Hard Candy Baked Blushes in Living Doll & Honeymoon!

Hard Candy "Blush Crush" Baked Blushes are super soft & blendable blushes that come in a variety of four (4) marbleized shades. There is Honeymoon, Bombshell, Living Doll and Pin Up. Of the four blushes, two (Honeymoon and Pin Up) are very light & are most suitable as highlights/pearly sheens for the face, rather than an actual "blush". Bombshell is a deep bronze, and is more like a frosty bronzer. Living Doll is a cotton candy pink, and is the only blush of the four that I would actually call a "blush".

I owned Honeymoon already, but I was interested in trying Living Doll. So, I ended up purchasing at the same time I purchased the Hard Candy Glamoflauge Concealer (review here).

Living Doll is a light/mid-tone cotton candy pink with yellow veining. Although the color is quite cool, it doesn't seem to look ashy on my warm skintone. The blush itself is very soft, and has the consistency of an average "baked" blush. In comparison to MAC Mineralized Skinfinishes, I would say they are quite similar, but MAC is a little more dense, whereas Hard Candy is a bit more sheer and powdery. Because the texture is so soft, the color blends effortlessly on the cheeks. That's the main reason I love baked blushes, powder and eye shadows & gravitate towards them when I'm shopping for makeup. This blush is sheer with a light coat, and can built very easily. I wasn't at all disappointed with the color payoff. The finish is quite frosty, but I personally don't mind frost on the cheeks as long as it's not too frosty, where it will give my cheeks a silvery/gray cast. It's ultimately up to you preference wise. I know there are people who hate MAC Mineralized Skinfinishes because they are frosty, but I love them and wished I owned every one of them.. haha!

Hard Candy "Living Doll" Baked Blush

This is the color swatched heavily on my hand so you can see the color well. With a much lighter hand, this color is very nice on the cheeks for a pink glow.

I figured since I own Honeymoon as well, I'd swatch both. Honeymoon is a light, frosted peach with pale purple veining. It doesn't show up prominent on my cheeks, so I like to dust it over my blushes to add a peachy sheen.

Hard Candy "Honeymoon" and "Living Doll" Baked Blushes

Here are both colors swatched on my hand. 

Left: Honeymoon, Right: Living Doll

The only downside with the blushes is, they aren't very long lasting. Within a few hours, the color has faded drastically. Next time I wear Living Doll, I'll apply a creme blush prior as a base and see how that works. I'll also wear it in a FOTD to show you how it looks on my cheeks very soon!

Here is Rocky today enjoying the weather outside. Yesterday he turned 6 months old.. :) He's looking extra shaggy, so I'll be setting up an appointment at the groomers sometime this week.

♥

Review: Looking for Full Coverage at a Low Cost? Camouflage your Dark Circles with Hard Candy's Glamoflauge Concealer.

Hard Candy Glamouflage Concealer - Medium

Catchy title, aye? I discovered this concealer at Wal-mart not too long ago when I was browsing the new products Hard Candy has to offer. When I spotted Glamoflauge, it automatically rang a bell as a product I've heard of before (unless I was thinking of Benefit Powderflage.. haha). So quickly, I went on my phone and checked the reviews on makeupalley for this product. I skimmed through the first few reviews, which were very promising, as was the 4/5 overall rating. I fumbled through the rack to find my shade, only to find one left in the shade medium, which happened to be an opened box covered with concealer fingerprints. Despite the dirty box, from whoever swatched it, I decided to purchase it.

Product Description: A heavy duty, highly pigmented, multi-use concealer that delivers ultimate coverage. The formula blends seamlessly into skin with plenty of play time creating a flawless and natural look perfect for any occasion. You can hide everything from dark circles and blemishes to tattoos! (http://www.hardcandy.com)

Various light sources (in the shade Medium)

It's quite unfortunate that this concealer only comes in three (3) shades, which is probably the only non positive thing I can say about this concealer. There is light, medium and tan. I chose medium, which happens to be a medium beige with yellow/olive undertones. In fact, the olive undertone is quite strong and can appear green on certain skintones. I have used it on myself as well as my best friend. She is middle eastern, with light/medium olive skin and it matched her perfectly, and she would be able to wear it alone. I on the other hand, would not be able to wear this alone, as the green looks more obvious on my skintone.

As for the product itself, I can honestly say it's the best FULL coverage (drugstore) concealer I have tried. It covers any blemishes, scars on my face with no effort and covers my under eye darkness completely. The consistency is a creamy liquid that isn't too dry and isn't too liquidy. It's thicker than MAC Select Cover Up & somewhat comparable to Mary Kaye or MUFE Full Coverage Concealer. Because the coverage is quite heavy, I would recommend moisturizing your under eyes well prior to applying this concealer so it won't accentuate your dryness & look very thick. Some of you may find this concealer too heavy for your needs, and some of you may find it perfect for your needs. If you find it too heavy for your under eyes, like I mentioned, it's excellent at covering blemishes. It's said to cover tattoos, and I wouldn't at all doubt it. I applied a little dab over one of my brown birthmarks, and it covered it completely.

The small pencil concealer is a cute little extra. It may not offer as much coverage as the liquid concealer, but it's useful for defining the eyebrows or lips. 

Overall, I really like this concealer and will continue using it for blemishes and under eyes. Again, my only complaint is the color selection and the undertone of the shade medium. I have to make sure to adequately apply my foundation over the concealer to cover up the green cast it gives me. Or, mix it with another concealer of mine. Other than that, I love it. I'll most likely be picking this up in the shade light as well.

Hard Candy products can be found at your local Wal-mart!

Review: Hard Candy Sheer Envy Primer

Product Description: Sheer Envy Primer helps to even out the skin while reducing shine. Improves foundation application while minimizing skin imperfections. Make-up lasts longer and skin is left velvety smooth. (Source: http://www.hardcandy.com)

The back of the tube reads "A lightweight formula that enhances the skin's texture and primes the skin for makeup application".

Instructions for use: Apply a small amount for an even layer all over your face to create a skin-smoothing finish. Once dry, follow with foundation.

The tube is 1.6 oz or 45g and can be purchased at Wal-mart for $8.

Hard Candy Sheer Envy Primer is silicone based and shares a lot of the same ingredients as Smashbox Photo Finish, ELF Mineral Face Primer, Etc. The product itself is white and a little chunky (sounds lovely, right?).. but once applied to the skin, it blends in very easily and seamlessly. The outcome is skin that is soft to the touch and slightly more matte complexion.

You can see from the photo at the end that it does mattify the skin and fill in the small cracks.

My thoughts: Although I'm not very "big" on silicone primers - or primers in general for that matter.. I actually do enjoy using this one. I reviewed ELF's Mineral Primer maybe a month or so ago (click here for reference) and although they are very similar, I prefer Hard Candy Sheer Envy. I think it has something to do with the texture. Hard Candy's primer is a little more lightweight and has less of a thick "silicone" feel to it. I really like the way it makes my skin feel velvety soft and creates a great, even canvas for my foundation. What I especially noticed is when using my Cinema Secrets (cream/cake) foundation, this primer really allowed me to use less product - as it helped the product move around my face better. I also think the end result of my foundation looked much better and even. I will make sure to use this primer on days where I'll be wearing Cinema Secrets. As for my liquid foundations, I was again able to use less product & my outcome would be a very good, even foundation application. I didn't notice though, that it pro-longed the wear of my foundation, kept shine away or camouflaged my pores like other silicone primers may do. I find it a little difficult to rate primers on their performance because I change my products all of the time (moisturizers, foundations, etc) Otherwise, I'd probably be able to rate it better. But I do overall like this product and will continue using it for certain foundations. I also think it would work fabulous with powder foundation. So, if you like silicone primers, this is a great one to look into. :)

Have you tried this product? Post your thoughts below!

Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with Hard Candy.

Review: Hard Candy Cosmetics Fire Alarm Lipstick. The perfect pink lipstick! + Photos & Swatches!

I was shopping at Wal-mart the other day and came across a large display of Hard Candy Cosmetics. Hard Candy is a somewhat familiar brand to me.. but I never knew it was sold at Wal-mart! And, I never knew how affordable it is in comparison to high end cosmetics. Everything looked so pretty.. there are lots of vibrant colors and the packaging is very cute. Most of the cosmetics are $5.00 and $6.00, some go up to $9.00.

I ended up getting a lipstick in the shade Fire Alarm #200 and a Plexi Gloss Glossy Lip Shine in the shade Diamond (clear) #173. The gloss was $5 and the lipstick was $6.

 

Here are a couple of swatches..

Here are my lips lined with MAC Stripdown lip liner pencil and Hard Candy Fire Alarm lipstick.
Pictured left: The lipstick alone Pictured right: With the clear gloss applied over the lipstick

Review: The texture is extremely slippery. It has the same texture as NYX Round lipsticks. It feels really lightweight and buttery soft and creamy to the touch. When I rub my lips together after I've applied the lipstick, it has a very thin, slippery feeling.. almost like a lip balm. Its so feathery light, that it feels like nothing at all is on my lips. You can build the coverage from sheer to very pigmented. I only need a couple swipes and the color is perfect for me. It didn't accentuate any dryness in my lips or look like concealer. But I'm sure if my lips are dry.. because it's such a light pink - It may accentuate dryness. I recommend exfoliating your lips or applying a balm prior to this lipstick. It actually reminds me of MAC Hue, which is my favorite pink lip stick.. if applied very lightly. (The more you apply.. the more opaque and light pink your lips look. With a couple swipes.. you have a nice wash of pink to your lips). It even looks a bit like MAC Florabundance Lipglass. It's not too light... just the perfect pink.

As for the clear gloss, I'm really liking it too. It's not at all sticky or gel-like. It's very liquidy and moisturizing & adds a great shine to my lips.

Both were great purchases, and I'll be looking forward to purchasing more Hard Candy! :)