Valerie Beauty Minerals: Blushes and Eyeshadows

Valerie Beauty has an ongoing liquidation sale, and since I've had a few of Val's minerals, I know how uber-pigmented and smooth these are. I got a handful of her minerals for sale (and they were full-size jars), and I am very happy with my selection. The colors are beautiful, the blushes go on buttery smooth and rich. I got Coquette, a soft raspberry-pink blush that is perfect for a just-took-a-walk-in-cold-weather kind of pink. I also got a full-size jar of Val's popular Smokin' Mocha blush. She sent me a sample of this and I was blown away with how rich, smooth and beautiful it was when applied. Mauves look great on my skintone, and Smokin' Mocha is no exception. Not in the swatch picture is Plum Wine Matte, a rich matte blush that is perfect to go with my illuminizers and skinfinishes. I already have full sizes of Valerie's bestsellers, her illuminators in Satin Sun and Centerfold, but I might have to stock up on these soon because the prices are just too good a deal to pass up.

I also got Valerie's Miranda, one of the absolute best minerals I've ever owned. I have a full-size of this and I had to get another one for a backup because I use this often. This looks beautiful as a wash or foiled on the lid, and is described on the site as a coppery pinky-flesh. To me it looks similar to MAC's Goldenaire pigment, but less pink and more champagne-y, although the pink is still very noticeable. When I got my new Miranda, however, it looked a lot less champagne-ish gold, and a little more pink. I don't know which one I like better, so I included both swatches in the photo.

I also got a new mineral called Gratitude, and this one is a shimmery pale pink that would also look great as a wash. I finally laid my grubby hands on Gala, a beautiful dark pigment that would look great as a crease color or liner. It reminds me of MAC's Blue Brown pigment but without the blue overload.

(Click for swatch picture)