Autumn, You're Making Me Blush

It's that time of the year again where I break out those berry hues, put away the bronzer and whip out my heavier foundations, as we finally reach autumn. I love autumn - the crisp chill in the air, the red leaves on the ground and switching up my makeup for deeper, darker shades. Not only do I tend to wear darker lipstick and darker nail polish, but I also swap my coral blushes for something a bit more season-appropriate, so here are my favourite autumn blushes. 

(L-R: Sleek Fenberry, Tarte Fearless and Bobbi Brown Desert Rose)

The Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blush in Fearless is a deep, pinky coral shade, and although I said I tend to put away those summery hues, I really just can't help but keep this one close to hand - I'd say it's more of a pink with a slight coral tint to it. It gives me a beautiful glow, and has a brightening effect on the face, which is especially useful in these colder months when I tend to resemble a ghost.

For a more natural blush, I go for the Bobbi Brown Blush in Desert Pink (18), which is a matte, rosy shade. As with all Bobbi Brown products, it has fab pigmentation and is great quality. I think this would look good on many skin tones, and is definitely worth a swatch, despite its misleading, slightly dull appearance in the pan. 

Sleek's blush in Fenberry completes my autumnal trio, and is the perfect matte, brown-toned, dusty rose shade (it appears more orange-based on camera). It really sculpts the face, making my cheekbones more prominent without the use of a contour, and adds a nice warmth. Unfortunately, this colour was limited edition a few years ago, as part of their Berry Collection, but Sleek do another blush which is extremely similar, in the shade 'Flushed'.  

So there you have it, my top 3 blush picks for autumn. I'd love to hear some of your favourites as I'm always on the lookout for new products (c'mon Amy, restrain yourself). 

Autumn Lipstick Loves

As promised, a post all about my top autumn lip products. Lipsticks are definitely my 'thing' (you'd never have guessed it from my blog title), which means I always leave Boots with pink swatches up my entire arm. When it comes to autumn, I favour the darker shades of lippies, and boy oh boy have I found some firm favourites. 

Two of the obvious choices for the colder months are MAC's Rebel Lipstick and Revlon's Super Lustrous Lipstick in Black Cherry. These goodies are spoken about yearly by numerous beauty bloggers, and no matter how hard I try to reach for something a bit different, I always go back to these. Both have beautiful, creamy formulas, and are perfectly dark. MAC's Rebel is a deep pinky-plum tone, whilst Revlon's Black Cherry is a truer berry shade, darker and a little more red. 

Two newbies are the NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in Monte Carlo and the Maybelline Color Drama Intense Velvet Lip Pencil in Berry Much. I finally got my hands on the NYX lip cream at IMATS in August, but I only started wearing it recently and I instantly fell in love. It's a beautiful, long lasting, matte deep red, with a hint of pink - perfect. The Maybelline offering is new to UK shores, only arriving a few months ago. Rumoured to be very similar to the NARS Lip Pencils, I snapped them up ASAP, and I'm so glad I did. My favourite is the deep berry one, and it's so easy to use, matte and long lasting (sensing a theme here).

MAC's Plumful Lipstick is my top pick if I want something slightly less intense. It's a lustre finish, which is my favourite MAC formula as they are so glossy and comfortable on the lips. As it's a lighter plum, it's much easier to wear and goes with most makeup looks. When I want an even sheerer colour with a glossier finish, I go for the Soap & Glory Sexy Mother Pucker Lip Crayon in Plum Jam, which, as the name suggests is a 'chubby stick' type of product. It's a lovely reddy-plum colour and is so easy to swipe on in a hurry without use of a mirror. It's super affordable too, balancing out my MAC obsession. 

Whilst I up the vamp and channel my inner punk, I'd be really interested to know what your autumn lipstick loves are!