I don’t know what your April has been like where you are, but here in Toronto it has been wet, cold and blahhhhhh. I’m pretty sure we’re currently on a week long sun-strike, and in the next two weeks there’s rain predicted for 11 out of 14 days. It’s dreary and everything feels permanently soggy. Apparently April showers bring… more showers. In May. Hooray?

I can’t stop talking about this blush. I also can’t stop using this blush. Hourglass‘ Diffused Heat is the best blush I own. There. I said it. This is going to sound ridiculous, but I know someone out there is going to get this: This blush fulfills me on so many levels. In the pan it’s a beautiful swirling masterpiece. So, visually, it’s pretty darn stunning. It also looks rather coral (in the pan) which is my absolute favourite blush shade to look at. HOWEVER, on the skin it actually turns a pretty pale pink with maybe a very faint hint of peach, which is actually the most attractive shade on me. So despite the shade in the pan being a total lie, it really works out for the best.

Joe Fresh‘s Sand Bronzer is really light and blends away smoothly and is NOT orange, despite how it appears on the shot on the left. I had a bit of a tiff with my Physicians Formula Bronze Booster this month (no matter how many times I use it, the product won’t even dip down in the pan – so annoyed!) so I swapped to the Joe Fresh one.  It’s a quick and easy bronzer that’s very simple to blend out. Plus… sleek, fun packaging – which is always a bonus.

I have no real explanation for why I reached for this higlighter so much this month, but I did! Too Faced‘s Absolutely Invisible Candlelight powder is supposed to be an all over face powder but there’s no way in hell I’d use it that way unless I wanted to look like a white-gold disco ball. There’s far too much shimmer in this powder to use everywhere on your face, so I stick to using it as a cheekbone highlight. The swatch makes it look slightly chalky and definitely quite pale, but I think you can see the hints of gold shimmer in it. I usually opt for this one when I want a faint highlight and it provides a lovely golden- white sheen.

Makeup brushes and tools aren’t really my thing – I use them out of necessity, but I really don’t get excited about them. Until this. This sponge. Real Techniques‘ Miracle Complexion Sponge has been branded as the Beauty Blender dupe and while I can’t speak to that as I’ve never owned a Beauty Blender ($25 for a SPONGE??!? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!), I *can* say that this makes putting on foundation an absolute breeze. It smushes the product into my skin way better than any foundation brush I’ve ever used (the one exception being Revlon‘s Colorstay – I prefer a brush with that one as I thought the sponge did weird things to that foundation), so it makes me look like I’m way better at applying foundation than I really am! With a price around $5, this is seriously awesome. I’m curious to see how long it’ll hold up too since it is a sponge after all – it’ll definitely have a shelf life. And does anyone know where I can actually get these in Canada? I picked mine up in the U.S. and I don’t recall seeing them anywhere in Canada.

This might as well be my crack – I cannot get enough of this perfume! I talked about it at length in my haul for the past month, but I feel like I could seriously bathe in this stuff for the rest of my life. Lavanila‘s Vanilla Grapefruit is wonderfully vanilla scented with a kick of citrus (that’s the best description you’re going to get out of me!). I wear so much of this stuff that I’m probably that annoying person who smells like they had a perfume bottle explode on themselves but I’m so enamoured with this scent that I don’t care! (And I’m totally eyeballing this set on Lavanila‘s web site now. Errrr… well I WAS… until I put everything into my cart and discovered that shipping to Canada was over $20. CURSES.)

What are your favourites this past month? Did you have at least semi-decent weather where you were? *crosses fingers for some sunshine*