Today’s post is a slight twist on my series. Generally how it goes is that at one point I purchased a blush and loved it so much that I needed to get the same one in another shade! The first part can be found HERE as well as the second one HERE.
However, I’m not so sure buying the additional shades was a good idea for each of these new cases.

Fenty Beauty by Rihanna

Fenty Cheeks Out Freestyle Cream Blush in Big Melons and RiRi

My first time reviewing Fenty’s cream blushes was actually in Part 1 of this series.
These don’t have any extra special traits like an atypical cream texture, being transfer-proof, or being super blendable. However, I appreciate its dependable formula that’s pigmented yet buildable, and even easier to blend after it has been warmed up. It lasts all day. It doesn’t disturb my makeup underneath it. It’s not patchy. It mixes well with other cream blushes. My first two haven’t changed in texture, smell, or performance in over three years since I’ve had them even though they’re only marked to be good for 12 months after opening. Admittedly, my tendency to scrape out product instead of dipping directly into it might have played a part in minimizing exposure to things.
The other reason I loved these blushes is the shade variety, having my favorite tone of red-brown in blushes and also having a coral option, my other top favorite blush color.

My absolute favorite cream blush formulas (not counting putty or bouncy) are from LYS and One/Size. This is because I prefer having products that look creamy and skin-like but set down or have minimal transfer. The fact that these remain creamy feeling (though not sticky) on the cheeks and will leave color on my finger if I touch my cheek, is one of the drawbacks that keep me from using them on a more regular basis. Yet, for some reason, when Fenty released five new shades, I couldn’t resist getting a mauve and coral-orange to see if they would be new favorite colors as well.

In trying out the new shades, I discovered that as pretty as Big Melons looks, I still prefer Strawberry Drip a little more. I don’t always like pink corals, but I’ve realized that I tend to prefer them over orange corals. I’m still content enough to keep it. As for RiRi, I discovered that what foundation I’m wearing plays a huge role in whether or not I’ll like the color on my skin. When I wear it on top of a yellow toned foundation, such as Estee Lauder’s Hydra Futurist Foundation in 5W2, more of the purple tone stands out within this mauve color. It has an almost bruise-like look on my cheeks. When I wear it on top of a more golden/orange foundation, as is the case with the Nars Light Reflecting Foundation in 3.3 Caracas, RiRi looks like a deep pink, which I find to be a lot more flattering. Nars lists that foundation color as neutral, but their version of neutral for the medium-deep shades is more like a balance between yellow and red, hence orange.

My apologies for the first set of photos being a bit too warm/dark. One of my usual lights wasn’t on and I didn’t realize it made such a difference. When I retook the photos the next day, I didn’t realize those new ones had a slight green tinge (they look good on my cell phone screen but not on my laptop screen). So, I decided not to use those. Instead, this second batch of photos is my attempt to digitally correct the original ones.

I also noticed that when I mix RiRi and Big Melons together, it becomes a pretty pink shade. So, while I don’t think RiRi or Big Melons look as pretty on their own as Rose Latte or Strawberry Drip on their own, I’m very satisfied with the color the two turn into when combined.

I should also mention that I didn’t forget about the Fenty Double Cheek’d Up: Freestyle Cream Blush Duo, but I haven’t used it again after reviewing it. Those shades being less pigmented and more emollient made the formula just tricky enough to deter me from using it again. If I still don’t use it in the next three months, I’m going to be tempted to depot at least Peony Droppa and put Big Melons in there. That way, I’d have a reason to keep that gorgeous compact.

Glossier

Glossier Cloud Paint in Soar

In my previous review of the Cloud Paints, I included swatches and cheek photos of Dusk, Dawn, Beam, Spark, and Storm. When Soar was released, I thought about how my old Cloud Paints are getting past their time and that I should consider which ones I wanted to repurchase. I decided to get Dusk and Storm as bundle deals from Glossier’s website, along with Soar. Dusk was intended to be my replacement mixing shade, since I always felt it would have been better to mix with than Beam. As for choosing between Storm and Spark, it was a difficult decision, but it came down to me liking the deep rose color more than a straightforward red.

Soar turned out to be brighter than I expected, but just like Storm (previously the newest color before Soar and Wisp), it’s sheerer than the original launch shades. Even though it’s sheerer, I still sometimes mix Dusk into Soar to tone down the vividness, but using fully synthetic bristle brushes instead of my fusion ones or my fingers help me to not go overboard.

Soar applied as lightly as possible while still showing the color (left) and Soar applied heavier, but mixed with Dusk (right).

I used to go back and forth trying to decide which ones I liked more between the Glossier formula or Rare Beauty. I think my answer is solidly Rare Beauty because it’s more opaque in color while still being blendable. It’s far less common nowadays for me to do No-makeup makeup looks, which these are perfect for, so I don’t get much use out of the Cloud Paints compared to the Soft Pinch Liquid Blushes. Since I now know which one is my top liquid blush, I probably shouldn’t have purchased anymore Cloud Paints. However, they’re so pretty that I can’t really regret it.

Rare Beauty

Rare Beauty Soft Pinch Liquid Blush in Virtue and Worth

I’ve been craving more natural blush tones from Rare Beauty, so I thought for certain the two new shades would be an absolute hit with me. I was in another position where Joy and Love needed to be replaced and I had to decide if it was better to repurchase my old favorites or take a chance on the new ones. I didn’t want four full-size products considering I used Joy and Love quite a lot and still couldn’t even finish them up despite being minis. I’m sure they’re nearly empty, but recently they finally showed signs of being too old. So, I don’t want to put them on my face anymore.

Virtue was a risk whether the peachy-nude would show up on my skin tone. It does, but it’s definitely subtle. It’s still a little too beige in color to really suit me, so I don’t think I’ll be reaching for this very often except to mix with other brands’ liquid blushes.
Worth was the shade I was banking on liking the most. I typically mixed Joy and Love together, and I thought Worth would look like a combination of the two, but it’s not. Worth is more neutral as opposed to the warm pink I get when mixing the others. I still think it’s a pretty shade, but it’s not as complimentary on my skin tone by comparison.
I’ve mixed Virtue and Worth together before, but I prefer using Worth by itself instead.

Both of these new shades appear to be less pigmented. I use way more product with the new shades, and it’s not because they’re lighter colors. It shows up with the usual amount, but I add more because I have to build up the opacity.

I really should have stuck to my favorites and purchased a full size of Joy and Love instead of the new ones. In addition, months later I grew curious about Juvia’s Place blushes and purchased shades similar enough in my collection to replace them. The formulas aren’t the same, but the colors are pretty enough to satisfy me. The Rare Beauty ones are very pigmented, but much easier to use than the even more super pigmented Juvia’s Place liquid blushes. But, since I have those, I really shouldn’t replace Joy and Love at this point. Plus, I’ve been experimenting with combining Virtue and Worth with JP’s blushes and it has yielded some pretty results. So, I’m making these work, but in reality the best option would have been to not purchase any JP ones at all, nor the new Rare Beauty ones, and just repurchase my favorite two.

BareMinerals

BareMinerals Gen Nude Blonzer in Kiss of Spice and Kiss of Copper

Kiss of Rose is one of my holy grail blushes, so it was only natural I grew impatient wanting for a shade extension and eventually bought Kiss of Copper. Ironically, it was shortly after that when Kiss of Spice and Kiss of Mauve were announced. I didn’t think either of the new ones would work for me until I saw customer photos of Kiss of Spice looking way darker than the website photos. And strangely enough, after a few uses, mine darkened in the compact!

Mine is way darker than the website photos! I’ve seen pictures online where some people’s Kiss of Spice blonzers are near enough to the brand’s depiction, while others have compacts nearly as dark as mine. So, it seems like which Kiss of Spice one gets isn’t consistent. I didn’t have that problem with the other two shades I own. This color issue isn’t due to my skin tone because it still looks darker than the brand pictures on my palm in direct light, and it’s even darker when turned away from the light.

In any case, I was actually happy it was deep enough to work as a bronzer on me. I anticipated prior to receiving it that I might have to use it as a highlighter instead, but it’s too dark for that. As a blush, it also looks too dark and unflattering. So, I just use it as a bronzer, but unfortunately it tends to look patchy when used that way.

The more I thought about it, the more I wondered if the “patchiness” is merely another issue of the light hitting it and causing some parts to reflect lighter than other spots, hence making it look uneven in color and appear to be missing color in spots where the lighter gold is blending too well with my skin tone. Considering a person is typically in various types of lights throughout the day, it’s not good to have a product that looks unpredictably terrible in some situations, while not in others. I’ve been able to “cover up” the patchiest parts when paired with the other blushes. Perhaps it’s because they reflect differently. I’m not sure. All I know is that I’ve found a use for Kiss of Spice that I like, but I should have skipped that one. As for Kiss of Copper, it’s pretty, but I will reach for Kiss of Rose much more often since it was my favorite of the three original shades anyway. So, once I found my holy grail blush shade and formula, it didn’t make sense to try and find another given the size of my collection.

L’Oreal

L’Oreal 24H Fresh Wear Soft Matte Blush in Daring Rosewood and Fearless Coral

When I saw that L’Oreal released four Infallible blushes, I knew I instantly wanted these two shades. Fearless Coral sold out, but I did get my hands on Daring Rosewood first. I put it on and was so excited because the color looked exactly how I wanted. I looked at it initially and didn’t view myself again. When Fearless Coral became available, I put Daring Rosewood on again to make sure I liked the finish and the blend, so I felt confident ordering it. It wasn’t until I was removing my makeup at the end of the night that I wasn’t as happy with how my blush looked. It was so much darker and less pink. I thought perhaps it just reacted with something else new I was wearing, but it’s every time. Unfortunately, these blushes do darken up on my skin within ten minutes. In the case of Daring Rosewood, it goes from muted neutral pinky brown to mainly brown. With Fearless Coral, it deepens and looks more fuchsia in color. It made me think of those PH adjusting products, but the ingredients list Red Lake 28 instead of Red Lake 27. I can’t remember the other blush I owned that also was Red Lake 28 that I mistook for the PH adjusting type too. I’m not a fan of this level of brightness, but if I apply it lightly, it can look pretty.

Because Daring Rosewood is a tame color on me, I don’t have to worry about how much I apply or the fact that there’s a lot of kickup. As for Fearless Coral, even with one dip into the pan, my instinct is to panic because it looks so intense on my cheeks. I always have to remind myself to trust the process and just keep blending because it does blend out.

Longevity isn’t an issue with these. I like that they’re not the kind of mattes that make my skin look dry. My issue with them is still what happens very quickly after they sit on my skin and I only have myself to blame for not paying attention after the initial application. On the bright side, applying Daring Rosewood to my cheeks and then Fearless Coral on the apples gives me a pink that certainly shows up, but isn’t as intense overall by it being in a smaller area with a more neutral color around it. Sometimes I’m perfectly content to grab two blushes at a time to mix, but I will end up using it less often overall.

Bobbi Brown

Bobbi Brown Sculpted Glow Face Palette in Deep and Bobbi Brown Brightening Blush in Blushed Burgundy and Blushed Coral

I previewed Blushed Burgundy here, and really liked it, but I have to admit that the Sculpted Face Glow palette in Deep has a highlighter and blush in similar tones and depth to Blushed Burgundy. Plus, the highlighter is a repeat in my collection.

I don’t completely regret getting the face palette because that bronzer is so pretty on the skin, but Blushed Burgundy makes it feel nearly pointless to have. Between the two red shades, I like the slightly brighter tone on the skin that Blushed Burgundy has over the palette’s Spiced Terracotta. Plus the gold from the blush compact is shimmery without as much of the glitter specks that are in Copper Glow. Hopefully Bobbi Brown will release baked bronzers as singles so no one else has to buy a trio just to get it.

So, I’m happy with Blushed Burgundy, which I purchased first, but I’m less happy with the face trio. At least the packaging is pretty! Plus, Spiced Terracotta is still a color I don’t mind wearing, especially if I apply something brighter on the apples of the cheek with it.

I had forgotten how intense this builds, so it was my mistake overapplying the bronzer in the left photo, as well as the Blushed Burgundy demonstrations.

As for Blushed Coral, I bought it on sale and rightly assumed it would show up on me. Unfortunately, I couldn’t capture the true color on camera while worn on my face (just the swatch) because no matter what I tried, I could not get a clear picture without direct light, but the shimmer contained in Blushed Coral reflects strongly and does the disappearing act that happens in blushes like Nars Orgasm and plenty of other pinks with gold shimmer. The two above are the best I could get. Also, the shimmer strips in the compact are too light for me to use for highlighter purposes, but I knew that ahead of time. I only wanted to be able to use the coral color, which looks quite vivid and intense in person. I actually have to be careful not to go overboard.

So, the lesson here that I am continually trying to remember, is that if I already have a blush color I love, seeing more colors that I like, will never be able to compete. This concept, of a blush being so good I needed another, works in situations where the original was exciting and pretty, but had me wishing there were colors in the line that were even more tailored to my tastes.

That’s all for today. Have a great week!

-Lili ❤