Kjaer Weis cream blush

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Kjaer Weis is an organic makeup brand designed by Danish makeup artist Kristen Kjaer Weis (pronounced Kē-yar Wīs). They are transparent about their ingredients and the products, made in Italy, are certified organic or natural according to Italian guidelines (not American guidelines, which leave much to be desired). The sleek packaging of this cream blush caught my eye on Garance’s site and my investigations were fruitful in that they also lead to the discovery of the highly promising retailer Eco Diva Beauty. If you want to spend a lot ($54) on a cream blush, this is the way to do it.

I picked up their bestseller, Desired Glow, a muted rosy peach.

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This is truly creamy in the buttery sense, with a texture not unlike a soft lip conditioner, think Dior Crème de Rose…or butter, actually it’s a lot like butter. I tend to prefer cream over powder blushes and have a few I like but this is quite distinct from my other favorites, the Tarte cheek stain (a firm gel) and the Chanel cream blush (a dense cream-to-powder formula). Reminds me of the NYX cream blushes in general texture but is slightly more responsive (softer. Higher glycerin content?), and is executed beautifully. [For $54, it really ought to be.] Excellent, uniform pigmentation, relatively sheer. Not opaque, but not so sheer as the Tarte or other cream-gel formulas. Effortless to blend with fingers or a stippling brush, provides an undetectable brightening of the complexion.

I mean genuinely effortless, too. Completely sloppy, slap-dash application beautifully rewarded. There are a lot of good formulas out there these days, and probably hundreds (and counting) of formulas that are good enough if you are willing to put in the work of blending them, fiddling with them, supplementing them, but this is a good formula with virtually no work at all. This is what makes it stand apart, I think. Does this make it worth it? I can’t answer that for you. But it’s good.

On my light-medium olive skin it doesn’t read pink at all (pink always being suspicious, toddlers aside) but a neutral tanned peach. A soft terracotta. I can easily imagine this working well on much paler as well as much darker skin than my own. Suspect it would be nice on lips as well.

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This packaging looks cool and weighs a ton (much more than you’d think. This is satisfying in the way of all small, unexpectedly heavy objects). Not sure how it would play out practically, chucked in a bag, but most of my stash stays at the home base so I’m not concerned about this. It’s not dangerously easy to shift the cover open but I’m not convinced it’s a great protective seal. Not a problem in a clean environment, which your makeup bag may or may not be. I don’t judge.

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neon with ice cream

It started with wanting to wear these neon yellow [P-Heaven] flats from Steve Madden. I am not entirely behind the annual summer neon rush* but when confined to the realms of shoes, nails, and exercise gear… maybe certain accessories, I can support a bit of neon.

*personally, I mean. As one friend from Alabama’s mom says: to each it’s own.

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Then [perfect day for it – a gorgeous Memorial Day] I wanted ice cream. In a waffle cone.

Off I went to get the ingredients. Of course, this day just happened to be the day that I discovered that my ice cream scoop was broken (whaaa? Nooo! Awww.). The handle of the ice cream scoop is about as key as you would expect, which amount of keyness is: extreme. BUT I PERSEVERED.

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Ben & Jerry’s Imagine Whirled Peace, exorbitantly priced organic waffle cone, Swatch watch. I almost forgot I had this watch. The ticking is slightly audible so I put it in my sock drawer a couple of months ago…it’s great for this summery girl-next-door kind of look, though. Not that I’ve self-identified as a ‘girl’ for a while.

On the nails: Sally Hansen in Lacey Lilac.

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American Apparel U-neck tank (this kind of generous scoop neck tank is my preferred style), Zara shorts. Cheap eBay version of my other orange mirror sunglasses.

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The cone did not disappoint. Note to self: the act of eating ice cream is not photogenic.

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