Naturalla Beauty

With skin as pale as mine, it's very easy to overdo it with blush and end up looking like a clown.  For that reason, it's taken me a while to fully embrace wearing blush, but I think I'm officially a convert.  Today I want to talk about three fairly new-to-me blushes I've been loving.


The All Natural Face Desert Sand Glow
Technically this one is an all over face glow, not a blush, but it's way too dark on my skin to use all over.  Instead, I love using it as a subtle blush.  It's a nude pink color that goes with just about any makeup look.  It works equally well to tone down an otherwise dramatic makeup look, or just as an easy blush to grab when you're in a hurry or can't decide what color to wear.  

Pure Anada Fresh Mandarin Blush
Peach blushes are always a favorite around here and Fresh Mandarin is a pretty, burnt orange shade that seems especially fitting for fall.  I've mostly gotten used to loose blushes, but the added convenience of a pressed blush definitely comes in handy sometimes.  One drawback of this product is that it has a weird, putty-like smell, but according to the company, this is just the scent of the raw, unrefined jojoba oil that's used as a binder.  Would I like it better without the smell? Definitely, but it only smells in the pan, not on your face, so it isn't enough to stop me from enjoying such a pretty blush shade.

Silk Naturals Abstract Sheer Blush
Abstract is a pale, plummy pink shade with a nice, luminous finish, but no actual shimmer or glitter. The base is a cool-toned pink, but it has a slight gold sheen that warms it up nicely.  Seriously, I've been using this color almost non-stop these last few months and I just love it.  Silk Naturals' blushes are fantastic for us lighter skinned folk, because they go on sheer (at first) and blend very easily.  They're still very buildable though, so I don't think darker skinned ladies would have any issues using them either.  


The Bottom Line
The swatches of these three paint a pretty clear picture of how I like my blushes: not too dark and not too pigmented.  I'll reach for a more vivid blush on occasion, but for everyday, I usually go for a fairly subtle cheek color, somewhere along the lines of these three.  

What's your go-to blush color?

I haven't done very many favorites posts over the years, but that's something I want to change.  I'm not sure about committing to monthly favorites, but I'm thinking every couple months, or at least seasonally.  Let's kick it off with five products I've been loving over the last few months...



Vice1960 Face Oil*
I reviewed this oil in May, and it's remained a staple in my routine ever since.  My skin isn't overly acne-prone to begin with, but even so, I've noticed it's clearer and generally happier since I've been using this product.  I usually mix one pump of the V60 oil with a couple drops of jojoba oil and the combination has a lovely, light texture that's perfect for summer and sinks into my skin quickly.  

Nourish Organics Coconut & Argan Body Wash (with Hibiscus)
You guys know how much I love Nourish's body washes, and the Coconut & Argan is my newest favorite.  From the name, I was expecting a coconut scent, but it's actually just coconut oil in here, not fragrance, so that's not the predominant smell that comes through.  Instead, it's a lovely, light, tropical floral that I don't even know how to describe.  I'm assuming what I'm smelling is the hibiscus, with just a hint of coconut.  I feel like this is what a midnight walk on a beach in Hawaii would smell like.

The All Natural Face Tequila Sunrise Blush
As much as I like cream products, my cheeks respond a lot better to powders, so a while back I decided to pick up the powder version of my favorite All Natural Face cream blush, Tequila Sunrise.  The powder is just as pretty as the cream and my skin likes it much better.  I've been wearing this blush almost every day since re-discovering it in my collection a couple weeks ago.
(P.S. I've swatched the cream version here and here.  The powder is a slightly lighter version of the same color.)

Ora's Amazing Herbal All Purpose Salve*
I liked Ora's Salve from the get-go, but this month it's really had a chance to shine.  We have cedar trees in our backyard, which means we are fully stocked on mosquitoes as well.  Usually I get good results from lavender oil on any bites, but when that wasn't working to relieve a couple fresh bites one night, I reached for this guy.  The salve, which is packed with soothing and anti-inflammatory herbs like calendula, comfrey, plantain, and chickweed, not only stopped the itching, it also took down the swelling and within 5 minutes, the bites were 90% gone!  

Stila 24A Blush and Powder Brush
I'm not sure if this brush is still being sold, but I received it in a swap this month and I couldn't be happier with it.  The bristles are soft and it's a great size for blush - small enough that you have a lot of control over where you're applying product, but big enough that it doesn't take you ten minutes to get your blush on.  I'm not usually one to spend a lot on brushes, but I'd be curious to check out more of Stila's brush line in the future.

How do you feel about favorites posts?  What have you been loving this spring?

A few months ago, Crystal from the All Natural Face asked me if I'd be willing to take some photos of their cream blushes for the new website they were planning to launch.  The new website is live now (check it out!), but the photos didn't end up being used.  All the same, rather than just leave them sitting in a file, I figured I'd share the photos here.  I've photographed and swatched 23 of the 27 cream blushes, plus the one cream highlighter, so I'm hoping they'll be helpful to anyone struggling to choose colors.  I grouped similar colors together so you can see how they compare to one another.  (Click on the photos to make them bigger.)  You can also read my full review of the cream blushes here.






Have you tried these blushes yet?  What are your favorite colors?

I've been using The All Natural Face's cream blushes for the last few months, so I figured it was about time I came back and shared my thoughts on them.  These have been getting a good bit of hype in the green beauty community recently and I think it's well deserved.

When I placed my order from The All Natural Face back in February, I decided to try their cream foundation.  Brianna (iluvjesse444) has recommended it numerous times, but I still didn't have the highest hopes for it.  My skin often doesn't respond well to cream and liquid foundations, plus I'm extra fussy about skin still looking like skin, rather than makeup.  All things considered, I put foundations up against a pretty steep grading curve.  

All Natural Face Cream Foundation in Porcelain Kissed by Honey (10g size)

The All Natural Face Cream Foundation has pretty variable coverage, depending on how you choose to apply it.  I love applying this foundation with my fingers to get a light to medium coverage.  I scoop out a small amount, warm it up on the back of my hand, dot it on my face, and then blend it in with my fingers.  Once it's warmed up, the foundation has a lovely creamy feel and blends easily, but I still like to spritz a couple sprays of George's Aloe all over my face and pat that in, just to make sure it's all blended.  Next, I use a small amount of Honeybee Gardens' Pressed Mineral Foundation around my nose and on any other small areas that need a little extra coverage.  I also use some kind of concealer under my eyes.  Last, I dust my whole face with Lucy Minerals' Lucy Light Finishing Powder.  I'm not sure the foundation actually needs to be set with a powder, unless you have oily skin, but I prefer how my skin feels, to the touch, with a powder on top.

You can definitely achieve a heavier coverage, but personally I don't like to, since as you build it up, the foundation starts to look more like obvious makeup.  Even sheered out with my fingers, coverage starts out a little heavier than I want it to be.  For about the first hour after application, I can see the foundation sitting on top of my skin, but after that, it somehow settles and just leaves a beautiful perfected finish, without looking at all heavy or cakey.  It also lasts all day and doesn't transfer.

The All Natural Face Cream Foundation in Porcelain Kissed By Honey (Swatched heavily and blended out)

The All Natural Face Cream Foundation in Porcelain Kissed By Honey (Swatched heavily and blended out)

Something else to keep in mind is that, while I initially ordered this to use as an under eye concealer, much like my first impressions of the color correcting concealer, I really don't like how this foundation sits under my eyes.  There, it does end up looking thick and cakey and somehow highlights uneven skin and tiny bumps that I'm otherwise not even aware of having.  For this reason, I keep the foundation away from the whole eye area and instead go back in and conceal there with other products.

Wearing The All Natural Face Cream Foundation in Porcelain Kissed by Honey

The Bottom Line
Even though I was ready not to like it, The All Natural Face's Vegan Cream Foundation has really impressed me!  It has a beautiful finish, lasts all day, and hasn't irritated my skin in the least.  Plus,  it's super affordable.  Starting at $6.50, the price is pretty comparable to that of a drugstore foundation, but instead you're getting a completely clean and natural product.  This is definitely something I can see myself keeping in my makeup bag for a long time to come.


Ingredients: organic jojoba oil, organic argan oil, candelillia wax, mica, oxides, titanium dioxide and zinc oxide

If you saw my All Natural Face haul, you may remember that I recently bought their Papayas and Coconut Face Food Cleanser.  Basically, it's a powder cleanser made of only dried coconut milk and papaya, that can be used as either a face wash or a mask. 



The All Natural Face has a whole range of Face Food Cleansers to suit different skin needs, but the enzymes in the papaya one are supposed to exfoliate and help remove dead and flaking skin.  Thinking about it, I've been questioning how many of the papaya enzymes would actually survive being dried.  I don't feel like this product does much exfoliating, but I've been enjoying playing around with it nonetheless!

I've used it as a face wash (rinsing it off immediately) and as a mask (leaving it on for 10-20 minutes before washing it off.)  I prefer it as a mask, but my absolute favorite way to use it has been mixing it with green clay.  

Dry ingredients

All mixed up

I like clay masks, but they often leave my skin feeling dry, stripped, and in need of tons of hydration.  Mixing the clay with the Papayas and Coconut Face Food is the most amazing combo!  I still get the detoxifying effects from the clay, but the Face Food leaves my skin feeling soothed and moisturized at the same time!  It's the best of both worlds!  (I hope no one else just heard Hannah Montana in their head, like I did.)

It's also super quick and easy to make!  I use equal parts of the two (about 1/2 teaspoon of each) and add just enough water to make a smooth, easy to spread paste.  Then I apply it to clean, dry skin and leave it on for anywhere from 10-20 minutes.  It doesn't dry as hard as a straight clay mask, which I kind of like, but it does still dry down.  After washing it off, I tone and moisturize, as usual.  

On my face!

The Bottom Line
I've been loving this mask!  I like to do a mask about once a week and the combination of clay and Face Food, leaves my skin looking noticeably brighter and refreshed.  I love how affordable it is too.  The Face Food costs $7.50 for one ounce (larger sizes are also available) and I got my clay from iherb for $4.57.  I'm also curious to compare how this would work with plain coconut milk powder, so you can expect an update on that eventually, once I track some down!




Disclaimer: All products purchased by me.  Contains affiliate link to iherb.  Get $5/$10 off your first purchase with coupon code ITI429.

I've been wanting to try The All Natural Face for months now, so when they recently had a deal going on where you paid only $19 for a $50 coupon, the time had definitely come.  I've had this stuff about a week now - enough time to try most things out, but not really long enough to form full opinions.  I really enjoy Nicole of EcoChicBeautyDiva's combined haul/first impressions posts, so I'm going to try and do something similar.  Hopefully she won't mind!

Here's what I spent my coupon on:



Cream Blushes in Peach Goddess, Tequila Sunrise & Peachy Rose
These cream blushes are definitely my favorite of everything I picked up!  Smooth, creamy, and highly pigmented, they blend beautifully and you only need the smallest amount to add a nice flush to your cheeks.  My order was left outside my house and a few things ended up freezing before I got home, which seems to have caused some of the oils in the blushes to separate and come out.  Nothing major - they still work great - but that's what the liquid you can see in the above photo is.  

My one complaint with these, and something that I think holds true for a lot of The All Natural Face's products, is that the colours were not all consistent with how they appear online.  I was hoping to use Peach Goddess as a highlight, since it looks pretty light on the website (see here), but it ended up being a rich bronzey peach, not at all suited to highlighting.  It's a beautiful colour and I actually love it on the cheeks, but it's not what I was expecting at all.  I'm also quite taken with Tequila Sunrise, which is a lovely coral pink with a nice sheen.  The third colour, Peachy Rose, was actually the colour I immediately knew I had to have after seeing both Nicole and Brianna (of iluvjesse444) use it, but as it turns out, it's actually the one I'm least excited about in person.  I can't be 100% sure, but mine seems like it has more brown in it than either of theirs, which is a bit disappointing.

(L to R) Cream Blushes in Tequila Sunrise, Peachy Rose, and Peach Goddess

Magic Eye Shadow Primer
I've been testing out an eye primer from Faerie Organic the last few days, so I haven't tried this yet.  One other thing to note - the website lists cosmocial cq and potassium sorbate as the two preservatives in the primer, but the actual packaging lists potassium sorbate and polyaminopropyl biguanide.  I'm not familiar with polyaminopropyl biguanide offhand, so I'll have to do a bit more research before giving this a try. 

Tinted Lip Balm in Honey Peach
This is a nice, buttery lip balm that imparts just the slightest peach tint to your lips.  It's not highly pigmented, but it feels nice on and lasts a good while on your lips too. 

Lip Gloss in Peppermint Stick
Peppermint Stick is described as a light pink, but after seeing swatches online, I was totally expecting a darker, berry shade. As it turns out, it's a light pink after all, and full of silver shimmer.  Because of the shimmer, I think it works best over other lip products, since it ends up looking frosty if you build it up very much.  It's flavoured with peppermint essential oil, which in combination with stevia, leaves the gloss tasting pretty much exactly like a candy cane.  

(L to R) Honey Peach Tinted Lip Balm, Peppermint Stick Lip Gloss

Eye Diva Stix in Milk
I haven't had a chance to do more than swatch this on my hand, but it's the first affordable natural dupe I've found for the NYX jumbo pencils, so I'm excited to try it out. 

Color Correcting Cream Concealer in Midas 
Probably the biggest disappointment in this order, although I haven't given up on it yet!  I'm constantly on the lookout for something that will completely conceal my dark circles and Katie from zenfemi has spoken highly of this concealer, so I decided to pick it up.  I've only used it a couple times, but I really don't notice much difference and it made the skin under my eyes look kind of bumpy and uneven.  I'll definitely be playing around with this more and will hopefully be able to find a way to make it work better.

Cream Foundation in Porcelain Kissed By Honey
I still haven't found a natural liquid or cream foundation that I've been fully happy with, which is something I'm hoping to change with this guy.  I haven't tried it on my face yet, but Porcelain Kissed By Honey is, I believe, the lightest neutral shade offered, and it looks like it could be a good match for my skin.

(L to R) Porcelain Kissed by Honey Cream Foundation, Midas Color Correcting Concealer, Milk Eye Diva Stix

Face Food Papayas and Cream Facial Wash
Brianna also recommended the Strawberries and Cream facial wash, but I decided to try the Papayas and Cream one instead.  Papaya is full of enzymes that are supposed to exfoliate your skin and coconut milk is both soothing and moisturizing.  First impression: it smells delicious.  Not sure what kind of results to expect from this, but it's another product I'm excited to try out!

Overall, I'd say I'm pretty happy with my order, but I do think the company would benefit from redoing a lot of their photos to ensure more accurate colour representations.  It's hard enough shopping for makeup online and I, for one, am a lot more likely to buy when I have a good idea of what colours to expect.  

Have you tried The All Natural Face?