If there’s one colour in blush that makes me swoon harder than anything else… it would have to be coral. So when Smashbox threw together a blush and highlight compact centered around coral… well… 

Available as of April 2016, Smashbox has released the L.A. Lights Blush & Highlight palette in three different shades: Pacific Coast Pink and Culver City Coral (available at Sephora and Beauty Boutique) and Malibu Berry (available at Beauty Boutique). These palettes feature two blushes alongsidea perfectly matched highlighter centered around the palette’s colour theme (pink, coral and berry).

The pans are encased in an incredibly slim and sleek compact with a mirror that encompasses the entire lid (thank you! So appreciated!). Each individual pan nets you 2.9 grams of product.

The pans are appropriately sized so that I can get even my largest blush brush in there, so you needn’t worry about these being small! There is no dust kick up even when I rub my brush into the pan which is a really nice since I hate when blush powder goes flying everywhere. That being said, these aren’t hardpacked blushes either (you know, when you have to practically scrape at the product to get colour payoff?). The consistency is what I want in ALL of my blushes – no dust kick up, excellent pigmentation and not hardpacked.

Each palette features a “Rich”, “True” and “Highlight” shade. Pigmentation was incredible across the board on all shades, although I will point out that the Highlight shade works more on me as a blush since it does have a decent amount of pigmentation and isn’t just a sheer wash highlighter.

Here’s how the shades look on my face:

Wearing True Coral

Rich Coral is definitely the darkest shade in the palette, but it’s the one I had the most fun with. You can go for a super pigmented look like I’ve gone for, or tone it down my applying a little bit less. (I’m not wearing any highlighter in these shots.)

From the side, of Rich Coral looks a bit less pigmented in my eyes, but still as stunning as ever. You can see it in action as I’m wearing it in my April Favourites video (and pssst, there’s a giveaway in that video!).

Wearing True Coral & Highlight Coral

In these shots I’m wearing True Coral on my cheeks and Highlight Coral on my cheekbones.

Highlight Coral is very low in sheen compared to some of the other highlighters I have, but still beautiful.

Final Thoughts

I can’t say enough good things about this Smashbox Culver City Coral trio! Seriously. This compact is incredible! The blush shades are *exactly* what I’m looking for: pigmentation and colour are second to none! The highlight isn’t exactly what I personally go for since I look for a bit more reflective qualities but that’s my personal take on it. In general, it’s an excellent soft focus highlighter that complements the blush shades very well. I know tons of people are going to appreciate the fact that the guesswork is taken out matching your blush and highlighter because this palette does it for you. The pigment on all of the shades were holding strong after a full workday for me and never looked patchy or faded. If you couldn’t already tell… I *LOVE* this product!

The Smashbox L.A. Lights Blush & Highlight palettes can be purchased on sephora.ca for $40 CAD and on sephora.com for $35 USD.

The product featured in this post was sent to me for review.

Sometimes you try a new lip product and you wonder how the heck you were missing out on something so amazing all along. This is one of those times.

Smashbox recently added new shades to their Be Legendary lipstick line. They come in two types of formula:

• CREAM: Get show-stopping colour with a lustrous finish from this rich cream formula. Enriched with shea butter, the vibrant lipstick hydrates deep into lips for lasting moisture throughout the day, while added Vitamins C and E add a boost of antioxidants to protect and perfect.
• MATTE: Master the matte lip trend with this silky hybrid formula. The vivid colour glides on smooth, with added adherence power to help the lipstick stay in place all day. Plus, each sultray shade added Vitamins C and E for saturated colour that never dries out your lips.

Since this is my first time experiencing Smashbox Be Legendary lipsticks, I was pleased to see how solid the packaging and bullet felt. The sleek rectangular case for the lipstick is hefty and expensive looking. The bullet of the lipstick itself is wonderfully firm – this is something I always look for since I have a nasty habit of snapping lipsticks in half.

But don’t let a firm bullet mistake you… these lipsticks are easy to apply and they really do glide on smoothly.

Matte shades are generally my preference for lipsticks, and Infrared Matte did not disappoint. It glides on seamlessly and is excessively comfortable to wear, especially since it’s a matte. I wore it for about five hours and noticed no difference between when I applied it and when I took it off five hours later. That’s impressive!

Although I love my mattes, the Famous (cream) shade equally impressed me. It’s a soft, creamy lipstick with a sheen. What impressed me the most about this lipstick is that there’s a bit of tacky-ness to the formula that actually helped the lipstick adhere to my lips. I know that sounds… not pleasant, but work with me on this one. Usually when I wear a nude cream lipstick, it disappears in about two hours. This one did not! Famous stayed on my lips for over four hours (I took it off at that point cuz I was removing my makeup) and still looked just as good as ever. I really, really appreciated the consistency of the lipstick because it worked for me.

Infrared Matte has quickly become one of my favourite reds… and it may actually bump MAC’s Russian Red out of first place. /gasp

Famous is a nude-pink cream that looks a bit more peach in the tube. Super impressive formula on this one.

Final Thoughts

Well Smashbox, you’ve done it again. First you impressed me with your Insta-Matte a few weeks ago, now you’ve taken my breath away with your lipsticks. Pigmentation is incredible, wear time is excellent and they feel fantastic on the lips. I wish I’d paid more attention to Smashbox lip products before because the Be Legendary lipsticks have blown me out of the water. If you’re looking for a comfortable lipstick to wear on the daily, I’d put this near the top of my recommended formulas.

The Smashbox Be Legendary lipsticks can be purchased on sephora.ca for $23 CAD and on sephora.com for $21 USD.

The products featured in this review were sent to me for consideration.

In the beauty world, we’re pretty oversaturated with products that are virtually the same, just in different packaging. So it’s like seeing a unicorn amidst the pack when you spot something new and totally unlike anything you’d ever experienced before.

The brand new Smashbox Insta-Matte Lip Transformer is that rare mystical beast! As a matte lip obsessor, this has gotten me a little overexcited!

So what is this thing then? The Insta-Matte is a soft transparent gel that can be applied to your cream lipsticks (not for use with glosses, lacquers or balms) to transform them into a matte lipstick. It won’t change the colour of your lipstick either!

The Insta-Matte is also a really comfortable light-weight product that feels cushiony on the lips. It doesn’t add the dryness that most matte lipsticks have and it maintains the colour perfectly. I can liken it only to the new-ish matte formulas that have started to circulate in the beauty world… they have a bit of a gel texture, but they feel soft on the lips.

Application-wise, I apply my lipstick first, then pop a little bit of the Insta-Matte on to my finger tip and blend that in directly onto my lipstick. I discovered that less is better – one time I applied too much and it got a little bit gloppy on my lips. So stick with a small amount of product and add more as needed to mattify your lips. (A little goes a long way, so you won’t need much!)

Anyway, you’re here for the lip pictures. Let’s see the Insta-Matte in action!

Insta-Matte Comparisons

The Insta-Matte is recommended for use with cream lipsticks, so I went straight for my Too Faced La Creme lipsticks. The difference between the two sides is astounding. I applied the lipstick to my whole mouth, then applied the Insta-Matte to the left side. You can see the instantaneous transformation AND that the colour of the lipstick stays true to itself!

Now that I know this works like a charm on cream formulas, I decided to give some of my other lip products a try. This is MAC’s Viva Glam Cyndi lipstick (limited edition several years back, but it’s the only lustre formula I own) and it worked out just as well as the Too Faced one!

And because I feel like instructions are meant to be tampered with, I decided to see how far I could push this product. The lip product above is my Revlon lip butter in Peach Parfait. This is where the Insta-Matte starts to struggle a little bit. It does work to tone down the sheen of Peach Parfait (which is one of the most reflective lip butters I’ve ever owned), but it’s not something I’d wear with regularity.

This last shot was just for fun. The Insta-Matte definitely says it’s not to be used with lip gloss, but I wanted to see what would happen. And as you can see… the results aren’t glamorous. NYX’s Peach Cobbler butter gloss actually maintains its colour but it starts to go crumbly and chunky.

Final Thoughts on the Smashbox Insta-Matte

My mind is totally blown by the Smashbox Insta-Matte – it’s a really incredible product and unlike anything else of its nature. I never liked the idea of applying powder to my lips to mattify a lipstick (like ew, hello, crunchy and powdery? Gross!) and this is a solution that will actually work for everyone. Although the instructions say to apply liberally, I would encourage you to start out with a small amount of product, and then build on that as needed. The best part is that this actually feels comfortable on the lips – it’s not drying which can be a chief problem with matte lipsticks (as a note, this does not make your lipstick transfer-proof!). So if you couldn’t tell by my post, I love this product – it works well, it’s comfortable to wear and it doubles your cream lipstick collection!

The Smashbox Insta-Matte is available now and can be purchased from Sephora.ca for $26 CAD and on Sephora.com for $24 USD.

The product featured in this review was sent to me for consideration.