy to create beautiful glow-from-within looks using these gorgeous blushes; it's all in the tool used and in the application. I personally use either my MAC 187 stippling brush which picks up and applies color very subtly, or my Sonia Kashuk angled blush brush to apply lightly at an angle, and buff it with my flat-top bronzer brush.


Top to Bottom: Samba, Mambo, Pasa Doble, Chacha


Top to Bottom: Rumba, Flamenco, Bolero, Tango

J.Lynne Foundation Match

Eureka! I finally found my exact shade in J.Lynne! I think. I got a sample each (in sample jars filled to the brim) of the Ivory Golden 1.5 and Ivory/Light Golden 1.9, but since the labels were on the lids and not at the bottom of the jars, I might have interchanged the lids, hence I don't know if I switched them. The shades are also so close that I was having a hard time figuring out which one is lighter/darker. In any event, I believe I used Ivory/Light Golden 1.9 in these pictures because the color in the jar was a smidge darker than the other.





Face:
Pure Luxe cream eraser as primer
J.Lynne Smooth mineral foundation in Ivory/Light Golden 1.9
Mary Kay undereye concealer in Ivory topped with
Bare Escentuals Well-Rested
Monave finishing powder in Angel
MAC Pearl Sunshine Beauty Powder as blush
MAC Refined Golden bronzer to contour

Lips:
MAC's cremestick lipliner in Whirl
MAC Viva Glam V lipstick

Eyes:
MAC Beige-ing shadestick as base
MAC Ricepaper eyeshadow to highlight browbone
Fyrinnae Professional Color pigment in Macabre as wash
Fyrinnae pigment in Kung Pao crease and outer V
Fyrinnae pigment in Sake and Sashimi used with MAC mixing medium as liner
Maybelline Intense XXL mascara

My I-Don't-Tire-Of-Neutrals Look

Face:
Pure Luxe cream eraser as primer
J.Lynne Smooth mineral foundation in Light Golden 2.5
Mary Kay undereye concealer in Ivory topped with
Bare Escentuals Well-Rested
Monave finishing powder in Angel
MAC mineralized skinfinish in Stereo Rose
MAC Refined Golden bronzer to contour

Lips:
MAC's lipliner in Spice
MAC lipstick in Role Play
MAC lipglass in Viva Glam V

Eyes:
MAC Beige-ing shadestick as base
MAC eyeshadow in Shroom to highlight
MAC eyeshadow in Jest inner to mid lid
Lumiere eye shimmer in Cocoa on crease and outer V
MAC Graphic Brown fluidline to line upper lashline
Maybelline Volume Express Turbo Boost mascara

Everyday Minerals and J.Lynne Lip Glaze

I am slowly eating my words regarding Everyday Minerals (EDM). Been using EDM for the past few days and the finish still amazes me. I stopped using EDM in the past because I didn't like the staying power, it used to fade on me by mid-day. I should have known that all it takes is a little prepping and priming with a good base, and maybe the weather helped the foundation stay put (cool, crisp winter-almost-spring days). I am also beginning to love J. Lynne's lip glaze. The consistency is perfect, neither too goopy nor too runny, and it lends a pretty, luscious pout to complete the look. I just love mineral makeup!





Face:
Pure Luxe cream eraser as primer
Everyday Minerals foundation in Light Intensive mixed with Golden Fair Intensive
Mary Kay undereye concealer in Ivory topped with
Bare Escentuals Well-Rested
Monave finishing powder in Angel
Lumiere veena blush in Wild Rose
MAC Refined Golden bronzer to contour

Lips:
Estee Lauder Artist's Lip Pencil in Tawny Writer
MAC lipstick in Syrup
J.Lynne lip glaze in Jodie

Eyes:
MAC Beige-ing shadestick as base
MAC Ricepaper eyeshadow as highlighter
Valerie Beauty multi-purpose minerals in Miranda inner to mid lid
Lumiere eye shimmer in Driftwood crease and outer V
MAC Graphic Brown fluidline to line upper lashline
Maybelline Volume Express Turbo Boost mascara

J.Lynne Mineral Cosmetics

So I became sample-happy again as I tried another mineral company that has been getting good reviews on mineral makeup boards: J. Lynne. I got the package of samples the following day it had been shipped (less than 48 hours after I ordered online), because their office is only a 3-minute drive from where I live. I like the finish; it's a little dense than what I expected, but that's all good because as far as my experience with mineral makeup is concerned, the more dense the formulation, the longer the staying power. I also tried Bare Escentuals blush in Flowers for the first time, and now I understand why a lot of women are enamored by it. I also tried my green mineral eyeshadows that are slowly becoming staples in my makeup routine.







Face:
Pure Luxe cream eraser as primer
J.Lynne Smooth mineral foundation in Light Golden 2.5
Mary Kay undereye concealer in Ivory topped with
Bare Escentuals Well-Rested
Monave finishing powder in Angel
Bare Escentuals blush in Flowers
MAC Refined Golden bronzer to contour

Lips:
Estee Lauder Artist's Lip Pencil in Tawny Writer
Wet n Wild lip Glassy Gloss lip gel in Mocha Glaze

Eyes:
MAC Beige-ing shadestick as base
MAC Ricepaper eyeshadow as highlighter
MAC Aquavert eyeshadow on inner lid
Fyrinnae mineral eyeshadow in Elven Dagger mid lid
Bare Escentuals glimmer eyeshadow in Purrfect on crease/outer V
MAC Shade fluidline to line upper lashline
Maybelline Volume Express Turbo Boost mascara