Hard Candy Cheeks & Balances Highlighting, Contour & Blush Stick
New Shades for Fall 2014
Price: $7 for about 1/4 ounce
CRUELTY FREE!!!
According to Hard Candy, when you use their Highlight & Contour Cheek Duo- "Contouring has never been easier. Now you can create a multi-dimensional look with just one swipe! Cheeks & Balances provides a dual-toned stick that is designed to deliver the perfect amount of highlighter, and blush/bronzer to sculpt, color and illuminate cheeks."
Personally, I love "easy", so it's lucky for me, that Hard Candy Cheeks and Balances is the ultimate form of me-proof makeup that guarantees perfectly sculpted cheeks in just seconds!
Housed in a convenient square stick (which tends to fit better in drawers and makeup bags compared to their round counterparts), is a two sided stick.
About two thirds of the stick is a darker, brighter color which is used as either your blush or your bronzer (depending on the shade you use) and then the remainder of the stick has a light, shimmery color that is obviously your highlighter.
After you apply your foundation, you simply swipe Cheeks and Balances on your cheekbones. You don't have to worry about perfect alignment because it's virtually foolproof but you do what to make sure that the highlighter side of the stick is facing up. (Just remember HIGH-lighter goes higher than your blush).
Once you've applied, you may see some very faint lines which can easily be blended out with a blush brush or by just patting (never rubbing or swiping) the lines with your fingers. The result is a perfectly blended, perfectly sculpted set of cheekbones that are to die for.
The cream to powder formula of Cheeks & Balances is absolutely perfect. Some cream or cream to powder blushes apply too dry or too wet; both of which can resolve and disturb your under-lying foundation and should be avoided. Hard Candy seemed to find the perfect balance with their Highlight & Contour Stick as it works equally well on virtually any type of foundation formula.
For Fall 2014, Hard Candy added three new shades to their line up for a total of six cheek combinations which will work on pink, yellow or neutral undertones and will suit those with fair to tan/deep skin.
Angel Face, Cheeky Pink, and Sweet Cheeks are all traditional pink blush shades with a soft highlighter that ranges from almost-off-white to pink,
Sun Kissed and Island Glow are traditional bronzing shades with a respective highlighter shade.
Blooming Orchid is a bit more bold with a fuchsia colored blush that's actually surprisingly wearable and a pale gold highlighter.
Hard Candy really did a good job with their formulation of silicone technology. For a mere $6 you can get an effortless blush stick that rivals $30 options like Benefit Fine One One and has far superior longevity.
The only complaint I can think of about Cheeks & Balances is the fact that they advertise it as a "contour" stick and it really is a blush/highlighter (or bronze/highlighter) and not a contour.
I wish Hard Candy would add a third row (or make a separate) shimmer-free contour stick so that it really could be one stop shopping for our cheekbones, because this formula really is fabulous and this type of blush (cream to powder) is typically a hit or miss product formula wise.
Cheeks & Balances certainly falls in to the Hit column and is just one more example of how you can't judge makeup by it's price tag!
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| Hard Candy Cheeks & Balances Highlight & Contour Blush Stick Swatches of Shade Cheeky Pink |
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