DECLUTTERING MY COLLECTION | THE BLUSHER & BRONZER EDIT

New years often mean fresh starts and Spring cleans, so today I'm sharing the next instalment of my declutter series. Head to the first post in the series for some background on why I'm doing this and my mindset going into it. Today we're tackling my single blushers and bronzers!

- MY THOUGHTS ON BLUSHER AND BRONZER -

Although I do like some variation in my collection - I tend to gravitate towards the same sorts of blusher tones! I guess they need to tie in with whatever lip shade I'm wearing and I tend to know what I like in terms of that. I used to wear a lot of pinks but I rarely do these days. I also tend to go for quite natural blusher as opposed to making a bold statement so I can play up my eyes or lips.

Bronzer is definitely more of a functional product; although you can go matte or shimmer, cream or powder etc. it's essentially designed to do one thing! Therefore my collection really isn't crowded with bronzers. I'm going to get rid of any that don't work for me though.

- LIQUID AND CREAM BRONZERS -

I've kind of wrapped together my contour and bronzer products in this little group. I'm definitely going to be keeping the Cover FX Custom Enhancer Drops in Sunset* | £34 | review. I've never tried a liquid bronzer like this but it's absolutely gorgeous on the skin and has a pearly, natural finish.

I'm also hanging onto my two cream bronzers (one high-end and one affordable) because although I don't have many and don't reach for these formulas every single day; I really do love how they look on the skin. These are: the YSL Les Sahariennes Blur Bronzer in 06 (discontinued) | £32 | review | and the B. Beauty Cassie Lomas Universal Whipped Bronzer* (discontinued) | £8.99 | review.

Having a little swatch of these (left to right) I'm actually going to keep all three of my stick bronzer / contour products: the Nars Matte Multiple in Cappadoce | £25 | review, the Rosie for Autograph Killer Contour Stick* | £15 | review | and the Fenty Beauty Match Stix Stick in Truffle | £21 | review. I do think they're different enough to keep all three - the Nars is more of a bronzer tone, the Rosie does a natural highlight and the Fenty is great for those rare occasions where I want to go all-out.

As much as I loved them when I first got them, my ColourPop Super Shock Cheek Bronzers in Bronze Me & Carry On (discontinued) | $8 each | review | are dead and gone! These have a cream formula and have dried out - I'm gutted they stopped making these as they looked so natural and lovely on the skin.

- POWDER BRONZERS -

Next we're tackling my powder bronzers and I actually had more of these than I thought; I didn't realise quite how many until I laid them all out like this.

First we have my absolute favourite matte bronzers I use on an everyday basis, which are going straight into the 'keep' pile. The first I'll talk about are the older ones in my collection: the Urban Decay Beached Bronzer in Bronzed | £23 | review | and the Make Up For Ever Pro Fusion Bronzer in 30M | £30 | review. These are the products that got me into bronzer! As they're both warm tones that are natural on the skin and just really easy to blend out and work with. I'm actually panning the Urban Decay bronzer at the moment and have made even more progress since I took these photos. Once I've used that up, I think I'll focus on finishing the MUFE one.

I also have two sheeny bronzers that I really like and will be keeping hold of: the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Bronzer in Radiant Bronze Light | £45 | review | and the Becca Sunlit Bronzer in Ipanema Sun | £27 | review. The Hourglass is more overtly 'glowing' but their formula is amazing and it doesn't look too shimmery or anything like that. The Becca is a little more subtle and looks pretty matte on the skin but just blends like a dream and gives that subtle dimension.

I will also be keeping a few of the other bronzers in here which were a little more difficult to decide on. First is the Clarins Summer Bronzing and Blush Compact* (discontinued) | £30 | review. A version of this comes out every year and I do like the combination of a blusher and bronzer in one, so I'm keeping this in the hopes I'll use it more, but if I still don't, it will have to go! I'm also keeping my Anastasia Beverly Hills Powder Bronzer in Saddle* | £29 | review | because, although it's very similar to my Urban Decay, that one's nearly run out and I don't have many other true matte bronzers that I can contour a little bit with. I am also keeping the MAC Mineralise Skinfinish Natural in Give Me Sun! | £25.50 | review. This is one I only tend to use in summer, as it has more of an orange tone, however I do like that look when I have a tan and this formula is lovely, so it gets to stay.

There are also a couple of products in here that are 'bronzers' but I use as highlighters and I'm keeping: the Too Faced Snow Bunny Bronzer | £25 | review | and the Seventeen Instant Glow Shimmer Brick in Bronze (discontinued) | £4.99 | review. This Too Faced bronzer makes a really pretty iridescent warm gold highlighter on my skin tone. I also want to use this Bobbi Brown dupe from Seventeen more - it's such a bummer that it's discontinued because the formula is lovely!

I'm definitely getting rid of one bronzer I hate, a couple that are bit old and one that I'm just not a big enough fan of for it to stay. I really, really, really, really, really did NOT like the Nars Sun Wash Diffusing Bronzer in Casino | £30 | review. This just doesn't pick up enough pigment to show up on the skin and it gets hard pan and seals up really easily! It's far too much like hard work for a high-end bronzer... I'm also saying goodbye to my Body Shop Honey Bronze Bronzing Powder in 04 | £14 | review. It's ok, but I just have better products in my collection and this has been knocking around unloved for a while. I actually think the Revolution Makeup Baked Bronzer in Golden Days | £4 | review | has a really lovely formula, but the colour is very subtle on me and I think it's just getting a bit old! The KIKO Rebel Romantic Perfecting Bronzer in Medium-Dark (discontinued) | £12.50 | review | was the first bronzer I ever used and loved, but I've found products I prefer now and this is pretty old, so it's time to let it go!

- AFFORDABLE POWDER BLUSHERS - 

Next we're tackling my powder blushers that are more on the affordable side. A very easy decision is keeping all of my Milani Baked Blushes in Bellissimo Bronze*, Luminoso, Berry Amour and Rose D'Oro | £10 each | review. This luminous blusher formula is one of my favourites; it's just a dream to apply and looks beautiful on the skin. Bellissimo Bronze is a golden-bronze, Luminoso is peachy-toned, Berry Amour is a subtle warm berry tones and Rose D'Oro is a warm golden-rose. I'm not so much a fan of their matte formula - it's just a bit crumbly and difficult to blend evenly, so I'll be getting rid of the Milani Powder Blush in Romantic Rose | £12 | review.

Two matte products I'm keeping hold of are the Zoeva Luxe Colour Blush in Burning Up* | £8.50 | review | and the L'Oreal Life's a Peach Powder Blush | £8.99 | review. No one seems to talk about this Zoeva formula but I think it's solid and this warm tan-nude colour is perfect when I'm going for a rusty makeup look. This L'Oreal blusher is also a really pretty spring / summer option.

There are two products I'm cautiously keeping hold of, because they're unique to my collection but I haven't been getting the use out of them. The first is the Pacifica Blushing Beauty Coconut & Rose Infused Cheek Colour in Wild Rose | £14.99 | review | an interesting mauve-rose mineral blusher I really want to reach for more often. The other is the Makeup Geek Blush in Chivalry | £7.95 | review. This is a really different sort of deep rusty tone that I really should use given that I love those types of colours on my lips and eyes.

I did have a little swatch of my baked blushers (left to right: Berry Amour, Rose D'Oro and Alluring Rose) to see if I might be able to get rid of my Max Factor Creme Puff Blush in Alluring Rose | £8.99 | review | but I can't! I really like this shade in its own right, though the formula isn't quite as amazing as the one by Milani.

There are definitely similarities between my KIKO Artist Blending Wave Multicolour Blush in 03 Expressive Biscuit (discontinued) | £10.90 | review | and my NYX HD Blush in Amber | £6 | review (right and left respectively). I do think these are subtly different but appreciate they both have a peachy-tan tone. Amber is an all-time favourite of mine that I might try to pan soon and I do really like the KIKO too, so I'm keeping both (don't judge me, please!)

I'm saying goodbye to three blushers from this lot. First is the Physician's Formula Happy Booster Blush in Warm* | £8 | review. I'm decluttering this because I don't actually wear pink blusher much any more and have a few others in my collection already, so think I should pass this on now whilst it's still relatively new. I'm decluttering the Max Factor Creme Puff Blush in Seductive Pink | £8.99 | review | for similar reasons, though this one is quite old and probably needs to just go in the bin! Finally there's the Natural Collection Powder Blusher in Peach Melba | £2 | review. This just isn't the same colour as it was before it was repackaged and I prefer the old version!

- HIGH-END POWDER BLUSHERS -

Onto the high-end powder blushers. We'll start off with the easy choices; I'm keeping all of my Hourglass blushers. Here I have the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blushes in Luminous Flush and Mood Exposure | £35 each | review | and the Hourglass Ambient Strobe Lighting Blush Palette | £59 | review, review. This is one of the best blusher formulas I've ever used and across these products I have vibrant peach, mauve, warm nude and berry shades.

I also really like the Tarte 12 Hour Amazonian Clay Blushes in Captivating, Achiote and Exposure | £25 each | review, review, review. This is one of my favourite matte formulas, as it's so long-wearing. I have a peach colour, a more vibrant grapefruit tone and a mauve-nude.

My other favourite formula is from Clinique. I absolutely love my Clinique Cheek Pop Blushes in Fig Pop and Ginger Pop | £17 each | review, review. This is a very slightly luminous blusher formula that's nothing over the top, blends easily and allows you to wear a brighter colour in a way that isn't intimidating. Fig Pop is a rich, warm plummy tone and Ginger Pop is a brighter coral colour.

Also amongst my favourite blushers that are absolutely sticking around are: the Becca Mineral Blush in Songbird | £24 | review, Too Faced Papa Don't Peach Blush | £25 | review | and Too Faced Love Flush Blush in Baby Love | £25 | review. The Becca blusher is a gorgeous deep peachy-orange tone with a golden sheen running through it; it's perfect for any summer makeup look! I also love Papa Don't Peach - it has a bit of a sheen to it so looks luminous on the skin and is a natural peachy tone. Baby Love is one of my favourite matte blushers of all time and I've actually now got some pan on it; it's a sort of peachy-mauve nude. I swatched Baby Love (left) alongside the Balm's Frat Boy Blush (discontinued) | £15.50 | review | and they're similar but I obviously do prefer Baby Love, so I'm decluttering Frat Boy.

Out of my Nars blushes (£24 each), I've decided I'm keeping Orgasm | review | (the classic golden-peach, more out of nostalgia than anything else) and Dolce Vita | review | (a deep matte plummy tone), however will be letting go of Amour | review | because, as I've mentioned, I just rarely wear matte pink blushers.  

I also have a couple of Laura Geller blushes: the Blush-n-Brighten in Pink Grapefruit & Roseberry | £23 each | review, review. These are nice blushers but Pink Grapefruit is quite shimmery, so I'm going to declutter it. I'm keeping the rosy tone Roseberry, as it's a little more subtle.

I'm going to also keep my Suqqu Pure Colour Blush in 105* | £32 | review | as it's just a really pretty gradient blusher with a sort of berry tone to it. However, after having established I'm keeping Tarte Exposed (left), I've decided to declutter the Balm's Instain Blush in Houndstooth (discontinued) | £20.50 | review (right). It's just too similar and I never reach for this shade. 

I'm also going to declutter my Bobbi Brown Blush in Tawny | £20 | review. I just don't find the formula blends very easily, so despite the very wearable colour that goes with a lot of the makeup tones I wear, I never actually reach for it and it should've gone a long time ago!

- CREAM BLUSHERS -

I don't have a ton of cream blushers because very few last on my skin, but there's a little handful of them here. I actually managed to miss out my Glossier Cloud Paints in Dawn, Dusk and Storm | £15 each | review, review | in this post, as I store them somewhere else, but I love that formula and will be keeping every one of those I own.

I really love the KIKO Velvet Touch Creamy Touch Stick Blushes in 02 & 06 | £8.90 each | review. I've had these forever but they still work, so I'm keeping them... This is one of the best cream formulas I've tried; if you're looking for something that's non-greasy and is going to last on your skin, look no further. One shade is a golden peach colour and the other a matte berry tone. I do think my mini Laura Mercier Face Colour in Peach Glow (discontinued) | is quite similar to KIKO 02, but I really don't mind, as it's only a small little stick blusher that I can hopefully use up.

I also am going to keep my Rosie for Autograph Cream Blusher in English Rose Flush | £14 | review | but will resolve to use it more, as it used to be a favourite! It's one of those cream formulas that really works for me and this is a great dusky pink shade for everyday wear. 

I have three ColourPop creams: the Super Shock Cheek in Flush'd, Between the Sheets and Quarters | $8 each | review, review, review. Between the Sheets is a mauve tone that's definitely dried up and done with! I can still get some pigment out of muted peach Quarters (right), but swatching it next to the more recent addition, the vibrant peach Flush'd (left) they're quite similar, so I'll just keep the newer one.

There are two more high-end cream blushers I'm going to declutter. The first is the Clarins Multi-Blush Cream in Grenadine* | £19.60 | as it's just too bright and pink for my current preferences! I'm also saying goodbye to the Stila Convertible Colour in Tulip* | £18 | review | because I prefer it as a lip product but just forget to ever reach for it! It's also quite bulky to store for that purpose when I have other lip products I can use and get a similar effect with.

- FINAL REFLECTIONS -

I won't lie - I'm a little disappointed that I didn't manage to get rid of more! However, I suppose this category isn't really a 'weakness' of mine, so most of my blushers and bronzers do serve a purpose in my collection. There are definitely a few that were more on the 'maybe' side, so if I don't use them much in the next few months, they're also going to face the chopping block! This declutter definitely made me realise how my preferences in blusher tones have changed over the years, though, and made me see that there are colours I don't wear much these days, so I only need maybe one or two in that tone family in my collection.

Have you ever done a blusher / bronzer declutter? What are your favourite formulas and colours?

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Disclosure - products marked * were gifted to me as unpaid advertisement for the brands / websites mentioned. All opinions expressed are my own. Please read my disclosure page for more information.

Read more posts from this series here!