What they are: Elf Camo Liquid Blushes are highly pigmented, creamy, blendable blushes that go for $7 each and come in 12 shades. They don’t dry down too fast or too much and can be applied with fingers or brushes, creating a noticeable flush with a hydrated-looking dew. Some of the shades have very fine shimmer that is only noticeable extremely close up. None of them have any large or noticeable sparkle. 

Availability: Elf, Ulta, Amazon

Smell/Fragrance: I do not smell any fragrance. There is a hardly noticeable paint-like smell if I’m really getting close and looking for it, but it isn’t noticeable at all during application.

Expiration: 12 months after opening

Ingredients: Ingredients vary a bit from shade to shade. They are listed both on the box the product comes in and can be found on the Elf Cosmetics website. Below are the ingredients for the shade Peach Perfect, to get an idea of the general formula. The first several ingredients listed are the same across many of the shades and differences can be found more toward the very ends of the lists for each shade.

Hydrogenated Polyisobutene, Hydrogenated Poly(C6-14 Olefin), Octyldodecanol, Trimethylolpropane Triisostearate, Boron Nitride, Illite, Hydrogenated Styrene/Methyl Styrene/Indene Copolymer, Trimethylsiloxysilicate, C9-12 Alkane, Alumina, Disteardimonium Hectorite, Phenyl Trimethicone, Ethylene/Propylene/Styrene Copolymer, Sorbitan Sesquioleate, Propylene Carbonate, Ethylhexylglycerin, Triethoxycaprylylsilane, Tin Oxide, Butylene/Ethylene/Styrene Copolymer, Pentaerythrityl Tetra-Di-T-Butyl Hydroxyhydrocinnamate, Aluminum Hydroxide, Tocopherol, Rosa Damascena Flower Water, Water (Aqua), Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil, Sodium Hyaluronate, Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Hibiscus Mutabilis Flower Extract, Phenoxyethanol; MAY CONTAIN: Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891), Red 7 Lake (CI 15850), Yellow Iron Oxide (CI 77492), Red Iron Oxide (CI 77491), Black Iron Oxide (CI 77499

elfcosmetics.com

Performance

Shade Selection: It looks like there is a good mix of shades that go from fairly pale to quite rich and bright and most of them differ enough from each other. A few of them look somewhat similar once they are sheered out, so I don’t think having shades that are close to each other in depth or tone is necessary at all. For example Peach Perfect and Dusty Rosé are similar enough once blended that having only one of them is needed to give me about the same effect. The lightest shades are pretty pale but because they are so highly pigmented, they show up well on my skin tone. The deepest/brightest shades also work on me and apply evenly and blend out just as smoothly, but I have to be much more light handed in how I apply them. For these ones, I need to dot the color on the back of my hand instead of directly onto the cheek and pick up a very small amount to achieve a comfortable level of color payoff.

Application: For the lighter shades, I just use a single small tap of the wand directly on the cheek and blend the color out with my fingers or a dense brush. The color blends out evenly without disturbing my foundation underneath too much. The creamy texture is not too far off from the texture of my foundation and I don’t find the blushes lift or disrupt my foundation underneath too much. They begin to dry down a little bit as I sheer them over the cheek but never reach a completely dry/set state. I could probably continue blending them indefinitely. For the deeper/brighter shades, this method results in way too much color payoff. For those, I find it easier to tap the wand on the back of my hand and then pick up a TINY amount on my fingertip to then blend over the cheek. It can also be helpful to do a final blend with a clean foundation brush. These blend out just as easily and result in color that looks just as even as the lighter ones. As long as the product doesn’t go bad or dry out, I could see a single container lasting for a very long time.

Texture/Consistency/Finish: These have a somewhat thinner feel without being watery. If I place the open container on its side, the product stays inside. They are lightweight and dry down a little as they are spread over the skin but they don’t have a powdery, mousse-y feel. They remain moveable and have a slight hydrating quality to them without being slippery or oily. If you look at the container photos for the individual shades below, a very slight amount of fine shimmer can be seen through the plastic packaging for some of the shades. Once I apply and blend them out on the cheek this shimmer doesn’t translate at all. It doesn’t result in a sparkly looking cheek, just a smooth, subtle, even sheen that looks like the skin is well hydrated. 

Pigmentation/Color Payoff: All of the shades share about the same level of highly pigmented color payoff. On my skin tone, I find it nice that the lighter shades show up well while still looking like a light blush color. During swatching, a couple of the bright pinks left a slight stain on my arm. The more orange-toned shades didn’t seem to do this. 

Longevity: I’ve wear tested this all day twice. Once with the shade Comin’ In Hot Pink and once with the shade Peach Perfect. Both lasted well all day and I could still see the color by the evening. Peach Perfect seemed to blend into my skin tone more by the end of the day than Comin’ In Hot Pink but was still visible. While the color sets to some degree, they can still transfer with touch. For example, if I were to lay my head on a pillow without removing my makeup, some of the cheek color would probably transfer lightly. I tested this by taking a tissue to the face midday and pressing into the skin. A bit of color came off onto tissue but the blush was still firmly gripping onto the skin and resisting transfer.

Pros and Cons

Things I like:

• Shows up well. A little goes a long way.
• I can continue blending them as long as I want. They don’t set down 100% dry.
• Not sticky or oily feeling.
• There’s no obvious shimmer or sparkle on the skin. They give the cheeks a natural-looking dewy finish.
• Doesn’t lift my foundation or lift itself during application.
• Color wears well and stays strong all day.
• Great selection of shades.
• Good price, good quality.

Drawbacks and other considerations:

• The color payoff can be really intense for the deeper shades (on me). This is fine but I need to change the way I apply them.
• The way the applicator pulls out of the container feels disconcerting but hasn’t actually caused any problems.
• If you have discoloration, active acne, or old scarring on the cheeks, liquid blushes in general can sheer out the coverage of your foundation. These are some of the better liquid blushes and are LESS disruptive, but powder cheek products don’t have this issue at all.

Do I Recommend Them?

Yes. I’ve been craving liquid blushes for a while and these are giving me exactly what I was hoping for. I wanted something that wouldn’t interfere with my foundation and give me a more hydrated/dewy looking finish without relying on shimmer to do it. These are priced very reasonably AND are actually nice quality too.

Swatches

Peach Perfect

Peach Perfect is a pale peachy pink with subtle warm undertones. If you like “apricot” shades but find they are often darker than you prefer, this is a nice lighter version.

Dusty Rosé

Dusty Rosé is a soft warm pink. This is similar to Peach Perfect but is ever so slightly more pink-toned. The depth is about the same and from a distance, they aren’t that easy to tell apart.

Suave Mauve

Suave Mauve is a medium cooler toned pink. This has a bit more depth than the previous two shades but I am still able to dot the blush (lightly) directly onto the cheek during application without feeling like I’m applying too much.

Coral Crush

Coral Crush is a beautiful vibrant pinky peach. With this one I have to be careful to apply the product lightly to avoid applying too much color to the cheeks. I can’t dot the applicator directly onto the cheek, not even very lightly, because too much product transfers. I have to pick up a tiny little bit on the tip of my finger and build up the color slowly and carefully to get a flush that is noticeable but not too bright.

Gorg Orange

Gorg Orange is an intense hot orange with strong warm undertones. In the container, the micro fine shimmer is most visible in this shade but it doesn’t actually show up as shimmer on the cheek. Just like with the previous shade I need to be VERY light handed when applying this one and be extra mindful of blending. It shows up as a true orange and not coral.

Bronze Bombshell

Bronze Bombshell is a warm brown with subtle red-orange tones. This isn’t too far off in effect from Gorg Orange on me but has a more neutral vibe. On me, this shade is like a liquid bronzer.

Pinky Promise

Pinky Promise is bright, warm bubble gum pink. I can apply this either directly to the cheek or more lightly by picking up a bit with my fingertip. Applying this more heavily gives me a brighter, zingier pink effect and using a lighter hand gives me a sweeter, creamier pink look. While swatching this, it left a very faint pink stain behind on the skin.

Comin’ In Hot Pink

Comin’ In Hot Pink is a medium-deep cool toned rose pink. This is another one I have to be super light handed with and build up slowly. The final effect ends up looking similar to Pinky Promise, but more cool toned. This one left a more noticeable stain on my arm during swatching.

Berry Well

Berry Well is a deeper reddish pink. This is similar in depth and color to Comin’ In Hot Pink but this has more red in it. The blended out effect looks more neutral-cool than straight up cool toned. As with many of the other shades, I couldn’t apply this directly to the cheek without the color coming out too strong.

Cheeky Lychee

Cheeky Lychee is a light warm pink and is one of the 3 new shades released in late 2024. It is similar to Pinky Promise but leans slightly more coral. It also isn’t far off from Coral Crush but is slightly less orange than that one. If you have either or both of those, this is probably similar enough to not need this one. Mixing those two original shades may give you something similar to this one.

Bold-Faced Lilac

Bold-Faced Lilac is another one of the new 2024 shades and is truly a new addition that isn’t too similar to any of the original 9 shades. It does actually look purplish but not so much that it looks unnatural. It perfectly threads the line between purple and light pink. If you like pale pinks and purplish blushes this one a great one.

Copper Etiquette

Copper Etiquette is the last of the 3 new shades released in 2024. It is a light rosy bronze. When sheered out, it is extremely similar in tone to Bronze Bombshell. I could probably wear both (one on one cheek and one on the other) and get away with no one noticing. That said, I like this one much better because it is far easier to apply on my skin tone and if I really scrutinize it, I can see that this one is more pink toned which suits me a little better.

What it is: Milk Makeup Cooling Water Jelly Tint is a lip and cheek stain in a water-based jelly stick. It dries down quickly, feeling almost like nothing on the skin. It is not sticky at all and also does not feel moisturizing, hydrating or slippery. It feels like a “water stain” but instead of being liquidy, it has a giggly, gelatin-like texture. 

Price/Quantity: $24 for 5g / 0.17 oz.

Availability: Milk Makeup, Sephora

Shade Range: 4 Shades

Packaging: Chubby stick in a plastic twist up container. The cap pulls off and snaps back on. It requires a decent amount of effort to remove and replace the cap but it’s definitely not unreasonably difficult. Most of the label on the bottom of the packaging has large enough text to not need reading glasses (lol) but there are a few things I’d say are too small.

Smell/Fragrance: Very light floral scent. It’s not like a rosy scent, more like an “herbal” floral scent.

Expiration/Shelf Life: 6 months after opening.

Ingredients: Aqua/Water/Eau, Glycerin, Sorbitol, Propanediol, Butylene Glycol, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Niacinamide, Hibiscus Rosa-Sinensis Flower Extract, Hylocereus Undatus Fruit Extract, Kappaphycus Alvarezii Extract, Tremella Fuciformis Polysaccharide, Chlorella Ferment, Tocopherol, Maris Aqua/Sea Water/Eau De Mer, Allantoin, Agarose, Carbomer, Sodium Hydroxide, Glyceryl Acrylate/Acrylic Acid Copolymer, Pvm/Ma Copolymer, Potassium Carbonate, Citric Acid, 1,2-Hexanediol, Caprylyl Glycol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Benzoic Acid, Potassium Sorbate, Sodium Benzoate, Benzyl Alcohol, Phenoxyethanol, Fragrance (Parfum), Linalool, Red 28 (Ci 45410), Red 40 (Ci 16035), Yellow 6 (Ci 15985). Source: Milk Makeup

Performance

Shade Selection: All of the shades look like they are bright options. I only have this one shade (Spritz) that I can really comment on, but if the others offer the same level of color punch this one does, they are geared toward people that like brighter color in general. I chose Spritz, which is described as a coral orange, but this comes off much more red in person. I don’t get as much orange from it as I was hoping for. For the swatches above, the left side is a few swipes of the stick directly onto the skin, and the right side is applied with a tiny damp sponge (like a mini Beauty Blender). I find it interesting how the color looks warmer and less pink on the sponge side.

Application: This is a product I’ve had to try different ways of applying to get it to work well. The methods that worked best for me are the bolded paragraphs below.

For the cheeks, my first attempt was applying directly to the skin from the stick, thinking I’d just blend it out with my fingers. The color absorbed instantly into the skin and left a large red dot with hard edges on my cheek that was difficult to blend and diffuse. It stains the fingers doing this, so I need to be careful to clean my hands well afterward.

My second attempt was using a brush to pick up color and then apply to the cheeks. This worked way better and resulted in a much sheerer application that was still not entirely blendable, but sheer enough to be able to build up in a much more even way. I was mindful to choose a brush with dark bristles to avoid staining the brush.

The third attempt was using a damp sponge, which was my favorite way. It gave me an equally sheer application as the brush but somehow I felt it applied more evenly this way. I have a black sponge luckily, but if you go this route be aware it may stain a sponge as well. Below is how it looks applied with a sponge:

I tried one last thing when using it as a blush and that was to sweep it broadly directly onto the cheek, drawing the product on from the hairline near my ear halfway toward my nose, covering the entire area of the cheek I wanted to apply blush to with one large but very thin layer. Then I quickly grabbed a dense foundation blending brush and blended it out, focusing mainly on softening the edges. This does work and it did transfer a little to my brush, but my brush cleaner was able to remove it without leaving stains on my brush bristles. Applying one layer this way gives me a reasonably sheer but bright look and I was able to repeat the process and build up a second layer for more color intensity.

For lips, I first tried sweeping this directly onto bare lips that were not prepared in any way. No lip balm, no exfoliation, etc. They were ever so slightly chapped as well. The color grabbed onto the driest part of my lips the most intensely and went on unevenly in general. It didn’t feel like much of anything as the formula is super thin. It leaves no feeling of residue on the lips but I am somehow more aware that they are dry with this product over top. I have the feeling of wanting to apply lip balm over it.

Next time, I tried to apply it over lip balm and that gave me a slightly more even look, but the color still applied more heavily toward the inner part of my lips than the outer part. This is a look that is kind of unique and some people go for the “I just ate a popsicle” look on purpose. This had a much more comfortable feel to me as well.

Texture/Consistency/Finish: Feels literally like Jello and has a slightly cooling effect if it touches the skin. It doesn’t have a menthol-y cooling feel, just cool like cool water. It “melts” ever so slightly if it touches the cheek directly and a little bit at a time will transfer to the skin. Very thin lightweight feel, without any tacky residue at all. Milk describes the finish as being like watercolor and I think that fits well. It’s sheer and see through but at the same time the color is vibrant, very visible and can have hard edges if you aren’t careful in how you apply it.

Pigmentation/Color Payoff: It is technically sheer (transparent) but the color it gives is pretty intense and bright. For cheeks, if it is applied with a brush or sponge, I can see how they would describe this as being sheer. It is very buildable when used that way and can go from barely there to POW. For lips, if I just do one or two quick passes, the color goes on lightly over most of my lips, except for parts that are drier (especially the inner part of my lips). On those parts it looks pretty bright. If applied over a balm, it does go on more sheer and a bit more evenly, but still not as even as I’d like.

Longevity: On the cheek it really lasts well. If I wear it all day, it hardly fades at all by the end of the day. On the lips it needs to be reapplied after about half a day to maintain color vibrancy but it stays on well through meals and barely transfers at all onto my coffee cups.

Pros and Cons

Things I like:

• As a blush, has good staying power, resists fading.
• Doesn’t leave a sticky feel on the skin.
• As a lip product, reapplies well (if used over lip balm).
• When worn over a lip balm, gives me the look of a bright/bold lip gloss without the mess of one.
• Little to no transfer or fading with eating and drinking.

Drawbacks and other considerations:

• Requires lots of trial and error to figure out how to use it.
• Stains fingers if you use your fingers to blend it out.
• Doesn’t apply evenly on the lips the way a lip gloss or balm does. Tends to deposit color more heavily on drier areas and to the center part of the lips.
• As a lip product, it isn’t necessarily drying, but does not provide any moisture or slip at all.

Do I Recommend It?

This has been a frustrating product for me. If you are someone that struggles with products that require a learning curve, just be aware that’s what you’re getting with this one. For someone that enjoys learning how to use new products/formulas and trying different application methods, the main benefits I’d say this one offers is the type of color effect it offers on the cheek (being very vibrant while at the same time sheer/transparent), longevity as a blush, the popsicle lip look, and the ability to wear a bright/bold lip color that can hold up through meals and not transfer onto drinking glasses. If any of those is important to you, it might be worth checking out.

Comparisons

From left to right:

• Milk Cooling Water Jelly Tint in Spritz
• Elf Camo Liquid Blush in Coral Crush
• Saie Dew Blush in Poppy
• Revlon Gel Serum Blush in 130 Beaming Coral
• Nars Blush in Exhibit A
• GXVE Beauty Feelin’ Cheeky Blush in Flirty Talk

The formula is very different for all of these but I picked out a handful of shades to help make the color of Spritz more clear. To me it is more red than orange, but I do see the pinky/coral tone clearly. The Milk product doesn’t leave any sort of dew or reflect on the skin as it absorbs and dries down completely. If you like a glowy cheek, use a hydrating product underneath to help give the skin a dewier finish.

What it is: ColourPop Lip and Cheek Balms are multi-use cream products that can be used as blushes or tinted lip balms. 

Price/Quantity: $12 for 4.75 g / 0.17 oz

Availability: ColourPop exclusive

Shade Range: 3 shades, can be purchased as a set for a small discount or individually.

Packaging: Plastic heart shaped compact with a mirror inside and a snap closure. It has a notch at the very bottom of the heart point where I can use both of my thumbs to pry the lid apart from the base to open it. I feel it is easy to open and stays shut securely. I don’t think the pan is removable from the compact.

Smell/Fragrance: It smells like nothing to me. The very bottom of the ingredients lists some different fruit oils, but they don’t seem to add any kind of scent to the product.

Expiration/Shelf Life: I don’t see an indication of expiration on the product itself or the box it came in.

Ingredients:

PENTAERYTHRITYL TETRAISOSTEARATE, DIMER DILINOLEYL DIMER DILINOLEATE, TRIISOSTEARIN, ISOPROPYL MYRISTATE, POLYETHYLENE, MICROCRYSTALLINE WAX, POLYBUTENE, SYNTHETIC BEESWAX, STEARALKONIUM HECTORITE, ZINC STEARATE, PHENOXYETHANOL, PROPYLENE CARBONATE, CAPRYLYL GLYCOL, DIETHYLHEXYL SYRINGYLIDENEMALONATE, THEOBROMA GRANDIFLORUM SEED BUTTER, TOCOPHEROL, ETHYLHEXYLGLYCERIN, HEXYLENE GLYCOL, BUTYROSPERMUM PARKII (SHEA) BUTTER, CAPRYLIC/CAPRIC TRIGLYCERIDE, FRAGARIA VESCA (STRAWBERRY) SEED OIL, PRUNUS ARMENIACA (APRICOT) KERNEL OIL, RUBUS IDAEUS (RASPBERRY) SEED OIL, SAMBUCUS NIGRA SEED OIL, ALUMINA, IRON OXIDES (CI 77491, CI 77499), RED 28 LAKE (CI 45410), TITANIUM DIOXIDE (CI 77891), YELLOW 5 LAKE (CI 19140).

ColourPop.com

Performance

I picked up Heart’s Content, which is the lightest shade. It’s a neutral, maybe even leaning warm light-medium pink with no shimmer or sparkle. Color payoff is buildable easily going from sheer to very noticeable on me if I layer it up. It’s not very dewy and doesn’t leave my skin feeling tacky/sticky. Just looks like a natural skin finish. My hair doesn’t really stick to it unless I try hard to make it happen.  I have lighter and cooler pinks and I feel the depth and warmth of this is just right for my skin tone. 

It feels somewhat firm in the pan but is creamy enough to pick up easily with a quick swipe of the finger. I can apply it to the cheeks with my fingers but the firmness of the product requires a bit of effort to blend it out. Using a brush is much faster and easier. The product has a lot of wax in it and as a blush, it doesn’t leave my skin feeling overly balmy, greasy, or sticky. As a lip balm, personally, I think it feels a little too waxy and not necessarily hydrating or protective. It applies easily to the lips, stays on decently well and doesn’t have much of a shine.

I’ve tested it for wear time twice (8-10 hours) and I can tell it fades by the very end of the day but doesn’t disappear completely. For most of the day, I notice no fading at all. It’s only by the very end that I see noticeably less color on my cheeks. As long as I apply it a bit heavily early in the day, it holds on well enough.

Comparisons

Swatched from left to right, I have:

• ColourPop Lip and Cheek Balm in Heart’s Content
• Elf Liquid Blushes in Pinky Promise and Dusty Rosé
• Saie Dew Blushes in Baby and Chilly
• Too Faced Cloud Crush Blurring Blushes in Candy Clouds and Velvet Crush

Elf Liquid Blushes are way more pigmented but leave a similar finish on the skin (not overly dewy and not dry/matte).

Saie Dew Blushes are dewier, stickier and are more geared toward drier skin types. If you have oilier skin, you’d probably like the ColourPop or Elf blushes better.

Too Faced Blushes are just here for color reference!

What they are: Saie Dew Blushes are semi sheer liquid blushes with a dewy finish. They have a very hydrating feel and never fully set down, remaining dewy looking throughout the day. A few shades have some fine shimmer up close in swatches but I don’t notice any sparkle or shimmer once they are on the cheek.

Price/Quantity: $25 for 12 mL / 0.4 oz

Availability: Saie, Sephora, Kohl’s

Shade Range: 9 Shades

Packaging: Plastic container a bit larger than a lipgloss with a large doe foot applicator. The shade names are printed on a label on the bottom of each container.

Smell/Fragrance: These are fragrance free but they do have a mineral/chemical scent. I don’t find it to smell paint-like or offensive and it’s not something I notice with normal use but it is strong enough to easily detect when looking for a scent.

Expiration/Shelf Life: 12 months after opening.

Ingredients:

ISOCETYL STEAROYL STEARATE GLYCERIN TRIBEHENIN SAMBUCUS NIGRA (ELDERBERRY) FRUIT EXTRACT MICA GLYCERYL STEARATE GLYCYRRHIZA GLABRA (LICORICE) ROOT EXTRACT SILICA MORUS ALBA (WHITE MULBERRY) ROOT EXTRACT SYMPHYTUM OFFICINALE (COMFREY) LEAF EXTRACT OENOTHERA BIENNIS (EVENING PRIMROSE) ROOT EXTRACT [+/- MAY CONTAIN/ PEUT CONTENIR TITANIUM DIOXIDE CI77891 IRON OXIDES (CI77492, CI77491, CI77499) YELLOW 6 LAKE RED 7 LAKE RED 22 LAKE FERRIC FERROCYANIDE

saiehello.com

Performance

Shade Selection: I originally was just going to pick up the shade Baby to give this formula a try. That shade is pretty straightforward and I had a good idea of what I was going to get with it. But I had a harder time visualizing what the rest of the shade range might look like on me, which is why I thought doing a post on this would be helpful. There are groupings of pinks, peaches, corals, a berry shade, and a brown shade. I think because of the color payoff these are generally suited better to lighter/medium skin tones, though the shades Poppy and Dreamy may show up on deeper complexions.

Application: I dot the product straight onto the cheek and blend it out mostly with my fingers and may do a final light blend with a brush, especially around the edges. Saie recommends adding a few dots to the cheek. Personally, I find one not-too-tiny-dot to gives me plenty of color payoff. Once I blend that out, I may add one more layer right in the center to build up the color. So far I’ve tried them over KVD Good Apple Serum Foundation, Too Faced Born This Way Multi Use Sculpting Concealer, and Laura Mercier Real Flawless Weightless Perfecting Foundation and it has gotten along well with all of them without lifting the foundation (much). They can slightly sheer out my coverage but not to an amount that I feel is a problem. The cooler/pinker shades kind of emphasize old acne scarring when I don’t wear a high enough coverage base underneath but the warmer shades are a bit more forgiving. I think someone that has pretty even skin without much need for coverage will probably like the cooler shades better.

Texture/Consistency/Finish: These have a lightweight gel serum texture that feels super hydrating upon application and remains tacky unless set with a power. There is enough tack that my hair can stick to my cheek which is a tiny bit annoying. They give the skin a wet (kind of sweaty) look, in a good way, without visible shimmer or sparkle.

Pigmentation/Color Payoff: Semi sheer. They show up better than some drugstore options I’ve tried and are easier to avoid over applying than the Elf Camo Liquid Blushes I tried recently. When applying with fingers, I find it more difficult to layer and build up the color but using a brush makes building up color or applying it more heavily from the get-go easier. Because they are so dewy/hydrating, they move super easily if touched, so it’s not hard to move or pick up color from a previous layer as I’m trying to add more.

Longevity: So far I’ve tried Baby and Chilly for wear time. Baby seemed to fade by the end of the day one of the times I wore it (set with powder) but not on a second test without powder. Chilly did not fade after wearing it all day. They can be sheered out and transfer easily if touched, though, and that can shorten wear time.

Pros and Cons

Things I like:

• I don’t have to be too careful about application. With most of the shades, it’s hard to overdo or apply too much.
• Pretty much every color works for me.
• Depending on the shade, these can look very natural. Oddly the warmer ones look more natural on me.
• Part of Saie’s brand image/mission is to be environmentally conscious.
• I think the dewy finish without relying on shimmer is unique.

Drawbacks and other considerations:

• The tackiness is a bit much but I can tolerate it for the effect.
• There are a couple options that may work for deeper skin tones but these are probably going to be most suited to lighter/medium skin tones.

Worth Buying?

Liquid blushes are not a thing I have loads of experience with but of the ones I have tried, these are the dewiest. Most I’ve used have been the kind that set down completely and I never did love that kind of formula. If you really want the wet-skin look, these will definitely give you that and I’m not really sure of a good alternative option. If you think sticky skin will get on your nerves, they probably won’t be the best bet for you.

Swatches

Peachy

Peachy is one of the lightest options aside from Baby but has more color payoff than I was expecting. This is one of my favorite shades out of them all.

Rosy

Rosy is similar to Peachy but a bit more pink and also a bit more pigmented. I can use a little less of this one for the same level of color payoff.

Cutie

Cutie is like a deeper version of Peachy. I really like this shade as well and think I could use this one to get a pretty similar effect as Peachy by just using less of it.

Spicy

Spicy is a deeper reddish brown. This one didn’t swatch the same as the others but ended up applying to face about the same. The color ended up looking not too different from Cutie once it was all blended out.

Baby

Baby is a light cool pink. It was the first shade of this I tried which led me down a rabbit hole of trying to find the rest of the shades. This is the lightest/sheerest out of them all and requires the most building to show up well on me. When swatching this, this one left a very faint stain on my arm but I didn’t notice the same issue on my face with regular use.

Chilly

Chilly is cool-ish medium mauve. I’d probably grab for this one for an “everyday” color if I wanted something cooler.

Dreamy

Dreamy is a like a deeper version of Chilly. I can use this one to get a similar look if I use it more lightly. This is one of the few that I feel I could apply too heavily by accident.

Sweetie

Sweetie is a medium pinky coral. This one also stained my arm when swatching a bit more heavily than the shade Baby did.

Poppy

Poppy is a bright orangey-coral. This looks more orange in a heavy swatch but when sheered out, ends up looking more pink. This one left the heaviest staining on my arm during swatching and the stain was noticeably pinker and cooler than the orange in the photo above. I would avoid using this one with brushes that have light hairs/bristles to avoid staining them. This is the other shade I feel the need to be careful to not apply too much of.

What it is: Sephora Collection Colorful Contour Matte Powder in Fair to Light is a very cool toned contouring powder with sheer, buildable color payoff and a nearly matte finish.

Price/Quantity: $14 for 0.12 oz / 3.5 g

Availability: Sephora, Kohl’s

Shade Range: This product comes in 4 shades. I chose the lightest (and I presume the coolest) of them. Looking at the shades on the product page, it looks like they aren’t all so incredibly grey-toned.

Packaging: Clear plastic compact with a snap closure. It’s fairly large and very easily allows me to fit a large fluffy brush into the pan. It feels lightweight but decent enough quality that I don’t feel I will break it easily. The pan is not easily removable as it is pressed into the compact with adhesive dots. With careful patience and some precision tools, it could probably be maneuvered out if you really wanted to.

Smell/Fragrance: Even if I get really close and try hard to see if there is any smell or fragrance, there is very nearly zero smell to it.

Expiration/Shelf Life: I don’t see any indication of shelf life on the packaging.

Ingredients:

Mica, Kaolin, Calcium Carbonate, Zinc Stearate, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Oryza Sativa (Rice) Bran Wax, Microcrystalline Cellulose, CI 77499 (Iron Oxides), C13-15 Alkane, CI 77007 (Ultramarines), CI 77491 (Iron Oxides), Ethylhexylglycerin, Sorbic Acid, CI 77492 (Iron Oxides), Aluminum Hydroxide, CI 15850 (Red 7 Lake), Tocopherol, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil, CI 15850 (Red 7), CI 19140 (Yellow 5 Lake), CI 42090 (Blue 1 Lake), CI 77742 (Manganese Violet), CI 77891 (Titanium Dioxide).

Sephora.com

Performance

Shade: Fair to Light is a light greyish taupe with an ultra subtle purplish tone and a nearly-matte finish. Of all the contours I have tried this truly is the coolest-toned, greyest one yet. It does not have red/rosy tones like many “cool toned” contours do and it doesn’t warm up in color on my complexion as I blend it out. It stays truly greyish/cool as I complete application. I mention the purplish tone only because it is noticeable when swatched alongside other contours I have, but I do not notice any purple tones with actual use on the cheek or eye. The matte finish is not dry or flat looking but I also do not pick up on any visible shimmer or pearl particles in most lighting situations. The only time I see any hint of sparkle is with overhead pot lights. Window light and diffused studio lights do not show these sparkles at all.

Application: I have only used this a handful of times and in a couple of ways but I have found it easy to work with. It applies much more evenly than I was expecting for being so grey and blends out well without patchiness. As a cheek contour, I have been using it with a Morphe M510 brush, which is a fluffy brush that is smaller than a blush brush but larger than a fluffy eyeshadow brush. It allows me to pick the product up lightly and apply it a little more precisely than I would apply a blush. I’ve also used this as eyeshadow and found it picked up well on a flat shader and blended well with a crease brush. Color applies sheer, builds up gently and slowly, and diffuses gracefully. It is definitely possible to over apply this though! If I build it up too much, I go past “believable shadow” to “is that eyeshadow on my cheek?” before I realize it. The fact that this is pretty sheer is absolutely a good thing. 

Texture/Finish: Sephora describes this as being ultra-fine and I have to agree. Running my finger over the pan, I feel zero grittiness and powder picks up in a thin, even layer without feeling dry or dusty. I get very little mess or powder kickup when tapping a brush into the pan. I have to dig into the pan repeatedly with a brush before I start seeing loose powder collect on the surface.

Pigmentation/Color Payoff: Sheer but buildable. Adheres well and evenly though.

Pros and Cons

Things I like:

• As contours go, this is extraordinarily cool-toned, which is difficult to find.
• Sheer pigmentation makes application nearly fool-proof.
• Color applies evenly and blends out without patchiness.
• Really nice texture. Very fine, smooth powder.
• Nice large pan with a good amount of product.
• Reasonable price.

Drawbacks and other considerations:

• It can be over applied in a way that is jarring compared to an over applied bronzer. The grey tone is really stark against the color of skin when it is layered on too heavily. It’s not super easy to overdo though and once you figure out where that limit is, it’s pretty easy to avoid overdoing it again.
• A few other reviewers mentioned this not being truly matte. There is a very small amount of fine shimmer that occasionally shows in certain lighting. I don’t find it obvious or pervasive enough to interfere with the general matte effect though.

Do I Recommend It?

Yes. If you struggle to find a truly cool-toned contour, this one is worth trying. I kind of expected them to get the color right but I am pleasantly surprised that the quality is also really nice and for a fair price.

Comparisons

From left to right, what I have swatched above is:

• Sephora Collection Colorful Contour Matte Powder in Fair to Light
• Fenty Beauty Cheeks Out Freestyle Cream Bronzer in Amber
• L.A. Girl Just Blushing Blush in Just Because
• Fiona Stiles Sheer Sculpting Palette in Light/Medium (lightest shade swatched)
• Loreal Infallible Pro Contour Palette in 813 Light
• Kevyn Aucoin The Sculpting Powder in Light
• Essence Contouring Duo Palette in 10 Lighter Skin
• NYX 3 Steps To Sculpt Palette in Fair
• Nars Contouring Blush Duo in Olympia

Note: Anything not linked above is either discontinued for sure or is likely discontinued. Most of them seem to be findable through third party sellers though.

L.A. Girl Just Because is the closest shade I have to the Sephora contour and for a long time it was the best cool-toned option I had.

Fenty Amber is also a great option that I love but this one warms up on me as I blend it out. In the pan it looks pretty grey and similar to the Sephora contour but as I sheer it out on the skin, it begins to look more olive toned. Although it changes color, any warmth I get from this is very subtle.

Kevyn Aucoin, Essence and NYX all have that tiny bit of red in them that kind of bothers me and makes them not really contour-y in my opinion.

Fiona Stiles was my *favorite* for a long time and I still find it to be unique in lightness and tone. Very sad this was discontinued.

L’Oréal is pretty good and mostly cool-toned. It also has a sheer buildable quality but I hate the split pan. I would have loved this to be a single contour shade separate from the highlighter.

Nars Olympia isn’t really much like the others but I threw it in just to help see the difference in tones a little better.

What they are: Sephora Collection Colorful Powder Luminizers are a range of 6 new highlighters. They have a gel-powder formula that helps them to meld with the skin without looking dry and they give off a soft, buildable glow without glitter or large sparkles. These are $14 each, contain 0.12 oz / 3.5 grams of product, and can be purchased from Sephora and Kohl’s.

Packaging: Simple clear compact that snaps open and closed. The hinge has a good amount of tension to hold whatever position it is placed in and opens completely flat if desired. It doesn’t look like it’s possible to remove the pan easily from the packaging.

Smell/Fragrance: No detectable scent or fragrance.

Expiration: I could not find an indication of shelf life anywhere on the product.

Ingredients:

Mica, CI 77891 (Titanium Dioxide), Cetearyl Ethylhexanoate, Silica, CI 77491 (Iron Oxides), Glycerin, Polysorbate 20, Caprylyl Glycol, Squalane, Ethylhexylglycerin, Synthetic Fluorphlogopite, 1,2-Hexanediol, Pentaerythrityl Tetra-Di-T-Butyl Hydroxyhydrocinnamate, Chondrus Crispus (Chondrus Crispus (Carrageenan)), Xanthan Gum, Dicalcium Phosphate, CI 77492 (Iron Oxides), Tocopherol

Sephora.com

Performance

Shade Selection: I like that they have paired this down to six shades but at the same time span a large range of depth. Most of the shades are neutral-ish and offer the type of sheen that can go from ultra subtle to noticeable but not mirror-ball with the most colorful thing being the shade Pink Flash. I think almost anyone can make almost any of these shades work in some way as they are sheer but buildable. The two lightest ones have the least visible amount of base color or “cast” on me. The rest have a sheer warm base color that could get in the way if you don’t want it there or it could help to add some color to the cheek.

Application: If used strictly as a cheek highlighter, I would use a small fluffy brush (like a large eyeshadow crease brush) to pick up product and dust it along the tops of my cheekbones. The powder grips onto the skin well but I can use my brush to buff over it, spread it out and diffuse it till I get it looking like I want. If I go into one of the deeper shades to use as bronzer or blush, I can tap lightly into the pan with a blush brush to start and continue building up the color till I’m happy with it. Again, since they adhere well to the skin, I buff over the cheek a bit as I go to make sure the color is looking even and well blended. I don’t have any issues with patchiness or unevenness until I get to the shade Blinding Bronze. This one still works and ends up looking even but it shows up much more starkly against my pale skin so I need to spend some more time blending it out. Using them as eyeshadows, I can use all the same eyeshadow brushes I normally would for regular eyeshadows or my fingers. They adhere well even if I use dry brushes and give a soft shimmer finish that is just a bit more reflective than a satin finish eyeshadow but less so than a foiled/metallic shadow. There is hardly any fallout used this way but I did notice the shade Rose Quartz gave me a tiny bit of sparkle fallout (as that is the shade with the most visible sparkle in it). The amount of fallout I got was far less than I get from the average eyeshadow though. 

Texture/Consistency/Finish: The gel-powder formula is a bit firmer to the touch and easier to pick up just the right amount of product on a brush. It is difficult to over apply the product unless you are trying to. It does not have a powdery, dry texture that flies into the air as a brush touches the pan. As it is applied to the skin it adheres easily and lays closely and smoothly on the surface. It does not leave a visibly powdery finish on the cheek. The sheen these give off is on the softer and more refined side. They can be built up easily to a level that looks obvious and noticeable to others but it never goes into “seen from space” territory.

Pigmentation/Color Payoff: Most of them have a sheer base color that gets slightly more visible against my skin tone as I go into the deeper shades. Iced Pearl and Rose Quartz are the only ones that I cannot see a base color against my skin tone. The rest of them could be passable as glowy blushes (or glowy bronzers for the shades Glitzy Gold and Blinding Bronze) if they are built up heavily enough. If they are built up that heavily, I don’t feel the amount of sheen and luminosity I get from the shimmer is so intense that I wouldn’t feel comfortable wearing them out.

Longevity: On the cheek, these last well all day. They can transfer off a bit if I’m touching my face too much but with normal wear, I still see it clearly by the very end of the day. Worn as eyeshadow, these have okay wear time but benefit from the use of a primer. I get about 6 hours without primer until I start seeing it crease and in that same time with a primer I see only the very faintest hint that it’s beginning to fade in the crease. Being closer to skin tone shades and somewhat more sheer than a true eyeshadow, its easy to get away with this slightly less than ideal wear time as it isn’t very obvious.

Pros and Cons:

Things I like:

• I find all the shades usable in some way. Most of them are pretty basic, neutral shades that aren’t shifty or glittery.
• Beautiful sheen that isn’t too overpowering and can be applied ultra subtly or built up to be fairly noticeable, if desired. 
• Only one shade with marginally larger sparkle. Chunky sparkle is not an issue with these.
• The gel-powder texture isn’t dry and sits well on the skin.
• Easy to pick up the right amount of product on a brush.

Drawbacks and other considerations:

• Might be too subtle for someone that loves a super intense highlight. 
• The base color in some of the shades may show up as a “cast”. 
• Building up the sheen also means building up the color.

Do I Recommend Them?

Yes, these are nice quality for a fair price. I especially like that the shades offered are “wearable” but aren’t TOO basic. They add a little something extra not only from the sheen but from the colors themselves. And I find the multi-use claim actually true as I can use some of them for glowy blush/bronzer or eyeshadow and they function well for those purposes.

Glitzy Gold

For all of the demo photos below, I am wearing the Natasha Denona My Mini Dream Blush (just matte part) and used the highlighters on the tops of the cheekbones. The true color of each shade alone is better seen in the swatches and the demos can give you an idea of the kind of effect they might have if used as highlighters.

Glitzy Gold is a bright golden copper. It’s not a particularly yellow gold and also not very dark so I can just barely pull it off on my skin tone if used with a light hand. The base color in this one adds a bit of warmth to my cheeks that almost looks like a light bronzer.

Sparkling Honey

Sparkling Honey is a light-medium rose gold. It is more pink than I expected based on the shade name but is still warm-toned. This one is ever so slightly deeper and warmer than my skin tone but I can still use it lightly as a highlighter. Works well as a blush topper too.

Pink Flash

Pink Flash has a very sheer warm peachy base color with an easy-to-see pink sheen. The pink sheen definitely overpowers the base color but not completely. The base color is a bit deeper than my skin tone but it is sheer enough that I don’t think it looks bad. This is one I’d use more as a glowy blush or a blush topper than a highlight.

Blinding Bronze

Blinding Bronze is something I’d use as a glowy bronzer or an eyeshadow. It builds up on the skin more slowly and gently than an eyeshadow. Picking up color on a brush or a fingertip is easy but I pick up less color in one pass than something like an eyeshadow. This one has mostly small particles but if I really scrutinize it there are just a scattering of some small sparkles as well.

Iced Pearl

Iced Pearl has a very subtle light pink sheen in certain lighting (more visible in the demo photo). I wouldn’t describe this as being a shifty shade but it does seem to look different depending on what kind of light it is under. This has all tiny shimmer particles and gives a soft, smooth glow to the skin.

Rose Quartz

Rose Quartz is slightly deeper than Iced Pearl and has a warmer pinky tone. This one is mostly made up of a base of small particles but does have some slightly larger shimmers that create a sparkling shimmer finish. Of all the shades, this is the one with the most visible sparkle, but the overall effect is still soft and subdued.

Worn As Eyeshadow

To give you an idea of the kind of finish and color payoff these have when used on the eyes, here’s a quick look using Blinding Bronze all over the lid, Sparkling Honey on the lower lashline and Iced Pearl on the inner corner. I used dry brushes for most of this but patted Blinding Bronze on with my finger to the upper lid as well. I used the lightest matte shade from the Natasha Denona My Mini Dream Palette in the crease before applying any of the other shades.

What it is: The Natasha Denona My Mini Dream Glow Blush is a mini cheek trio based on the larger cheek palette from the earlier My Dream Collection release. It contains 2 matte blushes and 1 highlighter all pressed artfully into a single pan. The color of the deeper matte blush is the same as the one from the larger palette in the collection.

Price/Quantity: $20.00 for 4 grams

Availability: Natasha Denona, Sephora, Ulta, Beautylish

Shade Range: 1 shade option.

Packaging: Plastic compact with a soft-matte finish and feel that opens most of the way but not completely flat and has a magnetic closure. It has a fairly large mirror inside the lid and the pan inside is not removable. The weight feels lighter than expected in the hand but otherwise it still feels like well-made, nice quality packaging. 

The pan is about the average size of a blush (see comparisons below). The side that contains the matte blushes is plenty large enough to fit a normal sized blush brush into without dipping into the shimmer next to it. It’s not super easy to pick up only one of the matte shades though as they are very slim and somewhat splotched into either. I can only realistically mix the two mattes but the resulting shade works well and is neither too light nor too dark. 

Smell/Fragrance: Smells like absolutely nothing to me.

Expiration/Shelf Life: 24 months after opening.

Performance

When mixed, the color of the matte blushes is a very slight warm-leaning medium mauve. It is similar and very comparable to several other blushes that have been favorite go-to shades. The color payoff is easy to control. I can apply it lightly and build it up easily to look more intense. Either way, the color goes on evenly and sits smoothly, almost seamlessly, on the skin. It doesn’t look dry or powdery even up close. The finish of the matte side is like a natural-matte. It’s not totally flat and dull but does not have any visible shimmer in it.

The shimmer is fine, not chunky or sparkly. It has a good amount of reflect that is very buildable. I can apply it very lightly and get a subtle glow or build it up to something more dewy looking. It gives a smooth, soft glow. It’s not a blinding metallic sheen but it can be built up to be strong enough to look a bit “unnatural” if that’s the type of highlight you prefer. It has a slight rosy-neutral tone to it but still looks very neutral/nude on my complexion, definitely not pink. Though it is a powder, the texture is almost “creamy”. Not dry in the least and melts into the skin well.

There is a bit of powdery kickup in the pan if I try to mix the blushes and highlight together all in one swirl. If pick them up separately, I don’t get as much kickup. I think the shimmer is pressed a bit looser or just crumbles much more easily when touched than the mattes do. The amount of kickup is a noticeable but I don’t think it’s too excessive.

After one wear test of 9 hours, the blush was still visible by the end of the day. It faded a little bit but I was touching my face occasionally over the course of the day. For this test, I used the highlighter as a topper on one side of the face and mixed into the blush on the other side. The highlight on the side where I used it as a topper faded much more than the side where I mixed it together with the matte blush.

Pros and Cons

Things I like:

• Color works well for me personally. The type of shade I’d reach for when I’m not sure what blush to pair with the rest of my makeup. Very “neutral” on me. “Goes with everything” kind of color.
• Buildable color payoff. Easy to add subtle color or build up the intensity.
• Even application of color without patchiness whether applied lightly or heavily.
• Not inexpensive but not unreasonably priced for the quality.
• Pan is large enough to use just the mattes or the shimmer if I want.

Drawbacks and other considerations:

• There is only this one shade. I like the formula and having the blush and highlighter together but more shades in this format would be awesome.
• There is some kickup when using a brush to mix the highlighter and blush together in the pan.
• The color of the matte blush is easily dupable.

Do I Recommend It?

Yes. Even though the color isn’t the most unique, I really like how both the blush and the highlighter apply and sit on the skin, and the presentation is super cute. I like the convenience of having the highlighter included and being able choose to just use the matte side or swirl it all together for a more glowy and slightly lighter looking color.

Swatches

Comparisons

The first two swatches are of the Natasha Denona Blush and the rest are:

• Too Faced Cloud Crush Blurring Blush in Velvet Crush
• Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Exposed
• Benefit Rockateur (discontinued)
• Benefit Wanderful World Blush in Willa
• Essence Satin Touch Blush in Satin Love (discontinued)
• Essence Pure Nude Baked Blush in Rosy Rosewood
• Nars Blush in Orgasm

There are some similar shades, especially of the matte portion of the Natasha Denona blush. It’s not super unique in color but it does have a slight warmer peachy nuance.

Above I have:

• Fenty Killawatt Freestyle Highlighter in Lightning Dust
• Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector in Moonstone
• Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector in Opal
• Benefit Cookie
• Benefit Dandelion Twinkle
• Maybelline Master Chrome Highlighter in Molten Rose Gold
• Essence Pure Nude Highlighter in 10 Be My Highlight

The Natasha Denona highlight is brighter and has a slight pink tone to it compared to the others. On the face, I don’t find that it actually looks pink, though. The reflect I get from it is right in the middle, not being as shiny as something like Benefit Cookie but more reflective than Essence Pure Nude Highlighter and Benefit Dandelion Twinkle.

Revlon Illuminance Gel Serum Blushes are a new set of liquid blushes in Revlon’s Illuminance line. They come in 4 shades and retail for $14.99 each. They are smaller than expected at 0.37 fl oz but not much is needed to do the job of blushing.

So far these have been a disappointment. The colors are pretty but they go on much more sheer than they initially appear out of the tube. Being more liquidy, they sort of lift my foundation a bit. I don’t find this to be a huge issue if I’m not trying to do a full coverage look but they also lift themselves. If I try to add a second layer to build up the color a bit more, the previous layer is lifted in patches so the application ends up looking uneven. This happens whether I try to build it up immediately or wait and allow the first layer to set. I can only apply the first layer so heavily without it looking uneven as well. These really only give a tiny hint of color to the skin.

I wore one of them all day yesterday and it held up well without fading, even after reapplying powder midday.

If you look at the demo photos, they look fine, definitely decent enough to wear out but I feel like I have other stuff I like better than these.

Of all 4 shades, my favorite one is the coral shade. This is also the only one of them that stains the skin a bit. It may just be the color itself but I find this one looks the most even and gives the most life to my complexion. In hindsight, I’d probably pick up that one and skip the others.

110 Enchanting Mauve

Enchanting Mauve is a medium neutral rose with a tiny bit of shimmer and sparkle. The shimmer and sparkle is easier to see in swatches and hardly shows up on the cheek.

120 Striking Rose

Striking Rose is a vibrant reddish pink without any shimmer or sparkle. This one is similar to the shade 140 Brilliant Berry but gives a slightly warmer appearance to the cheek than that one.

130 Beaming Coral

Beaming Coral is a light peachy orange with subtle pink tones and a very faint satin finish. The shimmer in this is ultra fine and gives off more of an even sheen so I don’t see the particles individually.

140 Brilliant Berry

Brilliant Berry is a medium pinky purple without any noticeable shimmer or sparkle. This one gives my cheeks a cooler toned vibrant pink appearance than Striking Rose, but I find the two shades look so close on me.

bareMinerals Gen Nude Highlighting Blushes are a collection of 5 glowy and subtly tinted blushes that can be worn alone, layered over other blushes, or simply used as highlighter. All except Mauve Glow are pretty light on me. The rosy base color barely shows up against my skin tone. I can build them up without feeling like I’m intensifying the sheen too much. The shimmer particles are very fine and give the skin a noticeable glow without looking blindingly metallic, sparkly or glittery. The glowy finish is strong but I don’t feel it is unflattering or makes the texture of my skin look worse. They feel like really nice quality to the touch, not dry at all, and they pick and transfer super easily with a brush. They build up blend out almost effortlessly.

Price: $26 each
Availability: bareMinerals, Ulta, Sephora, Macy’s, Kohl’s

Pink Glow

The main thing I notice with Pink Glow is that the sheen in this one is reddish pink. If it has much of a base color, it is difficult to see. Because of the color of the shimmer particles, this one is pretty unique to what I have in my collection.

Mauve Glow

Mauve Glow has a warm bronze base color and purplish blueish sheen. This one reminded me of Benefit Rockateur (RIP ) because that one had a similar vibe with a warmer-toned base color and a cooler-toned sheen. Trying to two side by side, they are definitely not dupes but if you liked that one and miss it, you may like this one. The sheen from Mauve Glow is stronger but can easily be toned down by brushing over it with a clean brush.

Rose Glow

Rose Glow has a pale pink base color with a cooler, more silvery sheen. This is similar to Opal Glow but, side by side, that one is quite a bit warmer and this one is much more obviously pink. The two end up having about a similar depth when layered more heavily and worn as blush.

Opal Glow

Opal Glow is a pale pinky champagne. This just barely has enough color in it to show up as a blush against my skin tone but I’m more likely to use this as a highlighter, a blush topper or perhaps an eyeshadow. The warm pink tones in this are pretty strong and noticeable when used on the eyes but on the cheeks, it has a more neutral look on me. I get a strong, almost wet-looking sheen from this and if I build it up to get more of the base color to show up, the sheen does intensify but I don’t feel like it’s too reflective or unflattering. When used very high up on the cheekbones, it is ever so slightly darker than my skin tone but still passable used that way because the base color is sheer enough.

Peach Glow

Peach Glow is very similar to Opal Glow in color and finish but this one is a hint warmer and peachier. It builds up about the same way too. If I were to choose one or the other to wear as blush by itself, I’d go with this one because it just shows up better on me.

Bonus Comparison

I thought I’d show these two side by side in case anyone was wondering how they compare.

GXVE Beauty Feelin’ Cheeky Blush Duos come in six shades that contain one radiant and one satin-matte side. There are a decent variety to choose from and I feel a few of the shades are fairly unique (Flirty Talk and Honeymoon Phase, especially). These retail for $28 each and can be found at Sephora, Kohl’s and GXVE Beauty.

I have done all day wear tests on about half of them and so far they last all day without fading. The texture of these feels a bit different than I was expecting. The radiant side is on the more subtle side and the particles are generally pretty tiny, so they give me more of a soft, smooth sheen than a sparkly or frosty look. The satin-matte shades are not completely dry/flat looking as they also have a small amount of sheen, just far less of it. The finish of those is closer to the finish of my skin. They also have a powdery floral scent which to me is noticeable but not too strong.

Pros:

• Good color payoff.
• Reasonable price for two shades.
• Some more unique/vibrant colors.
• Finish is forgiving/flattering on pores/texture.

Cons:

• Would’ve been nice, if for each compact, there were two significantly different colors, instead of basically the same color in slightly different finishes.
• They are somewhat tricky to blend on the cheek. I get the best results when I pick up color on a brush, tap it on the back of my hand, and then go to blend it on my cheek. The color tends to stick to the first place it touches and takes some effort to move with the brush.

Flirty Talk

Flirty Talk is a bright duo of tangerine. These are more punchy than a regular peach blush. I have to be a bit more light handed with the satin-matte side than the shimmer. The shimmer is lighter and gives me a soft golden sheen with just a hint of peachy base color.

Crush On You

Crush On You is a reddish plum toned option. The shimmer in this one has a more neutral bronze sheen that I ended up really liking and finding unique among what’s already in my collection. The deeper matte is quite dark on me but I am able to apply it lightly and still get away with wearing it.

Honeymoon Phase

Honeymoon Phase is a lavender and purple combo. This is the one that lured me into this product in the first place. The shimmery side is much lighter than I was expecting and acts more as a highlight or blush topper than an actual blush on me. The deeper satin-matte has subtle reddish undertones but for the most part stays pretty true to purple.

Ex-Girlfriend

Ex-Girlfriend is a bright duo of bubble gum and barbie pink. The color of the two sides look more different in swatches than they do on the cheek aside from the easier-to-see difference in finish. I didn’t think I would like this one but it ended up being one of the ones I enjoyed most.

Stars Aligned

Stars Aligned is described by the brand as a “peachy beige” and that sounds about right to me. The shimmery side is slightly more pink and the satin-matte is more like a light terracotta. This is the closest to one that could be an everyday color but is very warm-toned overall on my complexion.

Lasting Love

Lasting Love is a pink-leaning strawberry red. Both sides of this one are pretty close in color and the shimmery side gives off a very subtle golden sheen that doesn’t interfere too much with the base color.

Here are swatches of all of the Essence Pure Nude Baked Blushes. I noticed these come out near the beginning of 2022 and collected them slowly over the past few months as they were never fully stocked at any of my local Ulta stores. These have the same name as the Essence Pure Nude Highlighter that became well known and loved several years ago. Like that highlighter, many of these give the skin a glow, though some are more matte. None of them are so shimmery that they look too shiny or metallic.

They generally have buildable color payoff that is very easy to work with. I don’t have to work that hard for them to show up but at the same time I can be heavy handed without worrying about going overboard too quickly. If I do end up applying more than I want, it’s not difficult to buff them out to tone down the color. The deeper and more matte shades are less easy to blend than the shimmers but none of them are difficult to use. Color goes on evenly and blends easily without sticking to the skin in a patchy way.

My favorites are the more shimmer-heavy ones, like Shimmery Rose, Pretty Peach, and Cool Coral. I could be just making things up in my mind but the shimmer does seem somewhat different in those shades than other shimmery blushes I have. It is very fine and not too reflective, so I can build up the color to be more intense without also building up too much shine. They do kind of feel like a “highlighting blush”, without needing a highlighter for the effect.

Swatching or sweeping a brush over the pan, I can easily pick up plenty of color without making much of a powdery mess. After several uses now, there is some buildup of powder on the outer plastic ring but I feel that it’s a reasonable amount for how many times I’ve gone into them.

The blushes come in domed plastic compacts and the product itself is also domed/rounded. I think the shape of the packaging looks and feels nice but storing several of them together is tricky because they roll off of each other. It’s not a huge deal as long as I use an organizing container they fit snugly in. I have one from Ikea that actually stores all 8 of them perfectly.

Where to buy: Ulta, Amazon, Essence

Shimmery Rose

Shimmery Rose is a pale warm pink with a soft shimmery sheen. This one shows up decently well on me even though is it very light because the sheen is quite visible. I don’t find it too shiny/frosty looking though and enjoy the glow it adds to my cheeks. This is one of the more reflective/glowy shades of the bunch and almost looks like a highlighter.

Pink Flush

Pink Flush is a slightly cooler toned pale pink shimmer and is the only shade that contains large sparkles/glitter.

Goldy Cassis

Goldy Cassis is a purple-y mauve shimmer. It looks similar in the pan to Berry Cheeks (all the way at the bottom of the post) but that one is noticeably more red toned. This one is more neutral, lighter, and more subtle.

Bold Heart

Bold Heart is a mostly matte reddish coral. If you really scrutinize the swatch, you’ll see this shade has the tiniest bit of fine shimmer in it but compared to all the others, this one doesn’t give the cheeks a visible glow.

Pretty Peach

Pretty Peach has a light peachy base color with a soft gold sheen that shows up much better in real life than it does here in the photos.

Rosy Rosewood

Rosy Rosewood is a mostly matte pinky mauve. The finish of this is just like Bold Heart, with just of hint of fine shimmer.

Cool Coral

Cool Coral is a light neutral pink with a soft sheen. The shimmer in this matches the base color. It doesn’t appear to lean blue or gold so it looks about the same from all angles.

Berry Cheeks

Berry Cheeks is a reddish plum with a very subtle sheen. It almost looks matte on the face despite how it looks in the pan and in the heavier swatch. I applied it a little more heavily than I would normally wear this to help it show up. It can easily be sheered out to a lighter but still purple-y toned shade.

Here are swatches and photos of all six of the Too Faced Cloud Crush Blurring Blushes. These are fairly straightforward, no-nonsense powder blushes with the main claim of having a diffusing/blurring quality to them. These are $29 each and available from several retailers including Sephora, Ulta, Kohl’s, Macy’s, Nordstrom, and of course, Too Faced.

Blurring has been a trendy term in the past couple months and I can see how that might be useful in a product that can sometimes end up on an area of the face with larger and more visible pores and texture. I wouldn’t say these actually blur or reduce the look of texture/pores more than any other matte or satin finish blush would but they certainly do not emphasize texture either. In my experience, blushes with a very shimmery or frosty finish tend to emphasize texture more and none of these fit that finish. The one with the most shimmer in it is the shade Golden Hour but even that only reflects light very subtly, so no issue with emphasizing texture there.

These were the first blush release in a while that sparked my interest and I have to say it was partly and shallowly for the experience besides the product inside that seemed to add something to these. They are scented which is always a draw for some reason and Too Faced usually does a nice job with scented products. Too Faced describes the scent as smelling like a tropical beach. To me they have a warm, rounded, sweet, nutty kind of scent that isn’t something that resembles previous scented product I’ve tried from them. The packaging has a nice look and feel with the rounded enamel-looking outside and the raised golden logo. One major downside to the packaging is that they can be kind of hard to open. Trying to pry the lid open, I find the pointy bottom of the heart kind of stabs my fingers and I have to use more force than expected to get it to open up. A couple times, they have slipped and fallen out of my hands LOL.

As for how they apply, these work perfectly well as blushes. They are all easy to use with some modifications depending on the shade I decide to wear. I can go a little more heavy handed with the lighter shades but they have plenty of color payoff. With the darker shades, I prefer to use a more sparing amount to keep it still looking somewhat natural but they blend out easily. I haven’t noticed them fade throughout the day and I felt they all went on evenly.

For the swatches below, the left side is a heavy finger swatch and the right side is a brush swatch. In swatching these, the powder felt like a drier formula which was more noticeable when using a brush on the right side. The color went on evenly but quite sheer and didn’t seem to grip onto the skin as easily. With that said, I didn’t feel I had any problems with these adhering when used on the face.

Candy Clouds

Candy Clouds is a matte pale pink with cool undertones. It has buildable color payoff and shows up well. Similar to Dior Rosy Glow Blush.

Golden Hour

Golden Hour is a light pink with a small amount of shimmer. It is warmer than Candy Clouds, but I find this still looks very pink and cool toned on me in real life. The name and photos make it appear warmer than it actually is. Out of them all, this is the one with the most shimmer.

Velvet Crush

Velvet Crush is a matte brownish pink. It looks similar to Head In The Clouds, but this one is noticeably more neutral on me. This is the one I’ve been reaching for most often because it just looks natural on me.

Head In The Clouds

Head In The Clouds is a medium mauvey pink. This one looks a bit lighter in the pan than it swatches for some reason. Another good “everyday” kind of option if you prefer more pink-toned blushes.

Tequila Sunset

Tequila Sunset is a light somewhat muted orange with a matte finish. This one is more pigmented/darker and I need to use a lighter hand when applying it than the previous shades. It is easy to blend out though.

Watermelon Rain

Watermelon Rain is a raspberry pink with a nearly matte finish. It has the tiniest bit of a satin finish but for the most part it just ends up looking matte on me. This has somewhat of a purplish tone to it when applied sheered out. Quite pigmented and requires using a light hand on my skin tone. Easy to blend out.

Benefit has come out with new shades of their iconic boxed blushes and redesigned the packaging. There are 12 full size shades retailing for $29 each and 7 of them come in mini sizes for $17 each. I have all but one (Starlaa) swatched here for you.

One of their original shades, Dandelion, is still a part of the range. The broken one in the corner is the shade Butterfly. Most of them have some level of shimmer but there are a few matte shades. They all have easy-to-work-with, buildable color payoff and none of them look “glittery” or give too much of a reflective shine to the skin.

They are all similarly scented but they do not all smell exactly the same. The box packaging is flatter than it used to be and no longer includes a brush. I think it’s a little easier to get a blush brush into the pan without smashing the bristles (as much) into the sides of the box.

Swatching these next to some of my older Benefit blushes, none of them are repeated shades or “dupes” (except Dandelion). My favorite of their old ones was Rockateur and the most similar of the new shades, I’d say, is Willa.

Where to buy: Ulta, Sephora, Benefit

Dandelion

Dandelion is a super pale pink with the slightest hint of a golden sheen. It is the palest of all the shades and doesn’t show up that well on me. What you see in the photo of me wearing it is several layers. It has decent color payoff – it’s just very light.

Willa

Willa is noticeably deeper than Dandelion and has a more obvious shimmer to it but no large sparkle. If you like the idea of Dandelion but have had trouble getting it to show up, you might like this one better.

Peachin’

Peachin’ is almost as pale as Dandelion but the orangey tone shows up better on me. It has a very subtle satin sheen to it, kind of like a natural-looking highlight.

Sunny

Sunny is a matte apricot. This is surprisingly bright on me for how it looks in the pan.

Shellie

Shellie is a lightly shimmery coral. It’s a little more pink than Sunny.

Crystah

Crystah is very bright but seemed to end up looking not that far off from lighter pink shades like Willa. I’m sure I could apply it much more heavily to get it to look closer the swatch/pan. It has a golden shimmer but when blended, it isn’t very obvious.

Butterfly

Butterfly is a deep orange with a bit of golden shimmer.

Moone

Moone is a deeper berry shade with a reddish sheen.

Pompom

Pompom is a very straightforward matte mauve. This one was just a hair patchy but still pretty decent.

Java

Java is a deep chocolate with a bit of a reddish undertone and a matte finish. By the time I got to demoing this shade, my skin was getting irritated LOL so it may look a bit more red than normal.

Terra

Terra is a reddish bronze with a little bit of golden shimmer.

The Essence Contouring Duo is one of a few new things I picked up in December. I’m always on the lookout for new contouring products because I feel like there aren’t that many out there that fit what I’m looking for. So many of them are yellow or orange toned against my complexion and end up being bronzers on me. Unfortunately, that is the case with this one as well.

As for the performance, the product works well on me. The powders are soft and smooth and have just the right amount of color payoff while being easy to blend. The deeper shade has a subtle warmth to it that is just barely in bronzer territory. If you have a very warm skin tone, then it might work for you as a contour. It goes on the skin evenly and quickly without any patchiness. The lighter shade in the duo is too dark on me to be used as a matte highlight (and I really don’t like matte highlights anyway). It happens to be a good tone to use as a corrector for the green veins on the inner corners of my eyes so that is what I’ve been using it for. It could also be used to help blend out the deeper shade if you get too heavy handed with it but that shade blends easily enough on its own that it doesn’t need the help of the lighter powder.

These are available 2 variations – one for lighter skin and one for deeper skin and retail for $5.99. Not a bad budget option if you think the shades will be a good fit for you.

Swatches

Before & After

For the after, this is applied a little bit heavier than I would normally wear it. It can be applied more lightly if you prefer a more natural look.

Dupes and Comparisons

These are some of the other contouring products I have in my collection along with comparison swatches. For the swatches, I only included the deeper shade from the Essence Contouring Duo and the cooler toned shades in any palettes you see in the photo.

Swatches from left to right are:

• Kevyn Aucoin The Sculpting Powder in Light – Similar level of warmth as the Essence powder.
• Physicians Formula Matte Sculpting Palette – The middle shade is a little bit more red than Essence. Quite an old product, not easy to find anymore.
• Fiona Stiles Sheer Sculpting Palette in Light/Medium – I swatched the lightest of the three shades. This is one of my all time favorites but is REALLY hard to find. Much lighter/sheerer and more neutral against my skin tone.
• Essence Contouring Duo in 10 Lighter Skin – The deeper shade has an orange undertone. It doesn’t look “orange” on me though, just a little warm.
• LA Girl Just Blushing Blush in Just Because – Another favorite that is actually a contour on me.
• NYX Blush in Taupe – More red toned than Essence.
• Loreal Infallible Pro Contour Palette in Light – Discontinued but you possibly may still be able to find it. The tone of this is also red but it is sheer enough to look very natural. Not a fan of the split pan though.
• Fenty Freestyle Cream Bronzer in Amber – I really like this product as well but it walks the line between contour and bronzer on me. In the pan, it looks very grey but the more I blend and sheer it out, the more yellowy/olive toned it looks.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission when you make purchases through them.

Neutrogena Cheeky Wink Blushes are cream blushes with sheer but buildable color payoff and a subtle luminosity. They are available in 2 shades, retail for about $7 each, and are available at Walmart.

The texture is described as soft and bouncy. I am able to press lightly on the surface and leave an imprint of my finger. It feels ultra smooth to the touch and also very thin and lightweight. Fragrance is not listed in the ingredients and I don’t notice any smell to it.

I have tried applying these with both my fingers and a natural hair blush brush. It worked fine both ways. Using my fingers, I find I get more color payoff more quickly but I have to spend more time making sure the color is applied and blended out evenly. The finish ends up looking the same both ways. The cream isn’t very emollient so it doesn’t get goopy on a brush.

First Crush is a very sheer but buildable peachy pink with ultra subtle micro shimmer. The shimmer is so subtle that it’s difficult to see, even up close. It creates a natural looking finish that resembles the glow natural skin has without looking glittery. It is almost impossible to over apply. I doubt this would show up well on those with deeper complexions. It wore for about 7 hours before starting to fade.

Boys n Berry is a sheer, deep burgundy – also with micro shimmer. This shade is not quite as sheer as First Crush and the shimmer is hardly noticeable at all on the cheeks. If you have lighter skin like me, I recommend using a brush to apply. I found that using a brush gave me a lighter but more even application. I wore this shade for 8 hours and didn’t notice any fading.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission when you make purchases through them.

Flower Beauty Flower Pots Blushes come in 5 shades (the fifth, Deep Peony, is only available on Flower Beauty’s website). I purchased the 4 available on Ulta’s website. Each one contains 0.21 oz / 6 grams and retails for about $11. I’ve heard many people say these are available at Walmart as well but their website only has 3 of the shades and many of my local Walmarts do not carry them.

Sweet Pea

Sweet Pea is a soft rosy shade with cooler undertones and a matte finish. It is just ever so slightly powdery but not messy in the pan. It had medium opacity but built up well on the cheek and blended out easily. This shade lasted about 7 hours before I noticed a little bit of fading.

Peach Primrose

Peach Primrose is a light orange with warm undertones and a matte finish. This was also a bit powdery but didn’t make a mess when picking up product with a brush. This shade had more pigmentation than sweet pea but not so much that it was difficult to apply or blend out. I noticed slight fading after 8 hours of wear.

Wild Rose

Wild Rose is a bright blue-based pink with a matte finish. It was a little powdery but not messy in the pan. The pigmentation was good but not overly strong which made applying and blending this very bright shade easy. I wore this for about 8.5 hours and saw very minimal fading by the end of it.

Warm Hibiscus

Warm Hibiscus has a medium pink base with a light peachy sheen. The shimmer is fairly strong so if it is applied heavily the finish can become frosty and emphasize texture. I felt that applying it with a light hand gave me enough of the pinky base to show up without getting overly shimmery on the cheek. This is a shade to be a bit careful with when applying. I wore this for 8 hours and didn’t notice any fading.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission when you make purchases through them.

Too Faced Diamond Light Highlighter is a multicolor highlighter with parts that are blue, green, and purplish pink that swirl together to create a multi dimensional highlighted look to the cheek. It contains 12 grams of product, retails for $34, and can be purchased from Too Faced, Sephora, Ulta, Nordstrom, and Macy’s.

The packaging is made of a high quality cardboard that is held closed with a magnet. The little button you see at the bottom of the compact is just for show – it doesn’t actually do anything. It is pretty but a little thick. It doesn’t include a brush or mirror, which is fine by me.

You could concentrate on a certain color if you wanted, using a smaller fluffy brush, or simply swirl all the colors together.

This had a very silky smooth and finely milled feel to the touch. It wasn’t dry or powdery at all. The powder was pressed just right, not too loose and not too firm. It applied and blended out evenly on my cheek.

The highlight can be quite intense if you want. Just a gentle tap onto the powder with a brush is plenty for me (I prefer a subtle highlight). Swirling all the shades together ends up depositing a lot of product on my brush – more than I’d like – and yields a very intense highlight. I just pat excess off the brush onto the back of my hand.

The color shift is pretty noticeable. Mine had a lot of blue in it so I found it paired best with cooler toned blushes. It clashed a little when I went with an overall warmer look.

I wore it for about 7 hours before I started noticing slight fading.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission when you make purchases through them.

Loreal’s Paradise Enchanted Fruit-Scented Blushes come in four warm-toned shades. The formula is described as being silky, blendable, but still rich in color. They contain 9 grams of product, retail for about $12 each and can be purchased from Amazon, Ulta, Target, Walmart. They may also be available in your local drugstore. I purchased mine at Walgreens.

Fantastical is a medium peach with fine golden shimmer. The photos currently available on retailers websites make this shade look way more vibrant and red-toned than it is. It wasn’t until I saw it displayed in-store that I had an interest in picking one of them up. This was the only shade that really called to me.

The compact opens both on the top and the bottom with a mirror on the bottom side of the blush pan. The scent reminds me of peach rings and isn’t particularly strong but it is noticeable when I first open it up. After I apply the blush, I don’t smell it anymore.

I really enjoy the formula of this. It is soft and silky but not powdery or messy when I pick up product on a brush. The color is buildable but definitely pigmented enough. I don’t have to be super careful when applying it but I can easily and quickly build up the color if I want.

The shimmer in this is very forgiving on texture. If you are afraid of shimmery blushes, this one might surprise you. It isn’t frosty at all but it does provide a nice muted glow to the cheeks. There is no large chunky glitter in this and I find the shimmer particles are all uniform in size.

This shade lasted 8 hours on me with no fading.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission when you make purchases through them.

Tarte Love, Trust & Fairy Dust Palette contains 10 eyeshadows and 1 highlighter. The compact includes a large high quality mirror and opens all the way so that it can be laid out flat on a table if desired. Each eyeshadow is contains 1g and the highlighter contains 2g. It is limited edition, retails for $39 and can be purchased from Tarte, Sephora, and Ulta.

I really dig the mix of colors in this palette. They balance each other out and there isn’t too much overlap except for the two darkest shades which could be used interchangeably. It’s the type of thing I could easily reach for everyday, if I were using the same palette on a daily basis.

The purple toned shades (Giggle and Whimsical) are very muted so the undertone doesn’t show up very well on the eye. It ends up looking more taupe/greyish. They stand out more if you incorporate the warmer shade (Frolic) somewhere in your look as well to provide some contrast.

After using it a few times, I would give the quality of the product inside an 8/10. It’s not perfect but it’s pretty darn good. The parts that could use improvement are the lasting power when used on bare eyelids, a smidge of patchiness from some of the matte shades, and shimmer fallout from the shade Magic. I’m not too bothered by lasting power because over a primer these last at least 8 hours. The tiny bit of patchiness is there but I’m nitpicking so that you are aware of it. The shimmer fallout for me personally is the most annoying thing because it affects the order in which I apply my makeup.

• Gossamer – Very pale peach with a matte finish. Soft and smooth but not too powdery in the pan. Good color payoff. Sits nicely on the eyelid without looking dry or powdery.
• Frolic – Midtone peachy brown with a matte finish. Good color payoff, blended out easily. Looks warmer-toned on the skin than in does in the pan.
• Wonder – Deep chocolatey brown with a mostly matte finish. There are some super tiny sparkles but once this is applied, it reads as matte. This swatched exceptionally well in a single pass without any patchiness or streaking. I didn’t notice any fallout from it either during application. It did “stick” a bit where I first applied it and required me to be extra mindful to blend.
• Wish – Deep plummy brown with a mostly matte finish. Like Wonder, this also has some tiny sparkles that pretty much disappear once applied. This shade is more patchy and also has a drier feel to the touch. It seems to apply and blend equally as well as Wonder, though.
• Whimsical – Midtone muted mauve with a matte finish. This was somewhat powdery and messy in the pan.
• Giggle – Pale muted mauve with a matte finish. This has an incredibly smooth, creamy feel to the touch. It is still a powder though.
• Mystical – Bright pink shimmer with a subtle orange base that becomes more visible as the shade is blended out.
• Magic – Classic rose gold with a metallic finish. This shade has significant shimmer fallout. If you plan to use it, I recommend doing your eye makeup before your face makeup.
• Flitter – Pale warm pink with a shimmer finish.
• Twinkle – Golden peachy shimmer. It’s not so obvious in the swatch, but this has some larger glitter particles that become more visible during application. It wasn’t bothersome, but just something to note. It applied fairly well with a dry, flat brush.
• Flower Crown – Champagne shimmer with subtle yellow undertones. This can be applied lightly and the shimmer will spread out and give you more of a sparkly highlight effect. Applied with a heavier hand, this will give off more of a metallic highlight. The yellow undertones are subtle enough that they don’t look obviously warm-toned on my cooler-toned skin. This is loose, powdery and messy in the pan.

In this look I am wearing:

• Gossamer – Inner corner, brow bone
• Giggle – Transition
• Whimsical – Crease
• Wonder – Outer lid
• Twinkle – Inner lid (applied with dry flat brush)
• Magic – Center of lid (applied with finger)
• Frolic – Lower lashline

Everything worked out well for this look except for a tiny bit of fallout from Twinkle and some more extensive fallout from Magic, which I had to buff away with a small powder brush. Frolic is much warmer and more orangey on the eye than it looks in the pan, so it’s a good thing they balanced it with the purple-y shades on the opposite side of the palette. After 5 hours, I could see some slight fading in the crease both with and without primer. It looked like it was the shimmer shades that were most affected.

In this look I am wearing:

• Gossamer – Brow bone
• Frolic – Transition
• Wish – Crease
• Mystical – Outer lid
• Flitter – Inner lid
• Giggle – Lower lashline

The shimmery shades (mystical and flitter) had a bit of fallout but not enough that I’d feel the need to do my face makeup after doing my eyes. They applied okay with a brush at first but I went over them and applied the same shades with my fingers to intensify the color. The mattes generally applied fine though I think Frolic was a tad patchy which was more noticeable as I tried to build up the color. This look gives me Urban Decay Backtalk Palette vibes with the overall warmth and orange/cranberry tones. This wore for 9.5 hours with primer with a tiny bit of fading. The unprimed eye was very faded and visibly creased.

Benefit Blush Bar is a Cheek Palette containing 4 blushes and one bronzer, all full size. There is a small brush included and a mirror inside the lid. The lid closes shut with a magnet. It retails for $58 and is available to purchase from Benefit, Sephora and Ulta.

Individual boxed powders retail for $29 whereas, in this palette, you are getting them for just under $12 each. The included brush has enough stiffness to blend shades out well. It’s not incredibly soft but it’s still comfortable against the skin.

I usually don’t order palettes like these because I am skeptical that I am getting the same exact products as the original, full sized ones. I grabbed what I could to compare to out of my collection. I have full sizes of Dandelion and Rockateur, and mini sizes of Galifornia and Hoola. See the comparison swatches below:

The two that I have full sizes of are pretty darn close to the ones in the palette. Dandelion in the palette is a tiny bit brighter in color and more powdery than the original. Rockateur is nearly identical though the palette one is a smidge more powdery and less pigmented. Galifornia in the palette is a different color and finish than the mini size I have. Hoola in the palette is much more pigmented and very easy to over apply.

If anything I think the quality of the powders in the palette is better than the two minis I have, but slightly less quality than the original full sizes.

Galifornia

Galifornia has a cool-toned medium pink base with a warm-toned peachy sheen. It is bright but not too pigmented so a brush picks up just the right amount of color. It applied evenly and blended well. There is a noticeable sheen when it is swatched but applied on the cheek, it imparts a barely-there satin glow that mostly looks like the natural finish of skin. It wasn’t powdery or dusty in the pan. It started fading after 5 hours of wear and was barely visible at 8 hours.

Gold Rush

Gold Rush is a warm-toned, pale, muted peach with a very subtle golden sheen. It was very sheer. I had to really load up my blush brush and apply a few layers to get it to show up on me. It applied evenly and blended out easily. This was a little bit powdery in the pan. I noticed light fading after 7 hours.

Dandelion

Dandelion is a cool-toned, pale pink with a subtle golden sheen. This is supposed to be a brightening face powder but I use it as a blush. It’s a bit too dark for my complexion to use as a face powder. A brush picks up more product than Galifornia and Gold Rush but because the shade is pretty pale, it’s not an issue. The color applies evenly and blends out easily. This was somewhat powdery, more so than the original Dandelion I have in my collection. This started fading after 7 hours.

Hoola

Hoola is a very warm-toned medium-deep bronzer. It is also very pigmented and somewhat loosely pressed. My brush picks up a lot of product so I need to tap it on the back of my hand first to avoid over-applying. I have to work carefully with this one but it does apply evenly and blend out well. This is the most noticeably powdery shade in the palette. It lasted for 8 hours with very minimal fading.

Rockateur

Rockateur is a peachy pink with a bluish-pink sheen and warm undertones. The base color of this looks very similar to Gold Rush but the sheen is different. It has semi-sheer pigmentation but it builds up easily. It applies evenly and blends out well. This faded after 8 hours.

The Urban Decay Backtalk Palette is a face and eye palette containing 8 eyeshadows, 2 blushes, and 2 highlighters. It retails for $46. The palette is divided by a removable mirror and is held closed with a magnet. This mirror has to be placed back into the palette for it to close properly and there is also a certain direction it must be facing. Both sides of the mirror are magnetized differently.

The shades weren’t what I was expecting. I was expecting softer more mauve-y looks from this palette and what it actually gives me are bolder, pinker looks.

The way I typically do an eye look doesn’t work quite as well for me with the shades provided. For example, my first instinct was to use Backtalk as a crease shade and Attitude on the lid but these two shades have such similar undertones that the look turned into a reddish muddy mess.

The two lighter shimmer shades, Bare and Curve, are too similar. When I see 2 shades that are similar in a palette, it makes me feel like I’m getting one less shade than was promised.

The shades are generally soft and smooth with a small amount of powderiness in the pan. After several uses, I can see a slight dusting of loose powder on the packaging but nothing that bothers me. I only experienced fallout from the shade 180. The shimmers are softer with a satiny finish. The only one that comes close to being metallic is Attitude.

The pigmentation is not terribly intense but I also wouldn’t describe it as weak. There is a nice middle ground here with the color payoff from all of the shades. Everything blended out easily for me.

The highlighters look darker in the pan than they apply to the face. I initially thought Low Key would be more of a blush topper for me, but it works as a highlighter on my skin tone. The peachy tone you see in the pan is much sheerer once blended out on the cheek.

After wearing the eyeshadows for 8 hours, the eye I used Nars Pro Prime on held up flawlessly. The unprimed eye had a little bit of creasing but generally still looked decent. The blushes and highlighters wore well for 8 hours with very minimal fading.

Swatches

Look 1

• 3 Sheets – brow bone
• WTF – crease
• Shade – outer lid
• Bare – inner lid

Look 2

• 3 Sheets – brow bone
• Backtalk – crease
• 180 – outer lid
• Attitude – center of lid
• Curve – inner lid

Look 3

• 3 Sheets – brow bone and inner lid
• WTF – upper crease, lower lashline
• Backtalk – lower crease
• 180 – outer half of lid
• Bare – lower lashline
• Curve – center of lid, applied with damp brush

Look 4

• 3 Sheets – brow bone, inner corner
• Backtalk – inner crease, inner lower lashline
• WTF – outer crease, outer lower lashline
• Shade – outer lid, applied with fingertip
• Attitude – inner lid, applied with fingertip

Blushes and Highlighters

Maybelline’s Pink Edge Palette, $12 at Ulta, has everything you need (minus lip color) to create a cooler toned mauve-y look. The colors are well coordinated and come together to create a look that is a teensy bit more colorful than what you get with your typical neutral palette.

The eyeshadows are kind of powdery but they have good, buildable pigmentation. They feel smooth to the touch and blend out easily on the eye. All of the mattes perform well and the shimmers are mostly decent, though I think they are the weakness of the palette. They don’t adhere as well to the lid as I’d like. Most of the shades have very little visible fallout except for the rose gold and black eyeshadows. The rose gold applies best with a damp brush to minimize fallout and get the most popping shine out of it.

The blush goes beautifully with the eyeshadows. It’s just bright enough to add some life to the overall look. It has stronger pigmentation than I thought it would so I only need to tap my brush into it lightly for a pop of color.

The highlighter is similar in texture to the shimmer eyeshadows with shimmer that disperses very readily and evenly over the skin. It is VERY subtle though. It’s the type of shimmer that you can see better in certain types of light, like sunlight. The effect is more of a sparkle than a sheen. I applied it pretty heavily for the photos and it’s still subtle! It is a highlighter that would be nearly impossible to over apply.

Overall, I like this palette and am happy to have it in my collection. I love that this has a blush in it and that all the colors coordinate so well because it makes for a perfect little travel palette.

Click on the swatches to see a larger image.

In this eye look I am wearing all of the eyeshadow shades.

• Matte Light Pink – Inner corner and brow bone
• Matte Taupe – Transition shade
• Lighter Berry – Crease
• Darker Berry – Outer lid, blended up into the crease
• Pale Shimmery Pink – Inner lid
• Rose Gold – Center of lid, applied with damp brush
• Shimmery Taupe – Lower lash line
• Matte Black – Outer half of upper and lower lash lines

The Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush Palette Color Wheel is a limited edition palette containing 8 blushes and 2 highlighters. Each pan contains 0.084 oz/ 2.38 g, compared to the full size blushes which are 0.2 oz. It retails for $44 and is exclusively available at Sephora.

The palette opens up like a clamshell and closes up with a clasp. There is no mirror but the back of it has a mirror-like reflective finish so you could use it as a mirror if you wanted to. It is surprisingly not as thick and bulky as I had imagined. I included a couple images below comparing it to one of Tarte’s regular permanent size blushes.

The product inside is decent but not excellent. I have Blissful and Exposed from the permanent line and they are great – not powdery, and just the right amount of pigmentation. The matte shades in the palette were pretty close in quality to the permanent blushes, but a couple of them are a tad powdery. Ironic, Montage, and Icon are all fairly similar in tone and look about the same once applied to the cheeks. It would have been nice to see more variation in color. Surreal, Deco, and Mod had enough variation to look different on the cheek, though. The two shimmery blushes, Concept and Culture, are very powdery and leave a mess in the palette which was disappointing, but they did look nice once applied. Concept looks more shimmery in the pan but a lot of the sparkle brushes away when applied to the cheek. Culture’s finish has a much stronger sheen.

Crafty is pale pink-toned highlighter with a sparkly finish and a pinkish sheen that can be seen depending on how light falls on the skin. Idol has a muted yellowy-bronze tone to it with a finer shimmer finish than Crafty. They are both a little powdery.

Pros:

• Good pigmentation
• They blend well
• Nice compact packaging
• Blushes are large enough for a blush brush
• No mirror, but the packaging is mirror-like
• Pretty good value for the number of shades

Cons:

• More variation in color would have been nice
• Some of the shades are powdery

Worth Buying?

If you already have a pretty good blush stash, this is probably not something worth picking up as the colors aren’t really unique. Also, if you are a stickler for quality, it’s going to be more of a miss. It could be a good option for travel, though, because it does manage to pack a bunch of options in relatively small packaging.

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Product Description

Laura Geller Filter Finish Baked Radiant Setting Powder is a universal powder designed to “blur flaws, balance your skin tone, and illuminate your face with a warm natural glow.” It contains 0.24 oz / 7 g and retails for $32. It can be purchased from Laura Geller and Ulta.

Performance

This was an ultra fine, smooth, and lightweight powder with a very pale neutral nude sheen. The sheen wasn’t sparkly or frosty, but was very natural looking from a normal distance. When using this as a highlighter, I found it nearly impossible to over apply, as it was both subtle yet noticeably brightening. However, using this as a setting powder didn’t work well on me, particularly on my forehead where I have large pores, and on my nose, which is shiny enough on its own.

The packaging seems to be made well. It wasn’t difficult to open, stayed closed securely, and the hinge worked well. There was no fragrance but the powder did have a faint mineral smell which was not noticeable during normal use.

The closest thing I have in my collection to this is Hourglass Incandescent Light from the Ambient Lighting Palette, which is a little bit more subtle and a smidge more powdery. They both impart a similar subtle glow and have a silky, thin texture.

Worth Buying?

I can see how this could be very beautiful as a setting powder on somebody with naturally great skin. If you have any kind of texture though, like large pores, fine lines, sun damage, or acne scaring then it’s best used sparingly as a highlighter. I recommend checking this out if you need a highlighter that is truly neutral in color and/or more subdued. It’s a good alternative to a white highlighter, which can look too intense at times.

Pros:

• Subtle, natural sheen
• Difficult to over-apply (when used as a highlighter)
• Not powdery
• Neutral color

Cons:

• Emphasizes texture
• Could easily be too glowy as a setting powder on oily skin

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission when you make purchases through them.

Product Description

Too Faced Love Flush Blush Wardrobe is a limited edition palette that contains all six of the permanent range blushes from the Love Flush blush line. They are supposed to have a long wearing formula that will deliver 16 hours of wear. The packaging is a high quality cardboard design with a long, slim shape and a mirror inside the lid. Each blush is large enough to easily fit a blush brush into. I can smell just the faintest hint of a candy-like scent but it’s incredibly subtle. This palette contains 6 X 2 g / 0.07 oz of product, retails for $36, and can be purchased at Too Faced and Ulta.

Performance

I generally try not to buy limited edition items because they don’t work well for review purposes and sometimes I find the quality to be not as good. Since the colors in the palette are available in the permanent line, I made an exception with this product. I don’t have the blushes from the permanent line to compare to, unfortunately. The first thing I noticed when swatching these blushes is what a nice texture they have. They are soft, smooth, not powdery or messy in the pan and have good color payoff without having to work to build up the color. They aren’t too pigmented either which is sometimes an even worse problem with blushes. I only need one tap of a brush into the pan to pick up enough product to sweep across the cheek. It blends in easily and of course can be applied easily with a lighter or heavier hand. The product sits nicely on the skin and looks like it melts right in so you don’t get a powdery cheek effect. The finishes vary from matte to satin to one with micro glitter. The satin shades aren’t too reflective so it looks like more of a natural, not shimmery, finish. The micro glitter in Justify my love is sparse and ultra fine, brushing away easily so it doesn’t show much on the cheek. I didn’t test the 16 hour claim because the longest I usually wear makeup is about 8-10 hours but they wore all day on me without fading.

Worth Buying?

I really like this product and feel like it’s a great value. On me, I found all the shades wearable so nothing will go to waste in this palette. If you like natural-looking wearable shades and prefer long wearing blush formulas, this is worth picking up. It’s also a great product to travel with since you can carry a variety of shades in a nice compact palette.

Product Description

What it is: Rockateur is one of Benefit’s newer Box o’ Powders. It is described as a rose gold shade that will give you a “provocative flush” and is supposed to have a “specialized formula” that will deliver 1.6 times the color payoff.

Price/Quantity: It costs $28 for 5.0 g / 0.17 oz

Availability: Benefit’s website, Sephora, Ulta, Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s

Packaging: The product is housed in a square printed cardboard box and closed with a magnet. There is a small-ish mirror on the inside of the lid and flat brush that sits in a plastic holder above the powder. Many times, I’m not a fan of the brushes and applicators included with cosmetics but the ones that come with these boxed powders are actually pretty good quality and can work for everyday use.

Smell/Fragrance: Like all of Benefit’s Box o’ Powders, this has a lovely floral fragrance which fades away once applied. The fragrance is strong if I am actively trying to smell it but when I am just applying this as usual, it’s pretty faint from a normal distance.

Performance

While I really like Rockateur, it wasn’t quite what I imagined it would be based on the description. When I think of rose gold, I think of jewelry – rings, necklaces, earrings – with a beautiful pinkish copper metallic glow. The closest approximation I can think of in terms of makeup, would be shades like Nars Orgasm, that have a bright rosy base and strong golden sheen. This was more of a muted brownish pink with a very subtle purplish pink sheen. It’s a color I could see a lot of people using for their “everyday” or “no makeup” looks because it looks very natural and subtle. I think it would best suit fair and medium complexions with warmer undertones, though it isn’t too hard to pull off on my cooler skin tone.

The pigmentation of this blush is just perfect – not too sheer but not so pigmented that it’s hard to work with. It’s easy to pick up plenty of color on a brush but at the same time it’s hard to overdo it and look like you’ve applied too much. It blends with ease and creates a smooth, even gradient when you blend out the edges. It never looks splotchy.

The quality of this product is very nice. It has a very finely milled, soft feel and isn’t powdery at all. Once you brush off the sparkly overspray, the pan never gets messy or powdery. Some blushes seem to sit on top of the skin and even stick to peach fuzz. Not this one. It adheres so well to the skin that it looks like it’s your own skin. Even though it has a sheen, the sheen is very diffused and doesn’t make any textural imperfections in my skin more obvious.

I usually wear my makeup between 8 – 10 hours on a typical day and this has never faded on me in that timespan.

Comparable Shades

• Smashbox Blush Rush in Bare – slightly browner
• Rimmel Lasting Finish Blush in Santa Rose – damn near an exact color dupe but doesn’t sit as nicely on the skin
• Elf Blush in Mellow Mauve – slightly more plummy
• Tarte Exposed – also slightly more plummy and has a matte finish

Worth Buying?

Yes. This has been one of my most used blushes since I bought it. I think it would work best for warmer skin tones but even on my cooler skin tone, it works just fine. The only downsides are that it does have a somewhat strong fragrance and you get quite a bit less product than you do in the other Box o’ Powders. This one has 5g / 0.17 oz. whereas most of the others have 8g / 0.28 oz. As a casual consumer, I’m not really too concerned about getting less product because I almost never use up blushes anyway. For a makeup artist, though, this could be a concern.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission when you make purchases through them.

Product Description

Here is a general overview and swatches of all 9 shades of the Revlon Powder Blushes. There are 8 blushes and one bronzing shade. Most of the shades have good color payoff, the satin/shimmer shades have the best color payoff and the matte shades have more sheer color payoff.

Price/Quantity: About $10 for 5g / 0.17 oz.

Availability: Drugstores, Ulta, Target, Walmart, CVS, Walgreens

Shade Range: 9 Shades

• Naughty Nude – Satin-shimmer pinkish beige. Good color payoff.
• Racy Rose – Satin-shimmer, medium-dark pink. Good color payoff.
• Melon Drama – Satin-shimmer peach. Good color payoff.
• Haute Pink – Satin medium-bright pink. Good color payoff.
• Classy Coral – Matte bright pinkish coral. More pink than coral. Color is pretty sheer but bright enough to offset sheerness.
• Oh Baby! Pink – Matte baby pink. Very sheer color, good for very fair skin and barely-there cheek looks.
• Mauvelous – Matte, orange-toned mauve. Color is fairly sheer but dark so shows up easily.
• Wine Not – Nearly matte reddish berry. Color is fairly sheer but dark so shows up easily.
• Bronzilla – Matte light bronzer. Color is fairly sheer but dark enough to show up easily.

Packaging: The casing is a black shiny plastic compact with a small mirror on the inside and a small flat brush. The brush bristles are soft and dense enough to actually apply and blend – nothing special but very usable in a pinch.

Performance

Overall, I like this range of blushes. They had a nice soft smooth texture and good color payoff. They weren’t too powdery or dusty and applied and blended out easily. Some of the colors are pretty similar to each other once you blend them out but otherwise the color selection is nice with options for those that like brights or naturals.

Usually I find drugstore blushes to be kind of “eh”. These aren’t really comparable to high-end but they are pretty good. The things that I look for in a blush are that it be pigmented enough to show up (I don’t mind having to apply a few layers to build up the color), I like to be able to use a brush without kicking up tons of powder in the pan, and I like the blush to sit reasonably nicely on the skin so it doesn’t look like I have a powdery pink mess sitting on my cheek. These blushes satisfy all those requirements and aren’t too expensive. Plus I like the color range – it’s not too limited but there is enough variation to create different looks.

In general, I found that the satiny shades (Naughty Nude, Haute Pink, Melon Drama, and Racy Rose) had noticely better color payoff and a nicer texture that was easier to work with. The satin finish wasn’t too strong so it didn’t make my cheeks look frosty or sparkly at all, just a little glowy when the light hit just right.

The one that was least pigmented was Oh Baby! Pink but I actually kind of liked it. I could see myself reaching for this on one of those days when I want to look really soft and natural. I’d compare it to e.l.f. Tickled Pink except I think this one is a little better than the e.l.f. one.

My favorite shades in this line are Naughty Nude, Melon Drama, Haute Pink, and Racy Rose. My least favorite was Classy Coral because it actually looks way pinker on the cheek than it looks in the pan.

Below are swatch comparisons of all the shades. You can click on the images to go to individual shade reviews.

Bronzilla is part of the blush collection Revlon released late 2013. It is a sheer, mostly-matte medium brown with a subtle skin-like sheen when buffed with a brush. Revlon Powder Blushes cost around $10 and contain 5g / 0.17 oz. of product. The blushes were easier to find than this bronzer was but I have seen it carried at Bed Bath and Beyond.

The Good:

1. It has pretty good color payoff. It’s not crazy pigmented but it certainly has enough pigmentation to easily apply the color to fair skin tones. I can apply one layer and get a sheer wash of color. Applying 2 or 3 layers will intensify the color. Here’s what one swipe across the powder looks like:



2. The texture is pretty nice. It is soft, smooth, not too powdery. Sweeping a brush over the product doesn’t kick up very much powder – just a tiny bit and nothing too bothersome. It blends out easily and sits nicely on the skin without making cheeks look powdery or sticking to peach fuzz.
3. The texture doesn’t make the skin look dry or powdery, or emphasize large pores. It appears matte at first but it takes on a subtle skin-like sheen when you buff over it with a brush.
4. I wore it for 8 hours and experienced no fading.

The Not So Good:

1. It is sheer and depending on your preference and skin tone this could be either good or bad. I think this shade would work best for those with fair and light complexions with warm undertones. It may work okay for light-medium and medium skin tones but would likely need to be built up. The color is definitely looks warm against my natural skin tone and if I build it up, it looks sort of orange on me. In the picture below, I was able to make this work by using a yellow-based foundation, a warm lipstick color, and making sure not to over apply it.
2. This shade is packed a little more tightly in the pan.
3. For some reason this shade seemed to develop a “film” over the surface when I was swatching it.
4. I feel like it is pricey for what it is – though I am seeing A LOT of drugstore makeup going up in price.

Worth Buying?

If you like very subtle bronzers and you find that most of them are too intense, then this one would be a good fit for you. If you have a medium to dark skin or prefer bronzers with more pigmentation then this isn’t likely to work for you. I wouldn’t say it’s a fantastic bronzer for cooler skin tones but it can be made to work because the color is light and sheer.

Wine Not is part of the blush collection Revlon released late 2013. It is a sheer, mostly-matte reddish berry with a subtle skin-like sheen when buffed with a brush. Revlon Powder Blushes cost around $10 and contain 5g / 0.17 oz. of product. They are available more widely now at drugstores, Ulta, and Target.

The Good:

1. It has fairly decent color payoff (on cheeks – not so much in swatches). It’s not crazy pigmented but it certainly has enough pigmentation to easily apply the color to fair skin tones. I can apply one layer and get a sheer wash of color. Applying 2 or 3 layers will intensify the color. This is one that I did scrape into to swatch. It’s not necessary to do that if you just apply it with a brush but to get a good strong swatch I had to loosen up the color to swatch it on my arm. Here’s what one swipe across the powder looks like:



2. The texture is pretty nice. It is soft, smooth, not too powdery. Sweeping the brush over the product doesn’t kick up very much powder – just a tiny bit and nothing too bothersome. It blends out easily and sits nicely on the skin without making cheeks look powdery or sticking to peach fuzz.
3. The texture doesn’t make the skin look dry or powdery, or emphasize large pores. It appears matte at first but it has some very fine reflective particles and takes on a subtle skin-like sheen when you buff over it with a brush.
4. I wore it for 8 hours and experienced no fading.

The Not So Good:

1. It is sheer and depending on your preference and skin tone this could be either good or bad. This shade would show up most easily on fair skin tones. Medium skin tones would probably need an extra layer or two to build up the color. Medium-dark to dark skin tones will likely have more trouble getting this shade to show up.
2. This shade is packed a little more tightly in the pan than Naughty Nude, Melon Drama, and Racy Rose (the four shimmer/sheen shades).
3. I feel like it is pricey for what it is – though I am seeing A LOT of drugstore makeup going up in price.

Worth Buying?

If you like subtle berry-toned blushes, yes. The only difficulty is in swatching the shade since it is packed a bit more tightly in the pan than the other shades but this doesn’t really affect it’s usability. If you like the color I’d say go for it, it’s not super expensive and it’s easy to work with. However, if you prefer your blushes to have a very high level of pigmentation, you might want to skip this one.

Mauvelous is part of the blush collection Revlon released late 2013. It is a sheer, mostly-matte mauve with a subtle skin-like sheen when buffed with a brush. Revlon Powder Blushes cost around $10 and contain 5g / 0.17 oz. of product. They are available more widely now at drugstores, Ulta, and Target.

The Good:

1. It has fairly decent color payoff (on cheeks – not so much in swatches). It’s not crazy pigmented but it certainly has enough pigmentation to easily apply the color to fair skin tones. I can apply one layer and get a sheer wash of color. Applying 2 or 3 layers will intensify the color and sheen. I’ve heard others say they have had a hard time getting this product to swatch, having to scrape into the blush to get it to show up. Mine swatches lightly so I had to go over it a few times but I didn’t feel it was necessary to scrape into it. Here’s what one swipe across the powder looks like:



2. The texture is pretty nice. It is soft, smooth, not too powdery. Sweeping the brush over the product doesn’t kick up very much powder – just a tiny bit and nothing too bothersome. It blends out easily and sits nicely on the skin without making cheeks look powdery or sticking to peach fuzz.
3. The texture doesn’t make the skin look dry or powdery, or emphasize large pores. It appears matte at first but it has some very fine reflective particles and takes on a subtle skin-like sheen when you buff over it with a brush.
4. I wore it for 8 hours and experienced no fading.

The Not So Good:

1. It is sheer and depending on your preference and skin tone this could be either good or bad. This shade would show up most easily on fair skin tones. Medium skin tones would probably need an extra layer or two to build up the color. Medium-dark to dark skin tones will likely have more trouble getting this shade to show up.
2. This shade is packed a little more tightly in the pan than Naughty Nude, Melon Drama, and Racy Rose (the four shimmer/sheen shades).
3. I feel like it is pricey for what it is – though I am seeing A LOT of drugstore makeup going up in price.

Worth Buying?

If you like subtle mauvey-colored blushes, yes. The only difficulty is in swatching the shade since it is packed a bit more tightly in the pan than the other shades but this doesn’t really affect it’s usability. If you like the color I’d say go for it, it’s not super expensive and it’s easy to work with. However, if you prefer your blushes to have a very high level of pigmentation, you might want to skip this one.