The true start of Canadian summer is upon us, when the weather goes from cold enough for a jacket in the morning, and hot enough to run naked through the streets of Toronto in the afternoon.

What does that have to do with this post? Nothing. Just something I wanted to call out because I feel like running naked through the streets is wildly underrated.

With that said, here are some products I feel have been very underrated this year, or have genuinely surprised me and I find myself reaching for this summer.

NYX Sweet Cheeks Blush Palette 

SRP: $20 on clearance at Shoppers Drug Mart

This is a palette I had picked up and put back multiple times over the last few months, in Shoppers and at the NYX store in the Oshawa Center. Did I need another blush palette? No more than I needed another hole in the head obviously. However the stars aligned and I was able to find it on clearance at Shoppers for $20 and that I could choke down no problem. Sometimes you need all the blushes right?

I was really attracted to this palette for the orange in the top right hand of the palette. I didn’t have an orange blush, and now I do. Life is complete, and I can continue you on.

There are a countless number of NYX blushes in my collection as it stands, and I like them but just don’t reach for them, sometimes they applied patchy and that makes me mental at 5 am while trying to blend out a face that is still very much asleep. This palette however, I have reached for almost everyday since I picked it up.

The variations of colour are very different on the skin, and that is the biggest challenge I find with blush and blush palettes as a whole. They all seem to be the same shade at the end of the day, and with this it is not the case. I highly recommend.

Essence Pure Nude Highlighter

SRP $4.99, Shoppers Drug Mart/ Real Canadian Superstore

Excuse me to all the other highlighters on the market with their glowing glory, who are you? Why are you EVEN HERE?!

This is $4.99 available at the drug store, and although it looks like it can’t do much for you, it will make you have the most heavenly, perfect natural glow that lasts all day.

Apply with a fan brush for a subtle glow or with a dense tapered highlight brush for cheek bones that shine to space.

I promise you, it truly doesn’t look like much, but it will do wonders. It lets textured skin sink into itself, and doesn’t stick to dry patches. It smooths and perfects while showing all your haters that they can’t get close to your brilliance.

Also please  note that this is one of the highest rated products on Ulta.com at 4.6/5 stars and 542 reviews!

BROWVO! Conditioning Primer

SRP: $38 Sephora.ca

This product was a bone of contention for me when it was released, I mean who the hell needs a primer for your eyebrows? Come on Benefit, you are really reaching here.

We were given this in the creator bag at Gen Beauty Toronto and I stand smartly corrected. Not for the ability to prime, but for what it does to other products that go over it.

Each day I open my dip brow and look down at it’s drying up mess, I cry a bit inside knowing I am going to have to repurchase it AGAIN because the pomade is too try and is no longer applying as smoothly as I would like.

I get the bright idea to give this “primer” a shot, and what do you know? It makes the pomade apply so smooth, it’s like butter. Dare I say it applies better and smoother than when the dip brow was new? I won’t do it, I will NEVER admit I was wrong about a product I judged by it’s name. I will not.

Girlactik Lip Paint

SRP: $23 USD Girlactik.com

See previous post. Enough said.

Physicians Formula Bronze Booster Highlight & Contour

SRP $14.99 Physiciansforumla.com

Rachlovves got these in my brain. I watched her wash some of the colours over her eyes and immediately fell in love.

One palette is a highlight and contour with three matte shades, the other is three shimmer infused shades. I love products that can double for the face and the eyes.

The shimmer palette is so intense you better be sitting when you use it. I can’t wait to do a full face tutorial using only these as my products, stand by for the beauty room to be set up again.

I have been using the middle matte bronzer as my contour shade, and it gives the perfect hollow in the cheek to fake those high cheek bones that were so viciously wasted on my older brother. (he got the good lashes too… sigh).

L’Oreal Foundation Blending Sponge

SRP: $7.99 Ulta.com

Never again will I spend the money for a Beauty Blender. I am well aware there are multiple sponges from a plethora of manufacturers, and I have tried a bunch. None are marginally comparable to the Beauty Blender, until I stumbled onto this beaut.

I had actually given up trying to use a sponge for my foundation for along time, nothing could contend with the finish of my favorrable Sigma F80. But this just does it for me.

Flawless finish and perfect amount of coverage. Bounce bounce bounce across my face for a happy day!

What kind of products have you been loving this summer? Any shockingly good cosmetics or tools that are missing from my life? Please let me know in the comments, I am always on the hunt for something new!

Thanks so much for reading!