Dainty Doll Blush Haul & Swatches

Hello :)
I, like many others, took advantage of the crazy low Dainty Doll prices over at Fragrance Direct. Dainty Doll, as I'm sure you will know, is Nicola Roberts' makeup line. This time I stuck to blushes only (my addiction is growing) but I might go back and order some more pretty soon...

I bought all four powder blushes but only one of the three cream blushes - I have never got on with cream blush but this one looks promising and I might order the other two. I love the design on the boxes - although it's hardly the most important thing I am a sucker for fancy packaging!

 The packaging of the actual blushes is nice and sleek - black with gold font. You can see here that the cream blush is slightly smaller and holds 5g as opposed to 7g of the powder blush. The all contain a mirror inside the compact which is nice and clear. However, the thing that really annoys me about the packaging is that there are no product names! No, only numbers here. This is hardly the end of the world, but I would like to have something more memorable than '001' on the back of my blushes.

Powder Blushes

Clockwise from top left: 001 Happy Shake

002 My Girl

003 Money Talks

004 You Are My Sunshine

Cream Blush (You can see the mirror here)

001 Paper Roses

Cream Blush 001 Paper Roses.
This is a pretty warm medium pink with a light sheen to it. The camera has picked up a couple of specks of glitter but that doesn't translate like that onto the skin, at least in natural light. The texture is actually really nice, not too greasy or sticky and it sets pretty quickly - but it does give you enough time to blend it into the skin.

Powder Blush 001 Happy Shake.
This is a crap picture. The colour was really difficult to photograph! It is a cool pinky-lavender and in life it's a little bluer than this and has a little more colour to it... Does that make sense? It's not so sheer and white in life. it has a sheen to it that is in no way sparkly or glittery, but very natural.

Powder Blush 002 My Girl.
This is a gorgeous neutral pink, not to warm or cool. I think it would suit most skin tones well for this reason - it pulls cool on the inside of my arm where I am pale and pink toned but on my face where I am warmer, it applies more peachy. The pan colour is accurate but it does not show up so bright on the skin as here but is much softer. It has more noticeable shimmer in it than Happy Shake, but again is not too silver or golden - much more neutral. I think this blush would go with a lot of looks and recommend it if you like your pinks.

Powder Blush 003 Money Talks.
This is another bad photo *sighs*. It is in life a pinky brown and not at all orange. The level of shimmer sits in between Happy Shake and My Girl and is a nice warm shimmer without being too golden. This isn't too dark at all and I like it as a hybrid blush/contour for days I'm feeling lazy.

Powder Blush 004 You Are My Sunshine.
This is the inevitable NARS Orgasm 'dupe' that most brands seem to have - I'm not complaining, it's a truly gorgeous colour! And the colour actually photographed pretty perfectly here. I won't compare to the NARS as I don't own it, but can say this is a beautiful peach with a much heavier shimmer than any of the other powder blushes. The shimmer is also very distinctly golden and as you can see shows up well under flash and makes the blush look much more dimensional - no need for a highlight with this one!

Overall I think these blushes are great. 7g is a lot of product and they are really good quality. I bought them here for a mere £1.99 each which is an amazing price as they are reduced from £13.50 (both cream and powder). As for the formula they are super smooth and blend so easily but I have to say that Happy Shake and Money Talks are a tad more dusty. They can still be built up easily and personally I don't want super lavender or brown cheeks so this doesn't bother me.

Have you tried these blushes? You will certainly see these in some FOTD's soon.
♥
Song of the day - The Drifters, Save the Last Dance For Me