Introducing 50 Shades (Sorta) of Blush. Part One: The Corals

coral blush on dark skin danielle gray the style and beauty doctor

I’m so excited about this series! I’ve always been blush‘s biggest advocate encouraging women to wear it more often and even scaring some when I was a makeup artist when I’d pull something out like NARS Exhibit A and then watching their faces light up the second they saw it on their cheeks.

Being the blush fiend that I am, I thought about doing some sort of series with blush like I did with 50 Shades of Lipstick. Only thing is I shaved down my blush collection significantly over the holidays and gave away a ton of shades to lucky family members and friends. I still have way too much but there certainly aren’t 50 shades…lol.

coral-blushes

Then it took me awhile to figure out how I wanted to produce this thing. Applying and reapplying 50 lipstick shades during one shoot is already a feat in and of itself, but blush is much harder to pull off. I’d have to practically redo my makeup between each color and then my skin would be on fire and who wants their skin to be on fire, ya know?

So after having many convos with myself, I decided I’d just do it by color category and take pics of me wearing one color from each category and then I’d swatch the rest on my arms. Because to be honest, many of these colors look the same on—don’t be a blush hoarder like me…lol. And then if you guys had questions about a particular color, well, that’s what the comments are for :)

I’ve also reviewed most of these previously on the blog, so just click the hyperlink on their name. And if I haven’t reviewed, just ask if you have questions BUT for the most part if they’re still in my stash, they’re alright with me.

Anyway, enough rambling. Onto the corals!!

Note: Please DO NOT repost or republish these pics in any way without written permission.

 illamasqua excite blusher on dark skin danielle gray the style and beauty doctor
Image Nasilele Photography

(I’m wearing more blush than I normally would so you can see the color–here I’m wearing Illamasqua Excite. I think my lips are bare with maybe a little moisturizer on them.)

Also these are not new blushes–I’ve dropped, used, and abused these :x

illamasqua-excite-blush

Illamasqua Excite: bright matte coral

dior-coral-cruise-676-blush

Dior Coral Cruise: soft matte coral with enough punch to show up on dark skin

nars-taj-mahal-blush

NARS Taj Mahal Blush: bold shimmery orangey-coral

black-up-6-blush

black | UP #6 Blush: matte soft coral with enough punch to show up on dark skin

illamasqua-tweak-blusher

Illamasqua Tweak Blush: a bright matte pinky coral

cargo-key-largo-blush

Cargo Key Largo Blush: a bright matte pinky coral

nars-amour-blush

NARS Amour Blush: a matte pinky coral (almost like Orgasm without the shimmer)

nars-gilda-blush

NARS Gilda Blush: a matte peachy coral

black-up-5-blush

black | UP #5: a matte orange

illamasqua-excite-dior-coral-cruise-nars-taj-mahal-black-up-6-blush-swatches-on-dark-skin

illamasqua tweak cargo key largo nars amour nars gilda black up 5 swatches on dark-skin

And that’s that!

Stay tuned for more 50 Shades of Blush!

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10 Comments

  1. April 9, 2014 / 11:37 am

    I love Excite, Gilda and Tweak. They are some of my favorites!

  2. Aico
    April 9, 2014 / 3:06 pm

    You look great in these! Looking forward to another 50 shades series.

  3. April 10, 2014 / 7:08 am

    I’m glad to see Taj Mahal made the list, it’s one of my all time faves for an amazing summery glow!

    • Danielle
      Author
      April 10, 2014 / 9:55 am

      I need to put it back into my makeup rotation! :)

  4. Erica
    April 11, 2014 / 8:25 pm

    Danielle, you are the greatest. Your blog encouraged me to try brighter blushes on my med. dark skin and now I’m a blush fiend. Taj Mahal is one of my all around favorite blushes. In the orange family, my collection includes Nars’ Gilda and Liberte. Ironically I don’t own any true coral blushes although I have swatched Excite. Looking forward to your other blush recommendations.

    • Danielle
      Author
      April 12, 2014 / 1:43 am

      Awww, Erica!!! Yay!!! Glad I could help and inspire you to try out new hues—there’s way too much fun makeup to try to be stuck in one box ;)

      I’d say Gilda is in the coral family, but yes, next time you’re in the market for a coral blush Excite is a good one to have. It’s one of my faves :)

  5. Andrea
    April 21, 2014 / 10:44 pm

    I have to say again how much I appreciate seeing swatches and pictures of so many colors on a fellow dark-skinned girls. So helpful (and I know the wiping off stuff with a lot of pigments is no joke).
    If I ever find myself in NYC for long enough, I swear I want to see if your friend Nas can take a nice picture for me! I know your parents deserve a lot of the credit but she does a great job with your pictures!

    • Danielle
      Author
      April 22, 2014 / 9:15 am

      Awww thanks, Andrea! I’m always looking for ways to give you guys more and more content so it means a lot to have acknowledgements like yours :)

      Yes, Nas is amazing! OMG—she’s so good at directing posing and what not so you look your best. I used to hate having my photo taken but with her I’m like “OK, when’s our next shoot?” lol.

  6. Ramona Fagbore via Facebook
    April 22, 2014 / 11:38 pm

    i’m all about blush!

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