Here's Canmake's Spring 2017 releases:
1 Jan
Glow Fleur Cheeks #8 Fuschia Berry Fleur (blue-based translucent pink) 800yen
1 Feb
Cream Cheek #15 Antique Milk Rose (elegant pink beige) 580yen
Much like the iconic NARS Multiple, Visee Avancé Multi Stick Color (1800yen, 6 shades) is a cream stick that can be used on the cheeks, lips and even the eyes. Pic by Voce.
During my last trip to London, I picked up the Pixi Illuminating Tint & Conceal in the lightest shade No.1 Light Glow (£21.50), which consists of a glowy tinted moisturiser and a cream concealer. Aside from providing sheer coverage and SPF20, it is supposed to help skin look naturally radiant thanks to light-diffusing mineral pigments. When I swatched this in the store, the glow factor looked like it was bordering on glitter vampire territory. However, it looked quite wearable in this Pixi video, so I decided to give it a try anyway.
Made in the USA, the moisturiser (28.4g/1oz) is free of oil, fragrance and talc. The sunscreen ingredients are titanium dioxide and zinc oxide. It also contains silicones. The concealer (2.6g/0.09oz) is supposed to provide full coverage and contains Vitamins A, C and E plus soothing aloe vera.
Pixi also just launched a new Redness Reducing Primer (£20, 25g) which is supposed to help camouflage redness and soothe skin with Vitamins A and E, aloe vera and linoleic acid (an anti-inflammatory). Made in Italy, this is free of parabens and fragrance but it does contain silicones.
The light green cream feels very lightweight on the skin. It applies and blends easily, making my skin look more even-toned and radiant (without any shimmer particles). Below is the ingredient list.
The Succulent Lip Twin No. 3 Pink Peony is actually a purchase from a few months ago when the Boots in Picadilly Circus was clearing out their Pixi stock at 50% off. Made in the USA, this normally retails at £12 which is pretty reasonable considering that you are getting two products in one.
In the cap is a lip and cheek tint packed with shea butter and aloe vera. This gives the cheeks a nice sheer wash of color that stayed on all day. In the tube is a lip balm/gloss that contains Vitamin E, jojoba oil and lavender extract to keep the lips well-moisturised. The gloss turned out to be surprisingly well-pigmented, although it can also be sheered out to give a translucent wash.
The dome-shaped lip and cheek tint is similar in size to the concealer in the Illuminating Tint & Conceal. It doesn't look like a very generous amount of product but I think it should still last a good long while as you only need a bit for each application. It's hard to keep the cap clean though.
The pic below shows swatches (from left to right) of the Redness Reducing Primer, Illuminating Tint & Conceal and the Succulent Lip Twin.
When blended out, the Redness Reducing Primer (left in pic below) pretty much disappears on the skin. The texture is just right, not too greasy or silicone-y or mattifying.
Next to it, the Illuminating Tint & Conceal is a virtual glowfest. When applied on the face, the effect is actually much more subdued and it provided more coverage than I expected. It's not full coverage by any means, but just enough to make the skin more even-toned and less ruddy.
The pic below shows the lip gloss from the Succulent Lip Twin on the left and the lip/cheek tint on the right.
The lipgloss has a lovely non-sticky texture.
Here's a look I did using mainly Pixi products with the Illuminating Tint & Conceal applied over the Redness Reducing Primer. The tinted moisturiser wasn't that good in terms of oil control, but that is usually to be expected from an illuminating formula. There was some shine on my T-zone after just 1.5 hours. Nevertheless, I still quite like this for the ease of application, lightweight texture with coverage that evens out the skin tone and reduces the appearance of my pores. For a more polished effect, I set it with Suqqu loose powder. The concealer does a decent job of covering up the dark circles but it's not completely full coverage.
Other products used for this look: Pixi Endless Silky Eye Pen in Sage Gold and Eye Glow Cube Lucent Lid Light over Too Faced Shadow Insurance, Majolica Majorca Lash Expander Edge Meister BK999 and K-Palette Real Lasting Eyebrow 01.
From the Armani spring 2013 Pop collection, the only items that caught my eye were the two new Blushing Fabric gel blushes in #8 HD Orange and #9 HD Fuchsia (US$39). I ordered these from Nordstrom.com.
My current collection (from left): #1 Shimmering Peach, #5 Raspberry, #8 HD Orange and #9 HD Fuchsia.
The shade names are not listed anywhere on the boxes or the tubes. Only the shade numbers are printed on the back of the tubes.
Made in France, each Blushing Fabric contains a very generous amount of product at 20ml, versus a mere 7ml for Becca Beach Tint. With just a little bit needed for each application, these literally take years to use up. List of ingredients below.
Just a tiny pin-head sized dab is all you need for a natural flush of color. Armani describes it as "crafted as a micro-blend of pure water-soluble pigments and laquers, this cushiony formula delivers buildable color for cheek and face that is both imperceptible and long-lasting". You can see swatches of other Blushing Fabric shades in this earlier post.
I found #9 HD Fuchsia to be quite similar to #5 Raspberry. Raspberry is more intense and leans more hot pink. HD Fuchsia also swatches a tad patchily compared to Raspberry.
#8 HD Orange has a subtle sprinkling of refined shimmer flecks that are not as obvious or numerous as those in #1 Shimmering Peach. The Blushing Fabrics are super easy to apply and blend to a natural finish, adding a healthy touch of color that never looks overdone. They also do not stain the skin and are easily removable.
#8 HD Orange is slighty more coral compared to Becca Papaya Beach Tint, which has a stronger orange tone. The Becca Beach Tint swatches are more budge-proof than the Blushing Fabrics, which rubbed off in little flakes when I ran my finger across them after 20 minutes whereas the Beach Tints did not smudge or peel.
I placed my order during Nordstrom's beauty event and received this bumper crop of samples as the gift with purchase.
A friend in Tokyo very kindly helped me purchase these new spring releases from Canmake, Majolica Majorca, Lavshuca and Visee.
I was delighted to finally be able to try Canmake Cream Cheek CL01 Clear Red Heart, CL03 Clear Sunset and CL04 Clear Pink Joy. CL04 was released in January this year and it is limited edition. The CL shades are translucent gel creams that do not contain any shimmer, unlike the earlier Cream Cheek shades. These nifty little pots boast surprisingly good color payoff and they are super affordable at just 609yen each.
Aside from these, I also own #03, #12 Marshmallow Orange and the Cream Highlighter.
The swatches of the CL shades were two light layers each.
I've only tried CL04 so far and it was instant love. The gel cream melds effortlessly into the skin for a natural tint of color without pooling in the pores or any patchiness. There is also no stickiness at all. CL04 didn't last the whole day on me though, I would say about 4-5 hours max. The swatches are more intense than how I would apply them on my cheeks.
These have a more lightweight texture than the normal Cream Cheeks which are denser and creamier. I think these are a great drugstore alternative to Becca Beach Tints which cost almost three times as much.
CL01 is the vibrant cherry red, CL03 is more coral and CL04 is a sweet rosy pink.
In the swatches of 03 and 12, the micro flecks of shimmer are visible. These are just one layer each.
In the pic below, I'm wearing CL04 and on the lips is Candy Wrap Lip 09 Dark Night Plum.
