When Rare Beauty first launched, I couldn’t decide between Joy and Love blush shades and I didn’t want to have so many cream and liquid products all being opened at once. So, I held off buying them and I’m glad I did because this 4 piece set is perfect for me! At these sizes, I don’t feel as guilty about how often I’d get the chance to use them. Plus they’re in the shades I wanted, so I didn’t have to choose one over the other!

When the holiday sets launched, I noticed a discrepancy in the descriptions on Sephora’s website.

In the “What Else You Need to Know” section, one blush is listed as Bliss, but in the “This Set Contains” portion, the blush is listed as Love. Those are two very different shades and was the determining factor for whether I was going to make my purchase or not. When I checked the official Rare Beauty website, that particular set only had Bliss and Joy listed, yet it was clear to see in the product photos that neither blush was light enough to be the Bliss shade. I figured since Rare Beauty was most likely to have the answer, I contacted their customer service phone number and the person I spoke with was very surprised by this. She thanked me profusely for letting them know, took my information, and said she would get back to me with the correct shades as soon as possible. True to her word, I did get an email a few hours later letting me know the blush shades were indeed Joy and Love. She gave me a free shipping code as a thank you, but I purchased the set via Sephora since I already get free shipping and had a Friends and Family sale code to use.

During that sale, I also purchased the Liquid Touch Concealer Brush, which I will talk about now before we move to the set.

The bristles are soft and densely packed. The unique shape and design of the brush allow me to really get into the contours of my face. Although synthetic bristles aren’t supposed to absorb product, I still find myself using more concealer than usual, but the trade-off is worth it considering how quickly I finish applying and blending. When the brush is freshly washed, it glides effortlessly under my eyes and in the corners between my eyes and nose.

After a few uses when there is a little more product buildup on the brush, it doesn’t glide as smoothly, so I switch to a tapping motion to apply my concealer, which works just as well! I thought that because the head size is very large for a concealer brush that it would be too big to apply product precisely, but the head and ferrule shape causes it to squish into the contours of my face. The large surface area also ensures the application process goes quickly. At the $12 discounted sale price, I am quite happy with this purchase! I’ve only washed the brush twice so far, so I don’t have any news to report on the longevity of the brush. Perhaps in a year I will update this post if there is anything to report about how it has held up so far, considering this is now my new favorite concealer brush and I foresee myself using it at least 4 times a week.

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Joy is one of the four dewy blushes currently in the line. In the swatch photo, I had Joy on my arm for about five minutes and it remained wet looking. Essentially, the more product that’s packed on, the dewier it will look. Realistically, you wouldn’t apply that much product in one spot onto the cheeks. So, it ends up more matte than one would expect.

Something about this shade appeals to me so much! Despite being such a bright coral shade, I was surprised to see how wearable it is when used sparingly. These liquid blushes are extremely pigmented. A single drop could be the difference between looking flushed and looking clownish.

Both blushes are long-wearing (I stopped testing after 8 hours). Neither moved my foundation underneath. I could still blend them out after leaving them untouched on my cheek for a minute, though I would recommend working one cheek at a time. They do set to the point of being dry to the touch and no product transferred onto my finger or when I pressed a napkin to my face. Using my finger is my preferred application method, but using a brush or sponge works just as well to create a non-streaky perfectly blended look. A brush will give the most color payoff though, not that it’s necessary considering the amount of pigment these already have.

The shade Love is also very beautiful and is one of the four blushes in the matte formula. You can tell Love and Joy are completely different shades in swatches, but once blended on the cheeks, Joy just looks like a lighter and slightly brighter version of Love. This is the case in both photos and in person and it might have to do with being warm-toned shades on my warm tone complexion.

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I thought it would be fun to see how Joy and Love look together. In an effort to apply the same amount of product, I used 4 dots instead of my usual 3, which was blush overkill. So, I used what was left of my foundation on my Blendiful and patted that on top of the blushes to tone it down a little. I really liked the end result! It created a nice in-between shade that looked fully matte.

Support is surprisingly pigmented for a “balm.” It’s almost enough to fully cover the dark pigmented patches on my lower lip! It’s more like a sheer lipstick, as the first thought that came to my mind was how similar it felt to Urban Decay’s Vice sheer lipsticks. It’s comfortable on the lips, and although super creamy, it’s not emollient enough to give me that true balm feeling. Regardless of what it is by definition, I love it and will continue to use it! It’s so natural looking on me, which is definitely my preference with lip colors! There is only about half an inch of product in this mini, so when I run out, I might actually buy the full size. It has been a long time since I’ve been excited by a lip product, but this one managed to impress me!

Edit: I forgot to mention this has a scent, but I can’t pinpoint what it smells like. It’s not the same as the lip cream. It’s a mix of sweet and floral. I don’t smell it once the product is on my lips but I don’t know if the fragrance is stronger in the full size.

The lip cream is indeed creamy and comfortable to wear. Although Transform is supposed to be a matte shade, it stays dewy looking if too much product is applied. And if you want it to be more opaque, multiple layers are required. After removing the excess product, it still doesn’t dry down to the point of being transfer-proof. It will remain creamy and transferable on the lips. The flat paddle applicator was also too difficult for me to get to the inner corners of my mouth precisely, so I had to switch to a lip pencil brush. If you like lip creams, you will probably like this product. However, I’m extremely picky about red lippies and although it’s a pretty color, I don’t like it on myself. So, I will not get use out of this product. Even if this was a more natural shade, the balm texture is more of my preference than the lip cream. This has a scent that reminds me of cocoa butter.

Overall, I’m very happy with this purchase! It’s exciting to find a set where all 4 shades are wearable on me and to love 3 of the 4 products. This brand has exceeded my expectations, and I’m looking forward to seeing what else they have in store for us!

Thank you for reading!

– Lili ❤