Dolce & Gabbana Sole

Dolce & Gabbana Sole blush was a recent, rare impulse buy (I usually prefer to revel in the research part of makeup geekery), but an entirely successful one. It combines two of my very favourite things, red blush and season fetishism*, to give a perfectly glorious summer-shading-into-autumn slightly sunburnt flush.

*Of course, my personal approach to 'seasonality' encompasses working-against (or -at-a-tangent or what have you) as well as working-with; I don't restrict myself to a Puritanical diet of cabbage, squash and gnarly carrots in winter so why play at it in makeup?

Uh, I mean, shiny!

I don't love gold packaging as a rule, but hey, this is actually pretty tasteful for D&G. Nice rounded corners, pretty hefty. Includes an averagely useless mini brush. Not pretty enough to prevent me from depotting it as soon as I can work out the construction.

The Goods

i.e. smooth, pigmented, blendable-with-fingers, wears-true-all-day, unadulterated deliciousness. You know how long-winded and nitpicky I can be so let the shortness and sweetness of this review speak for itself -- this is one of the best powder blush formulas I've ever tried. End of.

Swatch, unblended (sponge) and blended (Suqqu Cheek Brush):

natural light

In general I find warm (orange/coral) red blushes more flattering than cool (pink/blue) ones -- because of the coolness in my skin a warmer red once blended out reads closer to neutral or 'true' red; a cool red combined with the pink in my cheeks tips over too easily into my natural fevered/rosacean/drunk flush. Which is a long-winded way of saying: if I can get a look by slapping myself, I aint going to pay for slap that's the same colour.

Still, within the context of my wardrobe, Sole is the warmest/most orange shade of red I own. And because seasonality is by definition contextual, that probably explains why it functions as my white-shades-and-polka-dot-bikini blush....

Paired with glowy, bronzed skin (Rouge Bunny Rouge Sea of Clouds highlighter and As If It Were Summer Still bronzer) and a complementary orange-red lip (YSL Glossy Stain 9 Rouge Laque), Sole makes this simple look less Snow White and more Rosy the Riveter.

okay...maybe I got a little slap-happy with the bronzer

Another bit of sunlight (I said it was a fetish OKAY) in the wing: THREE Ziggy pigment mixed with Illamasqua Sealing Gel. Other eye makeup: GOSH white kohl, Fasio Curl Lock Mascara Volume.
Minimal beach-girl base (fetish fetish fetish) with strategic dots of Becca Compact Concealer Meringue and Browlash EX Eyebrow Pencil Natural Brown.

Ingredients

Wordless Wednesday: Red Blush Swatches

As revealed in a previous post, or two, my very favourite makeup colour is red.

Pictures taken in natural light, on a rarely brightish London summer's day.

Powders

swatches made with sponge applicators

1. Rouge Bunny Rouge Florita
2. Rouge Bunny Rouge Orpheline
3. Shu Uemura P Red 14 (discontinued; closest in current range P Medium Red 175)
4. Addiction Revenge
5. Dolce&Gabbanna Sole
6. Kevyn Aucoin Fira*
7. Beauty Is Life Palace*
8. Beuty Is Life Opera*
9. Sleek Flushed

Liquids, Creams etc.

fingertip swatches

1. Hourglass Flush cheek stain*
2. Addiction Revenge cheekstick
3. Chicca 10 Girly Blush flush blush
4. Besame Crimson creme rouge
5. Rouge Bunny Rouge Rubens blush wand*
6. Beauté Fever liquid-gel stain*
7. RMS Beauty Rapture lip2cheek
8. Illamasqua Crush cream blush

*starred items are ones that I have already bid farewell to or will be looking to rehouse shortly -- look out for Blog Sale Part 2 next Monday.