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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.