I am not a cream lover –Β there I’ve said it. I haven’t used cream makeup products since I tried out the Anastasia Beverly Hills cream contour palette 4 years ago and absolutely hated it. However, with summer around the corner and in a desperate bid not to sweat through my makeup, I’m willing to give cream another chance.
After watching lots of Youtube videos on sweatproof and heatproof makeup, the one thing they had in common was the use of creams and the total avoidance of powders. I am the ultimate powder girl. Ever since that rough encounter with the ABH cream contour palette, the closest I have dabbled with creams is applying a Fenty Shimmer Stick with a brush lol.
So here we are.
I decided to try out the Milk Matte Bronzer in the shade Baked and the Lip + Cheek stick in the shade Werk.
The product itself comes in a plastic cylinder with two blocks at either end to keep it in place. This seems like a bit of a waste of plastic to me and it would be just find with a thin plastic sheet around it (like mascaras have here in the UK) to stop people breaking into them. Aside from that, the packaging is really clever. You just twist the bottom up when you need more product and apply it straight out of the stick. These are a little bulky and would take up a fair bit of space in your makeup bag, but if you’re swapping out your powders, you’ll have space to spare.
Bronzer
In the stick this shade looks very dark, especially to someone with pale/fair skin! Upon first application, it is very pigmented and makes you panic that it won’t blend out, leaving you with stripes down your face. But rest assured, you don’t need to worry. The bronzer is really creamy and blends out really well… maybe a little too well. It doesn’t blend away to absolutely nothing, but it does take a little time depending on how heavy handed you’ve been, but I do find that I go back in a few times to build the colour up to where I want it. As for the suitability for pale skin,Β I find that the colour is pretty bang on. Because it blends out so well, I would say that people lighter than me (so very very fair) would be able to use the shade Baked with no problems. It is definitely buildable, so the product can be worked up to your preferred level of bronzed. As the stick is quite thick, when you apply it, the stripes can be quite thick. This isn’t so much a problem when you’re applying it to your forehead or your temples, but when you’re applying it to your cheeks you don’t really want a thick band of bronzer. When you blend it, it can travel down to the area that would usually be left blank (lower part of the cheek or towards the mouth) and it can look really strange. It’s really easily fixable with a bit of concealer so it’s certainly not the end of the world. You can turn the stick to an angle to get a thinner line, but you have to remember to do it! One thing I have noticed is that the formula does tend to stay wet for a long while after you’ve applied them. They don’t really tend to dry down for a fair amount of time, which has resulted in a lot of fly-aways getting stuck to my face (gross). I know some people like to blend bronzer in with a sponge, but I found that using a flat topped synthetic brush blended out the bronzer much more seamlessly and much faster.
Blush
‘Werk’ is a really pretty shade that is described as a Dusty Rose colour. Of all the shades, it is the most ‘natural’, least bright and most wearable. Like the bronzer, this has a very strong swatch that blends out pretty nicely. The only issue I find with using the bronzer and the blush together is that they blend in with each other and one colour replaces the other. Due to the thickness of the sticks, it is quite difficult to have separate areas on the face where the blush and bronzer don’t meet or overlap. It doesn’t create a muddy look (luckily) but the pigmentation of the blush takes over the cheek and you have to reapply the bronzer to get the bronze back. This colour is pretty, but once it’s blended in it does give you a bit of a sunburnt look (which I know some magazines are promoting at the moment, but I don’t want that look). On skin tones darker than mine, I’m sure it would be a lovely shade, but it’s just unfortunate that when blended out, it is the exact shade of my skin when it’s burnt. As a result I’ve not been using this as much. I have used this on my lips, but it is actually quite difficult to apply (BECAUSE IT’S SO THICK, just in case I haven’t mentioned that enough already). It also is quite an odd formula to wear on the lips as it doesn’t really look much like a lip product.
It’s important to mention that neither of these sticks remove any makeup when I apply it onto foundation or concealer. Unlike my Fenty Shimmer Stick, these do NOT remove your foundation or leave it patchy. The formula is very smooth and it sails over the foundation and creates a really gorgeous, natural base.
The bronzer is a definite winner for pale skin, but I’ll have to get back to you on the blush.
I have been really enjoying these products from Milk, especially the bronzer, though I do wish they were slightly thinner so that application could be a little more precise. When compared to my powder bronzers, I would say that these last better and don’t go patchy throughout the day when I’m sweating or touching my face. On days where I’m just wearing blush, the blush would be a banger. I’m still working on ways to make this work together, so if anyone has any tips, please leave them below!
These are Β£20.50 each, which at first glance you might think is quite expensive, but a little bit of this does go a long way and this would be around the right price point of a mid/high-end bronzer/blush. I am definitely tempted to buy more from Milk after trying these, especially their highlighter which I have pretty high hopes!
If you’d like to try these out (and I think you should!), then you can find them at Cult Beauty.
Leave me a comment if you’ve tried these and what you think!
Xo
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