Summer Cheek Challenge 2025: A Song & A Slay

[danielledanielle]

Sun's out, whether you're outside with easy breezy beach vibes, camp vibes, OOO vibes, staycation status..... Or all of the above, we're going to blush, bronze and highlight through it allllllllll.  So whether you're shopping your stash, tipping your temples into draping, or justifying your 10000000th blush, please join in. 

 

This time, I want YOUR SWATCH SONG. 
THAT'S right.  I want your songs of summer and your blush look.  And, I know you're gonna slay it.

But, danielledanielle that doesn't make any sense.  These are two separate things, like whyyyyy?  

Well, I'm at this point, you haven't figured out that I'm open for all interpretation, but okay okayyyy

For each challenge, I want a song that just gives you that summer vibe.  Bonus if you can give me a playlist and post to either BIC Playlist and/or 🎶✨Song of the Day and Music Thread!✨🎶 
Red and Ready\RED-dy (June 16-22): Juneteenth Week
(Read up on Juneteenth and why this is typically it's more of an independence day than independence day 😑)
But, embrace that red blush trend and give me a song that gets you RED-dy for the summer.  It can be a muted red as well, I.e., something with green tint/tone to it.

Staycation Radiostation (June 23-29): the vibe is, I'm home, and home is the best club.  What are we wearing, what are we listening to?

Highlight on the Horizon Hotlist (Jun 30-Jul 5): What is the song you'd connect with sunset blush?  Give me your tunes and your favorite blush + highlight combo. 

Bronzed Up Beats (July 6-12) Sun and fun, what's your favorite uptempo song and what's your current bronzer situation? Powder, creme, liquid...all the above?  Bonus if we're also using bronzer for contour.  (I'm not saying these are interchangeable.  But, yes, you can contour with bronzer, and for some undertones/overtones it works out much better 🙋🏽‍♀️💚🩶)

Camp Crescendo (July 13-19): Bonfire and a bop... What's the look for a day of glamping/camping? If you don't camp/glamp and glam, feel free to drop the skincare/SPF routine.

Top Tier Top 5 (July 20-26)
What are your favorites for cheek combos?  USE THEM this week.  This is my "use your pretty things" year and this is the week I'm doing it.  You trying to pan? GO.  You have a drawer of blushing spilling out? Go wild!  Give me your top five songs and top five cheek products.

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BONUS WEEK!

Jul 28-Aug 3: Take it back, waaaaaaaaaaay back...back into time

If you're catching up, or just loving on something, give me your favorite from this Cheek Challenge and your favorite throwback tune of the summer

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Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti...... Let's goooooo

[PDXXXX]

Shucks, thank you @danielledanielle . Somehow, it did not end up reading "clown" in person so that IG MUA must know something. If nothing else, it was a great chance to review how my different coral/peachy powder blushes are applying. You got me to try the Ciele Blush in Kirstey (warm nude) after you gave me your thoughts, btw - great product, I will be reaching for that one a lot. Hope you're having a great weekend!

[Titian06]

Wow, I love the look you achieved, @PDXXXX ! 😍  Debbie Harry is a great choice.  I've loved her look since I first saw her back in the late '70s/early '80s.

[PDXXXX]

Thank you! Seeing her must have been amazing @Titian06 ! She's such an inspiration.

[itsfi]

Highlight on the Horizon Hotlist (Jun 30-Jul 5): What is the song you'd connect with sunset blush?  Give me your tunes and your favorite blush + highlight combo. 

Song: "Summertime" DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince 🎵🎶

"Summer, summer, summertime
Time to sit back and unwind"

Sunset blush - relaxed, chill, serene, captivating

Top right from vacay; bottom right from Adobe stock photos

• Blush: Rare Beauty by Selena Gomez Soft Pinch Liquid Blush Virtue (gratis)
• Highlight: Rare Beauty by Selena Gomez Mini Positive Light Liquid Luminizer (in Mesmerize)
• Bronzer/Blush: HAUS LABS BY LADY GAGA Color Fuse Longwear Hydrating Glassy Lip + Cheek Blush Balm Stick Glassy Clov... 

Blended Rare Beauty blush and highlight on back of my hand then layered the different parts onto cheeks with Dior Backstage Brush No. 11 (technically, a foundation brush) to get a slight ombre look, deepening it with the Haus Labs Glassy Clove (blush/bronzer), applied directly from the tube onto the cheeks and blend with other side of the Dior Backstage No. 11. Then, applied and blended Rare Beauty highlight above and Haus Labs Glassy Clove below the blended blush with my fingers.

The rosy gold hues in Mesmerize paired well with the Virtue blush - interesting how the two shades look on my skin now that it has a little more color. Before, I wouldn't have needed a second layer of products and I'd probably still be trying to diffuse Virtue's intensity. 😆

[Cissy63]

@itsfi  Love your sunset blush 🌇

[makeitup305]

@itsfi I loooove that combo

[sister13]

You had me with the wine and Summerrime, an instant classic forever from DJJJ and the FP! Beautiful! @itsfi 

[itsfi]

It makes for a great combination @sister13! Wine and summertime - the song and the season. 😅

[lmaster]

That rare beauty highlight is absolutely gorgeous @itsfi 

[itsfi]

@lmaster, her hightlighters are really something.

[danielledanielle]

That's a pretty combo, beige peachy (I guess that's amber 🤷🏽‍♀️) @itsfi 

Summertime is always on my playlist for this time of the year, and usually into the fall when I'm trying to hold onto those summer days 

[itsfi]

Summertime is a classic and may make the last week of the challenge as well. It's been fun coming up with my own color combos @danielledanielle; sometimes they work out really well and other times, well, they're just for science. 😂 

[PDXXXX]

I love that you personalized this so much using the unexpected Haus Labs shade in Clove @itsfi ! The whole color palette is beautiful and so beyond where most people usually go with this look. Hope it's cooling down there 🙂

[itsfi]

Awww, thank you @PDXXXX; that's really so kind of you to say. I've been trying to mix more of my products, which has been a lot of fun but also super helpful with keeping to a low/no buy.

[PDXXXX]

I so wanted to do Juneteenth last week but I wasn't quite,er, RED-y. I imagined going down to the river for a festival, hearing Seu Jorge floating through the air (this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uu_BsMYcGLk&list=PLPbpdAHtijfwkkZXEQJ1tzLMLtaYYBW-c in particular) and maybe Queen Lauryn Hill and Ziggy Marley covering "Redemption Song." And this fabulous sheer red cheek with a coral lip look starring MILK MAKEUP Bionic Liquid Blush with Hyaluronic Acid Fly I'd just gotten. I am a red, red girly though and that gorgeous blush made me look ridiculous 😞 With that said it is, like I said, gorgeous. And currently on sale. So if you can pull it off grab it up for sure!

Thinking about Juneteenth while doing my Staycation Radiostation though I realized my makeup and outfit today is just about what I WOULD wear to celebrate the holiday. I don't change it up much, and on a day like today, I'm into minimal makeup that goes wherever the day takes me. It's in the 80's here and I might be doing anything from gardening to going out with friends to absolutely nothing. So I'm wearing comfortable wide-leg chambray/linen pants, a black sweater vest, lots of gold bracelets, and Birkenstock flip-flops. Easy breezy. A go anywhere festival or lazy day true to me look. And if this face looks familiar, it's because, yes, this is one of my quick look staple looks:

So let's talk products:

 

This is really a 7-product look with two summer staples.

First, (1) Paula's Choice Wrinkle Relief Tinted SPF (not available on Sephora), (2) #Caliray Hideaway Brightening + Hydrating Under Eye Color Corrector Concealer Radiant under the eye, set with (3) HUDA BEAUTY Mini Easy Bake Loose Baking & Setting Powder Poundcake  (I really do kind of like the mini for targeting small areas like just under the eye). Next, (4) Gucci Sun-Kissed Glow Powder Bronzer 01 to warm things up. (5) Yves Saint Laurent Couture Mini Clutch Eyeshadow Palette in my new favorite, Captivating Dunes (I also used the matte taupe shade to contour my nose), the lightest shade of (6) Hourglass Ambient® Lighting Palette to highlight my cheekbones, forehead, and chin and finally (7) MAKEUP BY MARIO Ultra Suede® Sculpting Lip Pencil Dmitry to tone down my lips.

Second, the summer staple extras; I tend to embrace my waves more in the summer and I've used (8) Jillian Dempsey's Men's Pomade since it came out. It smells divine and is super thick but the tiniest bit scrunched into dry hair protects against humidity and defines waves and curls. Everything about it SEEMS like it should be too heavy if you have finer hair. But no, I can't explain how it works but it is just curly, wavy magic. Also, I've been hunting down the perfect Summer fragrance looking for something solar, with creamy coconut just shy of smelling like sunscreen, and will say (9) TOM FORD Soleil Blanc Eau de Parfum Fragrance Travel Spray with Amber & Bergamot 0.3 oz/ 10 mL is one of my favs followed closely by PIRETTE (not pictured) which is far more affordable, wears longer but dives deeper into being just a sunscreen scent.

Anyway, sorry for the ramble. Speaking of, I feel like I can hear "Ramble On" by Led Zeppelin playing in the distance with maybe a side of The Best of the Jackson Five later in the day. We shall see 🙂

[Cissy63]

@PDXXXX  Love the relaxed atmosphere you have created!

[itsfi]

@PDXXXX, oooouh, pretty waves! You look fresh and bright, not ridiculous at all. Or, if this is what it looks like to look ridiculous, then sign me up. Ahhhh, 80 degrees. I shall live vicariously through you. 

[PDXXXX]

Thank you @itsfi ! We're up to 95 the last couple days, lol. Hope you're finding fun ways to beat the heat!

[danielledanielle]

@PDXXXX , I love your song choices.  I'm wondering about that blush pigment, because I can't see you looking ridiculous.

Your staycation vibes are 💯 from look to feeling.

[PDXXXX]

@danielledanielle thank you, thank you. I think you're right about the red. I may need to play more with using less product or sheering it out a bit. Future attempts to come!

[lmaster]

Classic beauty!! @PDXXXX