Photolog 2018: Day 100 of 365

My Sephora order arrived today! It's been a minute since I actually bought something from Sephora. (I know, you're proud of me, right? I basically traded in makeup for BTS merch.) Plus, I'm on a makeup ban since I literally threw out ten garbage bags full of cosmetics over the past few weeks (when you're getting your house ready to sell and you have over a decade's worth of stuff just lying around, there just isn't time to hesitate to throw something out). I didn't get anything too exciting, actually, just a new Verb Blow Dry Brush (my old one got totally melted from the heat from my blow dryer, ironically, but it's still the best brush I've used for blow drying) and the Surratt Beauty Relevée Lash Curler (which finally got re-stocked after being unavailable for months). However, the Surratt Beauty lash curler is officially the best one I have ever used, ever. Better than my previous holy grail by Shu Uemura. The Surratt one has a flatter curvature and a much wider mouth, so it actually gets every single one of my lashes curled in one go, even the little baby ones near my tear ducts (the Shu Uemura one doesn't get all my lashes in one clamp — I have to maneuver it a few times to get all my lashes curled, and even then, there are the few stray ones that just refuse to get in its grip). At $33, it is also the most expensive curler I have ever bought and definitely one of the pricer ones in the industry in general, and I'm sure a lot of that is just paying for packaging (it comes in a felt drawstring bag and a nice sleek box), but it is worth every damn penny.

Surratt Beauty Artistique Blush in La Vie en Rose, Ponceau, and Parfait

Over the past year or so, Surratt Beauty has been getting quite a bit of attention, especially since they got picked up by Sephora last year which meant much wider distribution for the brand. Surratt Beauty is only carried at select Sephora locations, but it is available online at Sephora's website, as well as Barneys in the US (you can check Surratt's website for a full list of where to buy their products). The brand itself was started by New York City-based makeup artist Troy Surratt, who had "devoted nearly a decade to develop and realize his eponymous line" by "utilizing mesmeric colours and sumptuous formulas inspired by the classic chic of Paris, the pulse and energy of New York City, and the futuristic spirit of Tokyo." Of course, what got me interested in Surratt Beauty was the Artistique Blushes, of which there are currently ten shades (I bought three of them to start with). Each Artistique Blush comes in a thin plastic sliding case (it is a refill design meant to be used in the Custom Palette Case), contains 6 grams of product, and retails for $35. 
La Vie en Rose, Ponceau, and Parfait
La Vie en Rose, Ponceau, and Parfait

La Vie en Rose is a medium warm rosy plum in a satin finish. This is a permanent shade. It has a soft and finely-milled texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is more plum and less matte than MAC Blushbaby, more muted and less shimmery than NARS Lovejoy, cooler than Hourglass Mood Exposure, and lighter than Urban Decay Fetish.

Ponceau is a medium warm brightened pink-coral in a satin finish. This is a permanent shade. It has a soft and finely-milled texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is brighter than MAC Fleeting Romance, more coral than Too Faced How Deep is Your Love?, brighter and darker than NARS Torrid, and more muted than TheBalm Toile.

Parfait is a light-medium warm orange-peach in a satin finish. This is a permanent shade. It has a soft and finely-milled texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is more muted than MAC Peaches, brighter and more orange than MAC Melba, more muted than Too Faced I Will Always Love You, and more orange than Hourglass Diffused Heat.

What's great about these blushes is their consistency in formula; all three shades here are silky smooth that have great colour pay-off, and build up and blend out really well. They have a really nice satin finish with a soft, luminous sheen that doesn't emphasize skin texture but keeps the skin from looking flat which makes these excellent for all skin types and all ages. They also wear well for a full eight hours without fading, so they're great for people who don't like to touch up their make-up or have full-time work/school days. My only complaint about these, actually, is not in the formula itself but in the packaging. If you don't get the custom palette, which is overpriced at $24 and only holds up to three blushes, the blush container itself is very thin and flimsy, and I found the sliding lids to be quite loose so they never feel like they're tightly closed. These blushes are designed to be refills more than single blush compacts, and as a result, I feel like the $35 price tag is really steep, even with 6 grams of product. What's worse is that they are not magnetic, so if you get a custom palette that is magnetic (e.g. Z Palette), you'll be forced to cover the back of the blush with a magnet stripe. So, yes, the blush formula is truly wonderful, but at $35 a pop, you'll have to decide whether the packaging is a deal breaker or not.