Its that time of the year again when we start experiencing those shorter and more crisp days of fall and we start thinking about those over-sized comfy cable knit sweaters, one pot meals of stews and soups, and raking up all those gorgeously colored leaves we enjoyed looking at with all their gold, oranges, yellows, and reds (that are now all over the front and back yards of our houses to rake up).  Playing in those big huge piles of leaves can be a lot of fun but raking them up with a team effort is definitely helpful!  One positive thing to think about as you’re doing your sometimes not so fun raking and picking up of the leaves, is that some of those leaves gathered can be set aside to stuff into a scarecrow costume (the glass is half full not half empty??)!  Anyhow, if you haven’t noticed already, fall is my favorite season of the year and so is fall makeup with it’s earthy rusts, golds, olives, camels, taupe, and mossy greens, etc…, and my most favorite of all, the blush colors to go with them.

So, besides being a self-proclaimed, obsessed, highlighter junkie (no shame here on that) and always on the quest to find that perfect highlighter with the infamous descriptive words we makeup lovers have come to know and love such as “creamy”, “smooth”, “buttery”, and silky”, etc…, so I then feel it necessary to take that first step in admitting that I am also a shameless blush junkie as well.  There, I said it.   After all, admitting it is the first step (ha ha).  I’ve had this obsession as a grade school child when after school I would walk in the drugstore isles next to the rows and rows of all the colorful blushes from Maybelline, to Covergirl, to Almay, and Revlon, etc…, just taking in all the magentas, reds, soft petal-pinks, fawns, vivid plums, and corals without end.  I can’t explain why blush stood out more to me than so many other beautiful types of cosmetic products.  There are much more dramatic and flashy attention grabbing products for the face out there than blush it would seem.  There are lots of dark multi-colored and sparkly metallic liquid eyeliners, or the many shades of colored mascaras to choose from in lilac, emerald, violet, orange, and even silver and gold to feast your eyes on (no pun intended there).  Even with all of the types of lip products out there that are endless in color on the market, (even colors from black, blue,  green, to purple, and orange and beyond!), formula, and application methods, etc… that it would be impossible for one to get bored.  By no means do I intend to imply that any of these products mentioned out of the class of “blush” are in any way less in shape or form, etc…, than my personal choice for.  It’s just “ma thang”.  Thank God for variety and individuality because it makes the world a lot more interesting and creative place to be!

Second to highlighters, I don’t know why I’ve always been fascinated with blushes and there really isn’t any formula I’m partial to either; whether it be creams, gelees (such as Josie Maran’s “Coconut Watercolor Cheek Gelee”), powders, gel to powder formulas, or pencils (such as Nudestix and Clinique products), and the list goes on and on.  But, I guess for me, the most important aspect of blush and what intrigues me the most is how it can bring many different moods and looks to the face.  There can be more transparent blushes that give just a subtle wash of color to the cheeks softly, or it can be used with a sharp contoured edge and bright colors for a more dramatic or edgy look.  The skies the limit with blush and maybe that’s why I love it so much; probably because it really leaves plenty of room for creativity and expression.  Ok, so enough rambling for now (I love fall so much and everything about it I could write about it forever) but lets get to “nitty gritty” favorite fall blush talk that is what this post is about.

One of my first favorite blushes for fall is from NARS Cosmetics and is called “Sin”.  All Nars blushes are incredible but this one caught my eye.  It’s in powder form but a very creamy, smooth, and pigmented formula being just the perfect for fall color with it’s rich burgundy-brown yet almost having a touch of mauve or a very slight berry tone to it.  It’s the matte shade that reminds me of fall every time I look at it (and we all know Nars is famous for having the most fabulous blushes (hello…”Orgasm”).  Two blushes I also love for fall are Urban Decay’s 8 hour Powder Blush in “Rapture” (a soft rosy-brown plum), and “Fetish” (a rosy flesh tone).  Some of my favorites from Mac Cosmetics in great fall shades are, “Breath of Plum” (a soft, whispy, light plum), “Warm Soul” (a light peachy-nude with just the slightest touch of shimmer), and “Margin” (a soft nude-brown with a light sheen to it).  One of my “other” favorite blushes that can really be worn all year round but I especially like it for fall as well is Benefit’s “box of powder” blush in the shade “Rockateur” (such a beautifully, sheer, rosy-brown).

When it comes to matte cream blushes there are a couple of favorites of mine from Laura Mercier in the Crème (but dries like a powder) Cheek Colour blush in the shade “Blaze” (a soft deep rose).  Bobbi Brown also has a cheek color product called “Pot Rouge for Lips and Cheeks” in the shade I love called “Blushed Rose” (a rich deep rose shade).

And finally, there are also a couple of blush shades from the Graftobian “warm” blush palette called “Sunset Peach” (a red berry-toned shade with a slight sparkle), and from the Graftobian “cool” blush palette called “Radiant Rose” (a true, very pigmented matte rose).  I could go on and on about the wonderful colors and formulas of different blushes and how much I love them, but I think you can see that there are so many wonderful ones out there that you need never be bored with them or be stymied with a creative block of non-expression, or run into the ever-feared “only one look” face.