The brand initially launched three of these palettes in similar packaging with a silver cover, but I love the way this fourth one looks. It has those same aesthetically pleasing rounded corners, like the Huda Beauty Blush Filter Liquid Blushes, and the overall color is pretty too. The packaging is heavier than I expected, but still light enough to be travel-friendly. The mirror is very high quality as well, and magnified.
Huda Beauty Blush Filter Blurring Blushlighters Palette in Strawberry Latte
I love pinky-brown and reddish-brown blushes that look like natural colors for my skintone. This is why the Strawberry Latte shades appealed to me. This palette is described as, “A delicious blend of creamy mauve, warm rose, and rich espresso tones.” When swatched, I can tell the shades apart, but they all look like varying shades of rose on me. It’s not what I was expecting, especially for Latte to appear brick red instead of brown, but I at least still enjoy rosy blushes.
On my cheeks, I can still see the difference in blush tones, but they look really similar in photos. I did my best to capture them as differently as possible, but it was tricky. Rose Chai looks like a darker color on my skin than in the pan. I had to use enough for it to be seen in pictures, but if I applied too much then it looked like Pink Espresso. Too little of Latte didn’t show enough brown, but too much looked like Pink Espresso as well.
ROUND ONE
I’m wearing the blushes as eyeshadow in all four photos, but in the last one, I added bronzer and a dark eyeshadow (VBB Victoria Quad) to the outer corner in order to complete the look.
I’m not the only one who experienced the matte shades looking similar, as I discovered in the comment section of my swatch post on Instagram. I wish Rose Chai was less muted so it could be a brighter pop of pink. If the brand dialed back a little bit of that red in Latte, I believe the colors would be more satisfactory in standing out from each other.
I own the shade Latte in the liquid blush formula. The review for that can be found HERE. The powder version has deeper and stronger red tones.
ROUND TWO
These are quite pigmented blushes. I avoid using dense brushes in order to build up the pigment slowly, but the shape of the airy brush matters. The blushes don’t move/spread across the cheeks as easily while being blended. So, a brush that has an angle or 3D shape with varying denseness (typically dense at the base of the shorter section and wispier towards the longer tips) can have sheer spots and heavier spots instead of the intended gradient look. By trying to fill the sheerer gaps with more product, I sometimes overapply and have tone it back down by adding foundation to the top. Rounded cheek brushes that are tighter packed in the center, but splay wider and looser around the edges can lead to the same uneven result, even though that type of brush is intended to give a diffused look. So far, the brushes I discovered that gave nice results with the matte blushes was a flat-top like the Sonia G Smooth Buffer and through sweeping with the Sonia G ALP3.
The Blushlighter shade isn’t as smooth or refined as what I got from the brand’s Glow Obsession Highlighter Palette. I’m a bit disappointed that I had to look beyond my highlighter brush favorites to find a different one for this product (also the ALP 3 by sweeping along one of the angled sides). The Strawberry Fizz color is pretty, but the shimmer particles are about medium sized and my texture is emphasized a bit. I just prefer much smoother highlighters and blush toppers.
I’m glad I found brushes that work well with these products, but I still feel I shouldn’t have had as much trouble with the “wrong” brushes as I did. Although I still think the blush formula is fairly good, there are plenty of blushes on the market that are easier to blend with the same amount of pigment and at more affordable prices. These actually remind me of the Cheek Palettes Colourpop used to make, which is ironic because there was a point in time that it seemed Colourpop was copying what Huda Beauty was doing (the 9 pan monochromatic eyeshadow palettes for instance). Any time I’ve seen a Colourpop comparison to Huda Beauty products, I’ve always felt Huda’s was better and worth the increase in price. Regarding the Blush Filter Palette, it’s fairly priced for getting four products in one, but I’m sorry to say I don’t think the quality matches. I would have expected it to be $35 at most.
Considering how these adhere (including the blushlighter) while being applied, I’d have been shocked if this formula wasn’t long-lasting. The products stay put all day and don’t fade. My thoughts overall is that I like the shades and I have the tools to ensure that the application and blending processes goes fairly well. I like the packaging, and the quality of the powders inside are at least good, but not impressive.
In my excitement over the shade options, I completely forgot that I did not want to buy face palettes any longer because I don’t use them enough. I don’t think this palette will be an exception to that either.
That’s all for today! Thanks for reading!
-Lili ❤
Note: This is a scheduled post. It is unlikely for me to be able to respond to messages in the first two weeks of June while a family matter is going on.
Today’s post features the two makeup launches I’ve been the most excited about thus far in 2026! Although I needed to Downsize My MAC Blush Collection, I have owned at least fifty different shades of their powder blushes within the past decade. My first MAC post, which covered nineteen of their blushes, currently has the highest amount of views on my blog. It’s thanks to that post, and the Follow-Up with an additional twelve shades, that I’ve been able to connect with many other people who love MAC’s blushes as much as I do! So, they have a special place in my heart.
I have to shout out NikkifromHR and TheMakeupPen as some of the bloggers I chat with about MAC!
When MAC started discontinuing shades from their “permanent” standard blush range in 2021, I knew it was only a matter of time before they revamped the line, but I had no clue it would take almost five years for that to happen! I also didn’t expect it would be three years before MAC relaunched the Sunstruck Bronzers.
MAC reused the model photos and swatch photos of the older Sunstruck Bronzers in the listings for the newer ones, in addition to them bearing the same shade names in the matte and radiant finishes. So, I don’t think there have been intentional changes to the bronzer colors.
Whether intentional or not, my version of Matte Rich Golden is slightly different. So, I will delve deeper into that in the bronzer review section.
The photos and videos I’ve seen, such as this one from lokalekatastrophe, have led me to believe some of the blush shades have been tweaked. Everyone’s version of Desert Rose looks lighter, for example on this reddit page. When I build up Raizin The Roof, I believe it can look pretty much like the original Raizin. However, Film Noir Buff is a muted brown-purple, unlike the original Film Noir that I believe had a reddish-purple tone, like in the YouTube short by CocoaSwatches. I will do my best to share shade comparisons in the blush review section, but I don’t have access to my full collection anymore.
Skinfinish Colourstruck Blushes in Pony (radiant), Pink Flamingo (radiant), Thanks, It’s MAC (radiant), No Filter (radiant), Velvet Teddy (matte), Cheeky Chili (matte), Raizin the Roof (matte), and Film Noir Buff (matte)
MAC launched with 29 blushes in the Skinfinish Colourstruck line. I did not wish to repurchase shades I already own, so that narrowed down the list of blushes I wanted to buy. I created a table for anyone curious about which shades are completely new to MAC or might only exist in a different form, such as their lipsticks. My research was done to the best of my ability, but MAC has been around since before I was born, so I could have missed something.
Within the standard powder range, there used to be five categories: matte, sheertone, sheertone shimmer, satin, and frost. Now, there are just matte and radiant blushes.
It is said that the new matte version is intended to have a soft matte finish rather than flat. I’ve noticed that the Colourstruck mattes are smooth, but only softer than some of the older shades. The new blushes are a little less pigmented, apply the tiniest bit smoother (depending on which older shade it’s compared to), and leave some kickback, which may or might not be a significant amount depending on what kind of brush is used. Some of my older MAC blushes were hard-pressed and felt rough to the touch. Even without hard-pan, they became more difficult to pick up over time. However, some of my MAC blushes still feel silky and powdery to this day. I would be willing to buy replacements of my older blushes with a rough texture (such as Modern Mandarin and Frankly Scarlet), but none of my hard pressed ones got reformulated.
The radiant blushes are still nowhere near as glowy as the Extra Dimension Blushes. I would say the amount of shimmer is somewhere between the satin and sheertone shimmer level. When I’ve compared the swatches of the radiant blushes to the glowy blushes from other brands, MAC’s doesn’t look as shimmery. It’s only really when bright light is directly shining on my face that the sheen becomes obvious to see. I’ve complained about Gucci’s Glow Blush line not being glowy enough (review coming in perhaps 3 weeks), but I can say MAC’s Radiant Blushes are at least glowier than Gucci’s. Essentially, I view the Radiant line as satins, but it’s possible that the lighter shades could have more pearl in it, if MAC follows the trend in the past of having their frosty/highlighter-like blushes as mostly lighter colors. I would have to see those in person to know for sure.
Pony
I chose to show, in the photo above, how a single swipe of this blush looks prior to being smoothed out (like I did for the Colourstruck group swatch photo). For some reason, Pony picks up in chunks and has to be worked into my cheeks a bit to eventually appear as even looking as the rest of the blushes. By now, the top layer is completely flat, despite it being one of my least used blushes. The debossed “MAC” pattern still hasn’t worn away from any of the others! I don’t know why this blush is so crumbly, but thankfully it only takes a little bit longer than the rest to blend in properly.
Over the past two years, I’ve been favoring nude/natural blush tones, but I suddenly found Pony very appealing. I can’t recall ever owning a blush this vibrantly pink before, though it does remind me a bit of MAC’s Sweets for My Sweet blush in the Extra Dimension finish.
Pink Flamingo
I still love corals, especially pink-coral over coral-orange, so this was another shade I couldn’t resist. Aside from the blushes I swatched above, Pink Flamingo also reminds me of Nars’ Orgasm X and MAC’s Cheeky Bits Extra Dimension Blush.
This shade and Pony look completely different in swatches, but they’re ultimately both pink blushes. They look similar on me, with the main difference being that Pink Flamingo is a bit lighter and warmer. That being said, I’m still unable to choose between them, so I’m happy I bought both of them.
Thanks, It’s MAC
I had the hardest time deciding between Thanks, It’s MAC and No Filter. Essentially, this shade is a little more of a yellow-orange brown (as opposed to pink-brown) and it appears lighter than No Filter on my cheeks. I swatched it next to a lot of my warm brown blushes and was surprised how few dupes I could find, but Maiden’s Blush is quite close. Thanks, It’s MAC reminds me of the Hushed Tone Extra Dimension Blush (that I stopped using in favor of Faux Sure). This is pigmented enough that I can easily see it in person, but it blends in a lot with my skin in photos.
I like this color, but I prefer Benefit’s Starlaa and Suqqu’s Kafuu (discontinued). It’s tied with YSL’s Nocturnal Nude (also discontinued). So, perhaps I could have skipped buying this one in hindsight, but I always feel compelled to buy a dark nude blush when I see one because of how uncommon it is to find one suitable for medium-dark skin.
No Filter
I can see some shimmer particles in the pan, but this blush can pass for matte if I only apply a sheer layer.
Because it’s a little deeper, pink-brown, and easier to see on my cheeks than Thanks, It’s MAC, I prefer this color. I like to think of it as a toned down version of Faux Sure, which is my most used MAC Blush, and just one of the most used blushes in my entire makeup collection! There was no way I was going to pass on getting this shade!
Velvet Teddy
This blush looks so faint in the photos of MAC’s models, so I assumed it wouldn’t show up on me. However, it does, and this is literally my favorite color out of all 29! The brand describes this as a deep beige. It looks more like a light pink on my cheeks and creates a youthful flush. It was extremely difficult to try and get color accurate photos where the blush can actually be seen. It’s very much visible in person.
In some photos I’ve seen, it looks warm. Some photos it looks cool-toned. On my skintone, it can look warm or neutral. As with most of MAC’s blushes, the undertone of one’s foundation can affect how strongly those tones will actually look. That’s how I’m able to wear some of MAC’s cooler toned blushes without it clashing. These blushes are great for combining into each other to customize the depth and tone. Now that MAC’s blushes are less pigmented than before, they’re even better suited for layering together.
Cheeky Chili
MAC describes this color as, “warm brick red,” which is basically orange mixed with brick red. I expected it to be redder and resemble Burnt Pepper, which remains discontinued, but thankfully there’s also enough brown to keep the color from venturing too far into vibrant territory. Cheeky Chili still pops on my skintone, but isn’t the kind of bold orange that I dislike.
Raizin The Roof
This blush is a great reminder of how tastes change over time. I rarely ever used the original Raizin because I thought it was too deep and bruise-looking on my skintone. I could never figure out why I didn’t like it considering it’s a reddish-brown blush and I typically like those kinds of colors. However, I started using and liking it again just before the Colourstruck Blushes launched. Perhaps if I had the Sonia G Soft Cheek Brush or Rephr Kōyō back then, my mind could have been changed sooner.
Raizin the Roof is described as a golden reddish brown, and it being slightly less red than Raizin is why it initially looks lighter when compared. However, if I build up extra layers, they look nearly identical on me.
I know some people are disappointed that Raizin The Roof isn’t as richly pigmented as Raizin. Raizin used to be one of the most recommended blushes for people with a deep skintone, so I’m sure it’s hard to see changes made to such an iconic color. Selfishly though, I can’t help but be happy because Raizin The Roof is easier for me to use. I really like this shade. It’s also a nice “blonzer” shade to add a toasty sunkissed look across the forehead or bridge of the nose instead of bronzer.
The difference between Cheeky Chili and Raizin The Roof is that Raizin the Roof isn’t as saturated. They both have red, orange, and brown, but Raizin The Roof leans redder. I actually like mixing the two together so that the end result has calmed down the orange from Cheeky Chili, but pops more than Raizin The Roof does by itself.
If I had to choose between them, I would skip Cheeky Chili and just stick with Raizin the Roof. I’m just not as interested in orange, as evidenced by the fact that I left nearly all of my orange blushes behind when I was moving.
Film Noir Buff
I never owned the original Film Noir because it seemed too deep for me and I assumed it would be too red for my liking. However, Film Noir Buff is practically a muted purple-brown! MAC describes it as a “rich warm chocolate,” but those models on their website look like they’re rocking contours. I was thrilled when I noticed it had the potential to be my replacement for the purple contour/blush shade in ABH’s Gradient Blush Kit from 2017. I don’t have a single other blush like this in my collection because of that slight bit of purple. The closest comparison I can think of is the previous version of Dior Rosy Glow Blush in the shade Mahogany. That one had a similar depth level of brown, but also had some red from the ph-adjusting pigment. The tone of red was on the cooler side, but not quite in the same way as Film Noir Buff.
I’m confused as to why they call it “warm” when it’s listed as cool on their social media diagrams. Although Film Noir Buff does have some red in it (as it’s needed to make purple), there’s still some grey to cool it down.
In the photos above, I’m wearing no contour on the left. On the right, I used Film Noir Buff very lightly as contour. On my face, it’s like a muted red, but the depth level enhances the sculpted look. It’s more like a brontour.
It looks very red in these photos on my cheeks, and kind of pretty, but in person it looks like dirt. I don’t like it alone as blush, but it pairs beautifully with Velvet Teddy if I keep Film Noir Buff towards the back and Velvet Teddy mainly on the apples of my cheeks. So, this color is excellent for blush draping/soft contouring.
Some additional things I want to mention about the blushes overall is that the packaging was updated to be flat. They can now be stored flush next to each other or balanced in a stack without that domed lid. It’s more convenient to handle now, but it also looks a lot more generic.
In 2020, MAC blushes used to cost $25 per compact. So, $34 is quite a jump for even less product! In Germany, the full retail price is €34, but I found them less than a week after launch for as low as €25-€29 depending on the shade and retailer. I still find that to be expensive, but it’s a price I was willing to accept. I got some truly incredible deals on my old MAC blushes, so maybe that’s the cosmic tradeoff.
The longevity of the blushes are just as good. They don’t contain parfum. Other than Pony, these are easy to blend and work with while I’m using my regular products and skincare. However, if I’m wearing a gripping primer, a dewy sunscreen that leaves a slightly tacky residue, or some other product that makes my face essentially sticky, then I try to powder my face before applying these blushes. If I don’t do that first, then the blushes adhere a little too well and require more effort to blend.
I find MAC’s blush quality, whether matte or radiant, to be quite good. I do have blushes from other brands that are glowier, more blurring, even more finely milled, creamier and softer to the touch, etc. What has always pushed MAC powder blushes into holy grail status for me has been the shade offerings. Having so many dark-skin friendly options, especially less saturated ones and the variety of nudes, is why I’ve always regarded them so highly. I might be able to get a few of my favorite colors from a single brand, but only MAC has this many! The only other brands that come close are Fwee (though tough luck if you only want powder formulas) and Hourglass (for those who are around my skintone or lighter).
I’m happy with these new blushes, and I recommend them, but they aren’t something anyone needs to run out and immediately purchase. These may just be special to those seeking particular colors that are hard to find in a specific tone or depth.
Skinfinish Sunstruck Bronzers in Matte Rich Golden and Radiant Deep Golden
For those who may not remember, these bronzers launched on the 17th of March in 2023, were pulled two days later, and then made their return a month after. I don’t think the brand ever explained why, and it’s not as though MAC could have reformulated them that quickly before they returned to store shelves. I have more details and theories about it in my original review, but essentially how I was even able to order them was because I could add them to my cart using the quick shop feature. I wasn’t able to add them though the usual means and had just assumed it was a website glitch. Shortly after, the product page was missing, and so I thought perhaps MAC accidentally launched the bronzers earlier than planned. They did not cancel my order, and that’s how I ended up with two stinky bronzers! I don’t mean that figuratively either. They literally had a terrible odor (like the vomit flavored beanbozzled jelly beans). Since the smell came and went for a while, I was hopeful that the smell would just eventually disappear. Nine months later, the worst part of the stink faded enough for me to be willing to bring one to Germany with me, but my fear of there being something wrong with it (actually rancid, contaminated ingredient, etc.) made me unwilling to use it that often. It felt like I was taking a gamble every time I used it, and the only reason I didn’t throw my original Matte Rich Golden away is because that has been the only yellow-golden bronzer I’ve ever found that was dark enough to show up on my skin year-round. I own neutral bronzers, ones that lean pink, orange, and red. However, all other yellow-golden ones are either the same color as my face (so basically invisible on me) or too light.
Three years later, my old Matte Rich Golden is nearly odorless, but still not 100% free of the smell. So, it’s no surprise that I decided to repurchase it in order to stop worrying about whether or not there is something wrong with it. Unfortunately, the new one is a warmer than the original version. If I keep the application super sheer, it passes for golden, but it looks orange when I build it up. I’m a bit disappointed about that, even though MAC at least improved upon the formula. It no longer darkens like crazy when I swatch it or wear it on top of a dewy base. I don’t see any other performance differences though in terms of smoothness, blendability, and longevity. The old and new ones are equally great, but I still have even better ones in my collection (though at twice the price). If this bronzer leaned more yellow than orange, I’d have put it in regular rotation!
If you’re around my skintone and prefer yellow bronzers as well, I’ve had better luck finding some in cream formulas, but by now they’re discontinued. One that’s still available is the Charlotte Tilbury Beautiful Skin Sun-Kissed Glow Cream Bronzer in Tan, but that is more on the yellow-olive side than yellow-golden.
Matte Rich Golden
*How orange Sienne appears depends on what proportions of the three shades in its pan are used.
I have mixed feelings about this bronzer based on the shade. While I’m happy about the performance aspects that improved, and I acknowledge that the color isn’t overly orange, the shade of the new version isn’t as unique to my collection. This means I won’t be reaching for it over my top ranked bronzers. It also means that I don’t feel like this replaces the old version.
Radiant Deep Golden
I made brush swatches, since the 2023 version of the bronzer darkens when rubbed with my finger.
As for my original Rich Rosy, the depth level was correct, but I didn’t think the color suited me. The only reason I didn’t get Radiant Deep Golden sooner is because I assumed it would look like a highlighter and be unable to bronze me. Unfortunately, mine seems to be inconsistently mixed. Sometimes, the base color is visible underneath all that shimmer and actually bronzes me. At other times, it does look like a highlighter!
The amount of shimmer is less than the Too Faced Sun Bunny Blushing Bronzer and the 2nd version of baked bronzer from Kosas. I’ve considered using Radiant Deep Golden as a bronzer topper to add radiance to a matte bronzer. Unfortunately, it is so hard-pressed that I get annoyed every time I use it. The powder is so stiff and rough that it feels like I’m wiping dirt off a clay tile while trying to get product onto my finger to photograph swatches. The surface is so hard that it feels baked. My natural hair brushes are too soft to pick up much product, and even my dense synthetic brushes require a lot of force to practically dig into the pan.
Even after I stopped swatching this bronzer with my finger, it continued to get hard pan until I scraped off enough of the surface to flatten the top layer. Now, I no longer have hard-pan, but I still can’t use this bronzer with my natural hair brushes. The surface is too tough.
Another strange thing is that this doesn’t wipe off my finger the way a normal powder does on my Makeup Eraser cloth. It grips almost like dried paint! Normally, a few swipes across the dry cloth is enough to clean my fingers between swatches. The exception is when it’s a pressed pigment or dye that stains my fingers. I can’t explain why the consistency of the new Radiant Bronzer is so much worse than my old one. At most, I’ve heard others say theirs is hard-pressed too (such as Audrey Michelle), but so was the 2023 version. It doesn’t seem like anyone else’s is as messed up as my new one. There’s hard pressed, and then there’s this…
Just like eyeshadows that stain my fingers when swatching, I can use a little Bioderma with the cloth to completely and easily remove it. It’s just unusual that I would have to do that with a bronzer that isn’t technically staining (just clinging like there’s too much binder or something in the formula). Radiant Deep Golden adheres to my face in a way that makes it a little challenging to blend out, but I can at least remove most of it with a dry cloth.
Considering my issue with the blush-half of the Too Faced Sun Bunny Blushing Bronzer and my issue with Tom Ford’s Soleil Bronzer specifically in the shade Panarea, I don’t think I simply got unlucky to have gotten a dud. Something is going on with these Estee Lauder bronzer reformulations!
The bronzers cost $35 in 2023, and are now just $36. That’s about €31 in Germany, but for some reason they are actually €47 ($55) here. I’m not sure why MAC hiked up the price so high for the bronzers, yet didn’t raise it as much for the blushes. The matte bronzer formula is worth getting on sale, but I absolutely don’t recommend the radiant bronzers. I know some people are loving theirs, and my experience with this botched bronzer is not the norm. However, I still thought the 2023 matte bronzer was superior to the radiant ones back then. I suspect it would be the same for the 2026 bronzers, even if I had a “good” one.
If you’re darker than me with a golden undertone too, I recommend trying Antique Velvet as a bronzer. It has more warmth than Film Noir Buff, and the shimmer in the blushes are more refined than the shimmer in the Radiant Bronzers (or at least it’s more refined than my messed up bronzer).
That’s everything for this week’s post! Thank you so much for stopping by!
I haven’t mentioned Viseart since the last Eyeshadow Palette Ranking. One year after that post, I bought the Cashmerie Charmeuse palette on sale from the Irress Beauty website. I hadn’t heard of that business before, so I was nervous to shop from them, but there were no issues with my order.
Even though I’ve had this palette since October 2025, the bulk of its usage was in the beginning weeks of me getting it (riding on the excitement of being a new addition to my makeup collection). Of course, I’ve used it more recently as well to refresh my memory on how it performs.
I am so happy to report that the eyeshadow quality in this palette is as great as I expect from Viseart! There were a few years that I felt the quality had dropped (coinciding with the transitional year that Viseart started manufacturing in California, alongside France). I believe 2022 was when I started to regain confidence in the brand’s formulas and considered them to be stable again. Regarding their formulas, the brand prides itself on the fact that, “90% of the ingredients in our palettes are the same across the entire product range to create a range of color true shades for our global audience to choose from.” That being said, Viseart’s eyeshadows contain talc, including their latest launch called Lisa Says Gah x AQUA Étendu. This may be fine in the US, but they still manufacture in France and talc may be banned within the EU by 2027. So, changes to Viseart’s formula could be coming whether we the customers like it or not.
Before I move onto the finer details of this palette, I want to acknowledge that this type of color story usually does not interest me. I prefer high contrast looks on myself, so I tend to favor dark dramatic eyeshadows, bold colorful mattes, and sparkly shimmers. I cannot explain why I was so drawn to this color story when it has so many midtone/medium deep colors that will not show up as well on my skin, many of which are muted and had the risk of looking dull compared to the saturation of my skin. This color story is geared towards “soft looks,” which is rare for me to own, but I wanted it anyway!
Veloutine is my only option for creating depth in the outer corner. It is described as an “espresso bitter brown,” so it’s not quite as dark as I would wish, but it still gets the job done. All the other mattes in this palette require very little effort to blend, so this one is a bit troublesome in comparison. It sticks a bit where it’s placed, so I rely on my workhorse brushes (mainly Sonia G) to make things look even. I don’t consider it a bad eyeshadow though since I can get the kind of results, seen in the eyeshadow looks, in a reasonable amount of time.
The two colors I rely on for brightening the inner corners are Moire Argent and Soie d’Or. What impressed me the most about Moire Argent is that it’s one of the few light pink shimmers that actually look pink (and not silver, gray, or white) on me. Since it’s described as a “lilac rose” perhaps the slight addition of purple is the reason, explainable by color theory.
I typically use Cachemire Doux and Charmante mixed together to brighten the area under my brows. Charmante is so whitish-pink that it only looks good on my warm medium-dark skintone if I’m doing pink or cool toned looks. Cachemire Doux is a little too dark to use under my brows by itself.
Mousseline, described as a “burnt plum,” and Cambresine, which has a “midtone greige stone hue,” are surprisingly darker on the skin than they appear in their pans. I use them in the crease, along with Tulle Rosé.
Soie Fumée has such a fancy sounding description as a “midtone smokey pewter thistle,” but I just think of it as a taupe color. I only use it when I’m creating a full-on cool toned look. The “light bark lilac taupe” is called Cire, and it looks brown on me. So, I use that one when want a neutral type of eyeshadow.
Faille and Moire are the most exciting shades in this palette, and both are listed as duochromes. I cannot detect a shift in Faille, as I only see a burgundy brown base color with purple shimmer. However, it’s still quite a pretty shade. I get some fallout from it, but not enough to prevent me from wanting to wear it. Moire is one of the most common duochrome eyeshadow colors, but I still love a classic! I have to admit that I’m a bit disappointed that it doesn’t stand out as boldly as I want, even when applied with a wet brush. It doesn’t compete with Verrerie from the Violetta Petit Fours quad, but not everyone wants their duochromes and multichromes to be attention-grabbers like I do.
In case anyone is wondering, here is how the new ranking would look like.
Ranking List of All the Viseart Palettes I Ever Owned:
Cashmerie Charmeuse satisfies me when I have a unusual craving for soft looks, mauves, mid-toned colors, and either cool toned or neutral eye looks. Although I won’t be using this palette often, the quality and performance make this a purchase I don’t regret! It pleases me that Viseart continues to be an eyeshadow brand that I enjoy and can recommend. I just hope they will be able to manage through the EU cosmetic regulation changes in 2027!
Thanks to the approaching deadlines over regulation changes in the EU, the Tom Ford Beauty brand has been reformulating a ton of their products across multiple categories. Today’s post will be covering the few that I bought from this year’s relaunches.
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Tom Ford Soleil Bronzing Powder in 03 Panarea and 04 Formentera
During the peak days of YouTube’s Beauty community, some of the most hyped up bronzers were the Benefit Hoola Bronzer, Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Matte Bronzer, Physician’s Formula Murumuru Butter Bronzer, Hourglass Ambient Lighting Bronzer, Nars Laguna Bronzer, Guerlain Terracotta Bronzer, Tom Ford Soleil Glow Bronzer, and Marc Jacobs Beauty O!Mega Bronzer. Since then, many of those brands have expanded their ranges, including Tom Ford. I was so excited at the prospect of finally having a powder bronzer from Tom Ford that was deep enough to show up on my skin! However, the brand didn’t take inclusivity as far as I would have expected. There are only 4 options and the gap between shades 3 and 4 is huge!
Below are swatches of two of my lightest bronzers (that I typically mix with a darker bronzer in order to wear them) compared to Panarea. As seen in the photo, Panarea is nearly invisible on my arm. To jump from that shade to Formentera is wild, but even wilder is the fact that Tom Ford’s fourth bronzer is the darkest in the range. It’s significantly lighter than Charlotte Tilbury’s bronzer in Deep, which is also the 4th and last shade in her powder bronzer range. To be fair, Charlotte’s third shade option is about as light as Nars Laguna 05. So, that brand has a shade jump too, but she has bronzers that will work for someone at least several shades darker than me.
I thought these shades would be darker based on how deep they appear in the pan, but they still look lighter even after being built up. Panarea looks tan, but on me it’s like a beige-bisque. It’s technically warm, but can look almost pink toned in some lighting. Formentera looks like it should be a contour color, but it’s a red toned bronzer (though still not overly warm).
I’ve seen my friends who are darker than me try to use bronzers as face powders to find use for ones that were too light for them. I decided to give that tactic a try with Panarea and I can say whatever changes it made to my face were negligible. In a side-by-side comparison, perhaps my face was the tiniest bit more matte. Perhaps shade 03 changed the color of my face the tiniest bit, but not enough for anyone else to notice and my face didn’t stay matte for long. Essentially, this bronzer wasn’t good enough for powdering my face, over using my actual finishing powders that blur and/or add a beautiful sheen. So, I don’t recommend bothering to use it in this way.
Before I even attempted to use this as a face powder, the third shade was already getting hard pan. I thought perhaps this formula doesn’t like to be swatched or maybe these bronzers are hard-pressed, but Formentera is still perfectly fine and easy to pick up with my brushes. In just three weeks, the surface of Panarea feels hard and dry, which is such a contrast to the continued softness (verging on creamy) of Formentera. In the comment sections of YouTube videos, such as the one by Mo Makeup Mo Beauty on the Soleil Collection, a few people described having issues with the performance of Panarea too. So, perhaps there’s something off with this batch.
The Soleil Bronzers are unscented, have a matte finish, and the powder consistency is fairly thin, though not as thin as Victoria Beckham or Charlotte Tilbury. These are pigmented, but the amount my brushes pick up ensure that I can build up sheer layers of product and not worry about overapplying.
The amount of kickup is determined by the brush used. My first instinct was to test them with some of my go-to bronzer brushes, which are the Bisyodo B-F-05 Perfect Fit Brush, Number Eight Face 08, Sonia G Smooth Buffer, and Rephr Kōyō brush (though I use Kōyō more often for blush). I got minimal kickup with all except the one by Number Eight.
It occurred to me that I should try to use the bronzers with the Rephr 22, because it’s considered by many to be the closest natural hair dupe for the highly regarded original Tom Ford 05 Bronzer Brush. For those that like very diffused bronzer applications, these two are a great pairing. However, the Rephr 22 gave me the most kickup.
The first of the three pictures is a demonstration of how much of the Rephr 22 gets coated from two dabs into the pan. A smaller area in the center will distribute the bronzer onto the face, while the surrounding bristles with less or no product at all will help buff. The middle photo shows how much kickup is left after applying bronzer to just one side of my face. I wiped the surface of the compact before applying bronzer to the other side of my face with the Rephr Kōyō instead, so the third picture shows how little kickup there was by comparison.
Longevity isn’t an issue with these. The Tom Ford bronzers are decently blendable, but I have even more skin-like bronzers or ones that give more of an airbrush finish at better prices too. So, I like the bronzer, but I still feel like I overpaid, even with the 20% discount and reward points used. This might have been a different story if the bronzers had more of a glowy finish, which would make them more in line with my preferences.
Formentera definitely shows up on me, but I’m very picky about red-toned bronzers. So, I have tried mixing Panarea and Formentera together. While I like the results, I’m at the point in my makeup journey that I no longer wish to bother combining bronzer shades. I just want to carry a single compact with a color that works easily without me having to think about the ratios or worry so much about blending it well enough. With the Victoria Beckham Bronzing Brick, equal amounts of both shades works perfectly for me. When I try to mix the Tom Ford Bronzers, I have to pick up enough of Panarea to lighten Formentera, but still keep it dark enough that it’s able to be seen on my skin. On top of that, Panarea’s hard press and hard pan issue makes the number of necessary swipes inconsistent. Sometimes I need to dig into it more than other times. Plus, mixing both of them together doesn’t help remove that feeling of me having overpaid! I have at least figured out that I am happy with how Formentera looks if I’m wearing one of my more yellow-toned foundations. If I’m using a foundation that has stronger orange tones and/or is slightly darker than my current skintone, then the bronzer makes me look too red for comfort. So, I can keep that in mind too.
Too Faced has six options with two that are darker than I need. MAC has 10 options in the matte finish and 5 in the radiant finish in a range that also goes beyond my skin’s depth. Too Faced (as of now) and MAC are Estée Lauder owned brands alongside Tom Ford Beauty. So, it’s not as if additional shades couldn’t be made. Someone decided to keep the range of this premium brand limited.
In the past, the Soleil Collections were limited edition. I cannot imagine that all the bronzers, highlighters, and eyeshadows released aren’t permanent items, but perhaps the intent is to expand upon them every summer going forward. However, I don’t foresee myself buying any unless the brand releases some immaculately perfect shade for me. This is one of the reasons I didn’t buy one of their reformulated highlighters. Based on other reviews I saw, Amalfi may be similar to Reflects Gilt (which is too light for me) and Portafino could be close to the bronze shade from the Shade Illuminate Highlighting Duo in Tanlight. Just like I said in my Best Highlighters Showcased post, I’m so happy with Tanlight that I don’t feel the need to buy anymore highlighters from Tom Ford…unless something happens to mine.
Tom Ford Eye Color Quad Crème in Olive Smoke
I was incredibly tempted to buy Olive Smoke when it first came out, but reviews were mixed. I was even more tempted when it was being discontinued and listed on sale for 50% off. Since all of the brand’s quads have been newly reformulated, I hoped that meant I’d have a better experience with the new version of Olive Smoke than NikkifromHR had with the previous formula.
I am happy to report that I get very minimal creasing with these reformulated eyeshadows. I’ve tested these with and without primer (my primers of choice being the Lisa Eldridge Silk Canvas and MAC Paint Pot). Without a primer, the creasing is a bit worse, but good enough for me to still be satisfied with how the eyeshadows look throughout the day. These eyeshadows are very pigmented, but still buildable. The way the black eyeshadow feels and performs is what I think Guerlain was aiming for (but failed) when they made the black shade in their Royal Jungle quad. It’s not as wet feeling as the black eyeshadow from Pat Mcgrath’s Bronze Bliss, but TF’s black is truer (less blue).
The reason I’m so focused on the black shade is because it’s the one I rely on to create depth, and I like black eyeshadows that are rich in pigment, but not hard to control. I’ve had black eyeshadows that were patchy, not dark enough, or so pigmented that they were hard to blend. So, whenever I come across one that works just how I want, I’m happy. The one in this palette is like that.
The pale gold and dark gold aren’t very exciting colors, but they fit well with the Olive Smoke theme and are necessary for adding brightness, along with taking the eye looks in a less smokey direction whenever that’s wanted.
The Olive color is the most appealing shade. It’s what drew me into this palette because of how infrequently greens are featured among luxury brand eyeshadows. 2025 seemed like the year of the green palettes, but there were still less around compared to years when pinks, blues, or purples were the “it” colors for that year. This is a deeper tone of Olive than I typically see. As is typical of Tom Ford, the shimmer is smooth and reflective, but not intense, dramatic, or sparkly. There is an elegance and refinement to these eyeshadows, which is something I want sometimes, but not all the time.
The pigment is there. The formula is good. I’m relieved that despite having a bit of slip, these don’t crease like crazy. They don’t fade. There’s no fallout. I’m happy to know that Tom Ford’s Crème formula is good, but if I’m going for a sophisticated eye look, I still don’t think any of the brand’s eyeshadow ranges surpass their Wet/Dry a.k.a Soleil/Lumière formula. My issue has always been that they rarely make color stories in that formula that interest me. In fact, that’s one of the biggest issues I have with Tom Ford. The eyeshadows in the quads either lack a deepening shade, are too similar in depths, too similar of colors within the same quad, or the color story is too “safe.” So, even if the formula was in my top 3 favorites (which it is still not), there are so few that I’m interested enough in to purchase.
Because these eyeshadows aren’t fully within my preferences, the price rarely feels worth it. Comparing this Crème formula (which I think is still better than the standard/Runway) to other luxury and designer palettes, there tends to be a standout feature in addition to have an option of costing less.
Tom Ford Quads – €85 Victoria Beckham Quads – €84 Prada Quads – €82 Guerlain Quads – €75 Dior Quints – €73 YSL Quads – €69 Pat Mcgrath Quads – €69 Chanel Quads – €66 (not limited edition)
VBB Quads have one shimmer that is practically like a pressed version of Lid Lustres and the best discount is 25% off. There is also the option to get a refill, which is naturally going to cost less. The Prada quads have a cream to powder formula that I love, in addition to the option to get a lower priced refill and/or 20% off. The Guerlain Quads I only find special when they are not in eyeshadow pans and I’ve seen them listed as high as 40% off (the older quads). YSL Quads have some of my favorite formulas and I’ve seen them close to 50% off. Pat Mcgrath Quads sometimes have the “special” baked shades and can be up to 40% off depending on the type of deal there is going on.
So, when I see the kind of prices I can pay for quads with formulas or features I like even more, I always feel like I paid too much for what I got from Tom Ford. To be more accurate, I felt like I paid what I should whenever I purchased Tom Ford from a CCO/CCS (Cosmetic Company Outlet). Those are owned by Estee Lauder and they sell out-of-season beauty products, like Tom Ford, for up to 40% off or sometimes there are even better bundle deals.
Since I no longer have access to Tom Ford products at these kinds of prices, whatever I do end up buying has to be something I really want, such as the Olive Smoke Palette I’ve been pining over since early 2025. This is ultimately why I did not buy any of the Soleil Eye Quads, despite that being my favorite of the three types.
I still want to continue my eyeshadow ranking series, and I’ve had Tom Ford on the list for a long time, but I never even reviewed Leopard Sun, nor the limited edition quad I bought before the reformulations (Electric Cherry). I also forgot that I technically had a mini review in the May 2022 Purchases Reviewed post featuring African Violet, Photosynthesex and Honeymoon. Now, a ranking doesn’t seem all that relevant considering 5 out of my 6 Tom Ford quads have been reformulated or discontinued. If anyone is still curious, it would be as follows from favorite to least favorite:
Honeymoon
Photosynthesex
Olive Smoke
Electric Cherry
African Violet
Leopard Sun
I don’t care that my version of Honeymoon is very old by now. I didn’t use it enough to be worth repurchasing in the new formula.
I hope this has been helpful, or at least an interesting discussion. Thanks for reading!
In this post, we’ll be looking at the newest relaunches of Too Faced’s classic products. The originals were released over a decade ago, but until 2026, neither product were deep-skin friendly. Whenever something I’ve been waiting years for becomes available, I find it difficult to resist purchasing, regardless of whether it’s a good addition to my collection or not. So, that’s how I ended up buying both of them.
Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Matte Blurring Bronzer in Chocolate Caramel (and Chocolate Toffee)
This bronzer is soft to the touch, and it’s matte, but it doesn’t feel or look dry on the skin. It has an almost creamy feel and it’s on the thicker side for a powder, but not in an unpleasant way. Because it’s very pigmented and easy to pick up with any brush, I tried to exclusively use my delicate natural hair brushes with it. The Chocolate Soleil Bronzer is pretty blendable, but not quite on the level of my favorite high end and luxury bronzers that are even more finely milled. So, I’ve found that saikoho goat and fox hair brushes that are bundled in an airy way give me better results than my squirrel brushes. This ensures I still get a diffused application, but with more blending and buffing strength. It’s not that the bronzer needs a lot of buffing, but the right tools make the task even quicker and easier!
I have no issues with this bronzer’s longevity. It lasts all day.
“Blurring” is the new buzz word that every brand seems to claim their powder products are capable of. I actually agree that this bronzer can be a little blurring, but it needs to be properly blended or else it has the opposite effect.
This contains a fair bit of fragrance and smells like chocolate (the same scent that’s in the Too Faced Chocolate Bar Eyeshadow palettes). I enjoy it, even though I generally prefer my beauty products to be unscented. I have to admit that I might be viewing this product even more favorably because of the happy feelings I get from smelling the chocolate. I’m only human!
The aspect I was a little disappointed by is how orange the Chocolate Caramel shade looks. I believe I may have confused it with the shade Chocolate Toffee. I think the color still looks nice on me, but I have to be in a particular mood to want to wear such a warm bronzer. Chocolate Caramel is a reddish-orange-brown shade. Sienne from Hermes is a yellow-orange-brown, as seen in the swatch comparison photo below, so I like that one even more. Plus, I’ve had it for just over three years and it still swatched more evenly and smoothly than the brand new Too Faced bronzer. Swatches don’t tell the whole story, but the Hermes Plein Air H Trio Healthy Glow Mineral Powder is my number one bronzer for a reason.
I wish I had Pat Mcgrath’s bronzers in Bronze Divinity and Burnished Honey with me to show comparisons, but I left them behind in the US. I thought PML would continue releasing face palettes with repeat products and that I would end up with the bronzers again anyway, but that has not happened. Based on memory and my review photos, I believe Chocolate Caramel might be closest in undertone and depth level to Burnished Honey.
Even though I have plenty of bronzers that perform even better or have some special qualities about them, I still like this quite a bit. In fact, my insistence on not buying a second shade only lasted a week. Now, for the benefit of you who is reading, I can also compare Chocolate Toffee. It is indeed a yellow-golden kind of shade.
I considered not taking photos of Chocolate Toffee on myself because it’s like 5% darker than my bare skin. It gives the faintest hint of color, but because it’s still lighter than most of my foundations, it doesn’t show up on a full face of makeup. Mixing Chocolate Toffee and Chocolate Caramel is a beautiful combination, though I already have yellow toned bronzers (too light for me to use on their own) I could have paired with Chocolate Caramel. So, I know I shouldn’t have really bought the additional shade, but I had no self-control.
I wore the Chanel Water Fresh Tint in the photos with the solid pink shirt in the hopes that it would be sheer enough for Chocolate Toffee to be seen.
I have to say that it would be amazing if more brands had dark yellow-golden toned bronzer options. I only found a few, and most are too light on me to really be visible for most of the year. MAC’s is the only one that’s deep enough. It doesn’t look that yellow in the first swatch, but that’s because it deepens up a lot when swatched with a finger. The second photo has a brush swatch. I’m still hoping to one day have a shade like Rich Golden, but in an even better formula. And speaking of MAC, they just launched the reformulated and/or repacked Sunstruck Bronzers in both finishes! The main reason I haven’t used mine more is because I always felt uneasy about them after they had been pulled from store shelves within days of their original launch and smelled terrible for so long. So, I am considering whether I want to buy the new ones because no other brand has a color like Rich Golden that shows up on me.
As for the Cloud Crush Blurring Blushes, last year I saw someone close to my skintone wearing the shade Head in the Clouds and once I saw it was on sale via the retailer Douglas, I immediately bought it.
The photo above was taken in April 2026 and is a more accurate depiction of Head in the Clouds than the group blush photo lower down. I no longer have them, so I could not retake that picture.
The photo above and the photo below were taken in September. When I was just about finishing, I noticed the dark spots around the rim of the blushes. I can’t say for certain what they are, but the pan edges didn’t look like that when I bought them. Head in the Clouds doesn’t have them either. So, I no longer trusted that my older ones were safe to use, and I tossed them out.
Velvet Crush looked the worst, and I bought it from Sephora-US in December 2022, but I bought Tequila Sunset exactly one month later. The differences between them is that I had actually left Velvet Crush in Florida for longer. When I moved to Germany, I only brought Tequila Sunset with me. I stored them properly in both locations, so I wonder what happened. The brand boasts about these having, “93% naturally-derived ingredients,” so perhaps they aren’t the best preserved. The blushes lasting almost three years is acceptable, but I have so many older products that are still in amazing condition, so I can’t help but be disappointed in needing to toss these early. To be honest though, I wish I remembered how strong the “Tropical Beach,” fragrance was in these blushes. It’s pleasing, but so heavy that sometimes I change my mind about using it when I open the compact and that wave of perfume hits me.
I could recommend the Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Bronzer, but I no longer recommend the Cloud Crush Blushes, even though they are pretty. I think the Soleil Bronzers are actually appropriately priced. The quality isn’t S-tier, but I’d give it a B+
Also, kudos to whoever decided to finally make an inclusive bronzer range for Too Faced. I’m impressed.
Too Faced Sun Bunny Blushing Bronzer in Sunset Bunny
When I saw the promo photos, I was practically salivating to buy this product. I was so entranced by how shiny and pretty the colors were, that I didn’t even stop to think about the fact that these are not going to be worn as highlighters. Why would I ever want a blush, and especially a bronzer, to look that shimmery on my face? I stopped wearing the Glossier Solar Paint Bronzers for precisely that reason (which others must not have liked either since it has been discontinued). The Solar Paints still looked better on my skin than this product!
This cheek duo highlights all the bumps and uneven texture I have on my forehead and cheeks. The colors themselves are beautiful, but I cannot ignore the obvious shimmer particles. The blush shimmer is as reflective as MAC’s Extra Dimension Blushes, but aren’t as refined. That makes the biggest difference. The amount in the bronzer is even more than the reformulated and repacked Kosas Sun Show Baked Bronzers that I never use, and Physicians Formula Murumuru Butter Bronzer that I got rid of.
Putting aside my preferences, another aspect that threw me for a loop is the fact that the blush side is so firmly pressed in the pan. It felt like there was hard-pan the first day I used it. It took about four layers of swiping to get that finger swatch that’s two photos up, yet only one swipe for the bronzer. I don’t know if I have a dud or if everyone’s duos are like this.
The biggest problem of all is the “Coconut Cream” scent. I always like the smell of Too Faced products, but whether I can handle them is another story. This one is so overpowering and headache-inducing! The photos I included in this post are the best I could do because the two times I tried to wear the Sun Bunny Bronzer, I needed to remove it within 20-30 minutes. This is on par with the Too Faced Peach Perfect Instant Coverage Concealer that I couldn’t use either because the fragrance in it gave me intense headaches.
So, I unfortunately could not do any wear tests and the packing (with its clear lid) isn’t cute enough for me to keep it as a collector item. This will be exiting my makeup collection.
So, that concludes this week’s post. The Sun Bunny was a total letdown, but the Chocolate Soleil powder bronzers made up for it!
I hope this has been helpful. Thanks for stopping by!
I’ve been using the Heroline as my sole liquid eyeliner since at least October 2025, but it took so long for me to complete this review because of how infrequently I reached for the Color Fluids. Powder products have always been my preference, and I basically have the Color Fluid shades within my Beautopsy Palette. So, I tend to reach for the easier-to-use powders over the more advanced liquid form. What swayed me into buying products I may not get much use from were all the gorgeous looks Hindash created and shared on social media. The way the Color Fluids mixed together and the finish on the skin is not achievable with the powders alone. So, I gave these a try, and I don’t think I regret it.
Hindash Heroline and Hindash Color Fluid in Thorn, Heartist, and Rising
Thorn swatch via applicator and swatch blended out with a finger.
I can apply the Color Fluids directly to the face and then blend them out, but there isn’t a large amount of time to work with them before they set. Applying one to a makeup mixing plate, or the back of my hand, and picking up a smaller dab of it with my brush is the easiest way to ensure I don’t overapply. Thorn is a beautiful color as brontour, but it’s a bit deep. I would only use it when I’m darker (like in the photo above taken a year ago) or when I want a more intense bronzed look.
To make Thorn even more natural looking and easier to blend into the skin, the brand recommends mixing it with a base product (foundation, skin tint, etc.). I’m too lazy for that, and would just reach for any of my current favorite bronzers, instead. I still thought it was important to mention that there are ways to sheer out this product and lighten it by utilizing additional products and steps. The Color Fluids are fantastic for makeup artists and minimalists, but they might take more effort than the average consumer will want to make. I don’t feel that Hindash’s products are too difficult for beginners to use, but I believe the more advanced at makeup someone is, the more likely they are to appreciate the brand’s formulas. I like knowing how versatile the Color Fluids are, even though I admittedly don’t use them to their full potential. I’m often rushing through putting on my makeup, so I try to keep the amount of mixing I need to do at a minimum. However, I absolutely wish I had this product when I was getting married and looking for a good product for contour underpainting. My wedding and other major events are the only time I will really sit down and play with colors to try and get the absolute closest shade matches and most blended natural-looking base.
TL;DR: These products work for people of all skill levels, but they are best suited to makeup enthusiasts and makeup artists. People who enjoy playing with makeup are most likely to love the Color Fluids, but they might not have the time for it and prefer to reach for other products that are quicker and easier to use.
As blush, these are so quick to blend in and they last all day without fading. Even if I wear my hydrating skincare and foundation, these still set down on their own without powder. These are shimmer-less shades, but some of the glow from the products underneath are able to come through, preventing my cheeks from looking dry regardless of the matte formula. I consider them to be matte because, as far as I can tell from the ingredients, there are no shimmer or glitter particles and the mica just adds a kind of sheen and some reflectivity. Beautylish eventually added the liquid highlighter, Boy Tears, to the Color Fluid category, but they used to be considered separate items. This leads me to guess the brand will eventually launch additional shimmer options, but Boy Tears is currently the only one that isn’t matte.
There’s a certain level of pigment coverage needed for these to be suitable as eyeliners too. So, a little goes a long way when trying to wear the Color Fluids as sheer cheek products. That’s another reason Thorn requires a little more skill to use it as a bronzer or sculpting shade, but I don’t have to worry as much about precision when using them as blush. If I want to try and customize the blush color by mixing two or more shades together, then the difficulty level rises again.
None of the combinations were created with equal amounts of color. I always used a much smaller amount of Thorn because of how easily it can overpower the other two shades.
Due to my lighting conditions, Heartist is diffcult to show up in my photos, but it is very much visible in person. I like that it’s not a bold color on my cheeks. Rising looks like a neon orange mixed with red, which gives it a pop of brightness despite being a medium-dark color. It doesn’t look that unnatural on my cheeks, but I sometimes combine it with Thorn so that it leans more nude.
I believe I used the Hindash Gradiant Highlighter (Peak Heat) as the shimmer element in this look, but I took this photo over a year ago, so I can’t remember for certain.
These work as eyeshadow bases and liquid eyeshadows, but I’m not thrilled with these colors on my eyes. I think it has to do with them looking intended for softer looks, rather than intense ones. It’s that softness that makes them so pretty as cheek products, which is ironic because I have often said I prefer to use the Hindash Beautopsy Palette on my cheeks more than my eyes too. For eyeliner purposes, the formula is great because they lock on and are waterproof. With Isododecane as the first ingredient, it doesn’t surprise me how long-lasting these are.
As a lip product, particularly as lip liner, these are beautiful. The Color Fluids blend into each other and layer up nicely when I’m trying to build up the opacity when spreading them across my lips. I’ve eaten oily meals with this on and it only looks funny at the inner edges of my lips (the most inward mouth opening). I can get through two meals at most, and then only the lip liner will remain. It doesn’t last through meals without needing a touch-up if I wore a balm underneath the Color Fluids or have a different product on top. So, these essentially work like liquid lipsticks with the same kind of pros and cons.
When I use these in the main section of my lips, it looks super dry and highlights the look of that dryness. Color gathers around chapped patches. Because it dries out my lips too much, I wouldn’t use this as a lip color, though perhaps just as lip liner. The brand recommends using a balm underneath to increase the level of comfort. Applying a lip oil on top has helped in my personal experience, but I have too many lip products I like to bother using the Color Fluids this way anymore.
So, my favorite way to use these (and pretty much the only thing I’ll use them for going forward) are as cheek products. I definitely don’t need anymore items in that makeup category though, so I don’t foresee myself buying more in the future. However, all this time later, I am still glad to have bought them.
I will always be partial to the classic black liquid eyeliner pen. The one I’ve used the longest in my time wearing makeup has been the Stila Stay All Day Liquid Waterproof Eyeliner that I used to buy at 50% off via Ulta’s 21 Days of Beauty sale. When I moved to Germany, I figured I would switch to my second most used liner which is the Nyx Epic Ink Liner. Before that though, I decided to give the Hindash Heroline a try during one of the brand’s sales (which ended up full price when I got hit with the Einfuhrzölle/Steuern/Bearbeitungsgebühr via DHL). I bought it in June 2025, but I remember not wanting to start using it until I ran out of my previous liner. That’s why I can only confirm I’ve been using it since October 2025 based on my phone’s camera roll, but it could have been longer.
As far as I’m concerned, this eyeliner has no flaws. I can create a super thin line (even thinner than the One/Size Liquid Eyeliner Pen) or thicker for more drama. I don’t get cracking when it dries down. I don’t have the issue of it being so liquidy that it feathers around the lash line. Usually after six months, I would be running out of the Stila Liner, but the Heroline hasn’t shown any signs yet of drying out or running out, even though I believe it has less liquid inside than Stila’s pen (0.4 grams vs 0.45 grams). The tip has remained a lot cleaner than my other eyeliners tend to be, though I haven’t been using multichromes as often.
The brand claims this is water-resistant (not waterproof), but on me it doesn’t budge, and it takes nearly as long to remove as a waterproof eyeliner does. The lines on the packaging aren’t just a pretty design choice. It helps with gripping too, so I’m able to keep my hands relatively steady.
For a demonstration of how this looks in eye demos, one can just scroll through the eyeshadow posts from the past six months, but I’ll repost some previous examples here.
Overall, this is a great product! I understand why everyone I’ve seen reviewing this brand has praised it. However, I don’t have enough of an issue using the Nyx Liner to be certain whether it’s worth it to spend double the price on the Heroline instead. I’ve gone back and forth about that issue, but it doesn’t matter anyway if Hindash doesn’t restock it. The brand’s restocks take forever, to the point that I frequently wonder if the manufacturer is super slow, crazy busy making other products, or if it’s the brand having trouble with funds. It has at least been hinted on the Hindash Cosmetics IG page that a range expansion and restocks could be coming soon. However, I’m not getting my hopes up too high because I remember hearing Hindash talk about potentially releasing a gradient palette with shimmers, but it has been four years since he has launched any palette at all.
I hope this post has been helpful to anyone wanting to see more opinions regarding Hindash Cosmetics products, especially since they don’t get talked about (at least in the US) as much as products by other makeup artist brands (Lisa Eldridge, Victoria Beckham Beauty, etc). I am a big fan of this brand and I continue to wait semi-impatiently for them to release more!
I’m still trying to catch up on reviewing some of my “older” makeup purchases, but today’s post is focused on some of the newer launches and shade extensions!
Westman Atelier Face Trace Contour Stick in Whiskey and Ganache
Since its launch, I have only ever heard good things about the Westman Atelier powder bronzers, cream contours, and cream blushes. Unfortunately, their shade options were considerably lacking in those days. I could finally try the Beauty Butter Powder Bronzer when they introduced the shade Beau Soleil in Summer 2023; and I loved it! I had also gotten a sample pack that included the cream contour in Truffle and cream blush in Petal. They seemed nice, but I couldn’t get a true sense of the products’ performance because those shades are intended for makeup lovers much lighter than me.
After learning that the brand expanded the Trace Contour range, I only had enough self-control to wait for a sale before finally giving in. Nice cream blushes are a dime a dozen, but I don’t have a cream contour that I can point to as my favorite. So, this was a wish fulfillment type of purchase. After buying Whiskey, I wondered if I might have been better off with the shade Ganache, which is not part of this most recent expansion. It’s just that all the promo images for Ganache made that shade look so rich by comparison, so I assumed it would be too deep for me. It also looked quite red, instead of cool, in some photos and videos. After seeing the brand’s swatches of the full range together, Ganache didn’t seem as dark, though perhaps still a little red. I didn’t plan on buying a second shade until I realized Cult Beauty stocks the mini sizes and they ship to Germany. So, my curiosity got the better of me and that’s how I ended up with another one.
For those curious about the differences in packaging between the full-size and the “petite” is that the full-size has a magnetic closure, gold colored ring around the twist up base, and the brand name etched into the rim of the lid. It’s also weighted (not just from there being more product inside) and it costs €50 for 6 grams of product. The mini is not magnetic and closes with a snap. It’s too small to have words around the rim of the lid, but the “WA” heart logo is inside the cap. There’s still some weightiness to the mini, but it’s not comparatively heavy, and it costs €27 for 2.5 grams.
I don’t mind the fact that Whiskey blends in so much that it is hard to see in photos. The best contours are the ones that create the sculpted effect without being able to tell it’s due to makeup. Unfortunately though, this shade doesn’t create a shadow. I knew this was a neutral color, but I didn’t think about the fact that neutral ones that worked for me in the past were a lot deeper (brontours). So, because this isn’t that much darker than my skin tone, I can just see a brownish-pink color without it having any affect other than adding the tiniest bit of dimension from being a different color than my foundation. It doesn’t create a true shadow, so it doesn’t work like a real contour on me.
I didn’t want to buy Ganache because I didn’t think this formula was that much better than the €30 Fenty Match Stix Matte Skinstick, and I still liked the €38 Uoma Double Contour Stick even more. To me, it’s not that much different from the €34 Anastasia Beverly Hills Smooth Blur Contour Stick either. However, getting a better shade did improve my overall opinion of the product. Ganache still has some red to it, so it can look a little more like a bronzer on me, but the depth level does create a sculpting effect. So, I view it as a brontour.
My holy grail cream contour brush is the one by Patrick Ta, but the Westman Atelier Contour continually looked patchy when I used it (even if I didn’t draw the stick directly on my skin). The same happened when I used the Trace Contour with my Bisyodo S-517, but I was successful in blending it with the Sonia G Mini Base. Finding the right brush for this definitely raised my opinion of the product, but for that price I would expect it to blend beautifully with all of my favorite brushes for cream and liquid products. The sleek black packaging with magnetic closure feels luxurious, but the formula is a little stiffer than I prefer. It doesn’t glide as easily as the Uoma or ABH, even when I warm it up on my skin first before applying it.
I appreciate the longevity and non-dewy nature of the Trace Contour that sets to a dry touch, plus it being fragrance-free, but formulas exist (at least in bronzer ranges) that are creamier while still drying down and setting on their own. My favorite type of cream cheek product is melty like the Rare Beauty Warm Wishes Effortless Bronzer Stick. This is my preference because of my dry skin type, and perhaps people with normal, combination, and oily skin get along well with the Westman Atelier Contour because it’s less emollient and has kaolin clay. Plus, the amount of pigment one gets with a thin layer lends to it being easier than other sticks to build up color without overdoing it.
With these aspects in mind, perhaps it is much harder for others to find contours that suit their skin type or undertone, so this product is worth it to them. As that isn’t a problem for me, I can’t help but feel a little bit of regret in buying the full-size, though I didn’t know the petite size existed until I started shopping through Cult Beauty for the first time.
I may as well mention that I don’t intend to buy the newly launched Westman Atelier Sun Tone Bronzing Crème because the duo best suited to my skin tone is Soleil Parfait 4, which is practically the same depth as Ganache. I don’t believe the slight undertone difference among them, based on swatches by Daps_Makeup, is going to look different enough on my face.
Prada Touch Cream to Powder Blush in B32 Caffee
I continually see this shade name written as “Caffe” in the marketing photos, but it says “Caffee” on the unicarton and blush packaging itself, so that’s how I’ll reference it. Coffee is “caffè” in Italian, so it sounds like that should be the correct spelling, but I believe the name written on the product determines what is correct over what is listed online. I might have thought the names were different depending on which country they are sold in, but the US-websites also say Caffe instead of coffee and the German word for coffee is Kaffee. So, that doesn’t apply either.
This blush is long-lasting, but doesn’t set down to 100% dryness on a moisturized base (for example: a dewy sunscreen, glowy primer, and hydrating foundation). So there is a little bit of transfer. This doesn’t have as much slip as I’m used to in a cream to powder formula. It leans more on the side of being a cream.
When I’ve had a drier base that was powder-set before applying this blush to the cheeks (versus the other cheek being powdered after the blush was applied), I could still feel moisture on my skin which also still had some transfer. Powdering makes the blush finish look matte, but it doesn’t do much else. What stops transfer is the Pat Mcgrath Glass Setting Spray, which also lets me keep the hydrated look.
I heard this can be used on the eyes and lips as well, so I tried those once. On one eye, I didn’t use a primer and the other eye I used the Lisa Eldridge Liquid Silk. I had creasing on both eyes, but the one without the Lisa Eldridge product was worse. I was able to fix the creasing by powder-setting the better side and that worked. However, it also muted out the color a bit. So, I don’t plan on using this blush on my eyes again.
As a lip product, it looks beautiful. I feel it looked even better than Fwee Pudding Pots, but it’s drier. The time it takes to repair my lips once it dries past a certain point isn’t worth using Caffee this way again.
Although “parfum/fragrance” is not written on the ingredient list, it still contains aroma/flavor, vanillin, and quite a few essential oils and extracts that have scents. It still smells exactly like my Prada lip balm and highlighter, but thankfully nowhere near as potent. I had to bring the blush right up to my nose to detect it.
These are some of my small cheek brushes that fit fairly well in the pan, but can still get some product around the edges.
Please forgive me if you’re tired of hearing or reading complaints about the packaging, but it’s something I cannot overlook. Packaging has always been important to me, to the point where I’ve bought items in the past that I knew were purely for collecting/display purposes. In my post about Weighty Makeup Packaging, I talked about the look and feel of a product contributing to the perception of luxury and what my expectations are if it comes with a high price tag. In the case of the Prada Blushes, I could tell from photos that the plastic would be light, and that fact alone almost stopped me from buying one. Even though the square silver and gold mirrored refillable compacts aren’t that heavy, they still have a high end look to them. Although I wouldn’t want to pay the same price for the blushes as the brand’s eyeshadow quads and highlighters cost, I would still be willing to spend an extra €20 for a more substantial container than what they chose. The Prada Blushes feel exactly like the material used for my Bluetooth earbuds case!
It was the brand offering a blush in my favorite type of color, combined with the 20% discount from Douglas, that made me give this product a chance. However, I can’t help but be disappointed whenever I hold it (which is ironic because I love my Bluetooth case) because it feels like I’m handling a knockoff instead of an authentic product from Prada. The chunky triangle in that soft color is somewhat cute, and I understand the appeal at being able to snap two or more blushes together in that packaging, but I don’t even get to utilize that feature unless I buy another one. Products should be satisfying to use on their own without the gimmick of being stackable. The discounted price I paid was supposed to make up for the disappointing packaging as long as I loved the actual makeup inside. Because it’s not the type of cream-to-powder that dries down completely, it didn’t fully make up for it.
Givenchy Prisme Libre Highlighter Powder in 004 Coral Copper
This is another wish fullfillment purchase of sorts. The coral portion of this highlighter has the same kind of vibrant vibes as the Haus Labs highlighter in the color Fire Opal, which I ended up returning because that specific shade was way too glittery. This tone of highlighter isn’t that popular compared to the typical pink, champagne, gold, and bronze. I wasn’t even sure if Coral Copper would suit me, but I wanted something different. The only highlighter that comes to mind from my collection that’s anywhere near similar to this one is Dreamsicle by Becca Cosmetics, which is eight years old.
Thanks to A A Luxury Makeup stating that this highligher isn’t as deep as marketing images show, and the discounted price of €37 at Flaconi, I felt there was less risk of dissatisfaction in making this purchase. Plus, it’s a baked product, which is a feature I tend to like in highlighters (or at least I love baked gelee and gel-powder hybrid formulas). The Prisme Libre Highlighter Powder is said to contain micro hyaluronic acid and squalane for hydration and comfort.
One of the first things I look for in a highlighter is incredible smoothness in texture. The tinier the particle size the better. I also prefer highlighters that can be subtle up to medium intensity. This highlighter is an interesting mix of having small particles and looking smooth, but some of the shimmer in the mixture is super reflective and pearly. The base colors partly blend into my skin, so it looks subtle in that way, but the reflect is strong enough to be considered a strobe type of highlight. To quote the brand, “A blend of blurring powders and light-reflecting pearls, helping to visually smooth the skin and provide multidimensional radiance and a long-lasting blurring effect.” This has indeed been my experience. I like the blur properties, but the reflect is too much for me, so I tend to blend out the highlighter quite a bit or use brushes specifically suited to pick up less product.
Sheerest application vs heavier application on top of a peach colored blush.
A different lighting situation with a normal application vs a normal amount on moisturized skin.
My experience with this highlighter has been very inconsistent because it looks different in various lighting situations. It looks exactly to the smoothness level I like at some angles, but then the shimmer looks obvious at others. If I’m using all my hydrating skincare underneath, the highlighter practically melts into my skin and looks subtle even with a heavy application. If my face is on the drier side, I can see the highlighter take on a little bit of a wet look that’s either textured or smooth depending on how the light hits it in that moment. Essentially, this isn’t a perfect highlighter for me. It’s too reflective to pass as a natural looking glow, however, pairing this with a peachy or coral blush (to match the base color) gives me results that I am the happiest with.
So, this range is best suited for someone who likes a beaming and obvious highlighter without containing actual glitter. Parfum is fairly high on the ingredient list, so that could be a potential issue for someone. It smells like the typical Prada powders mixed with the typical Dior powder scent. I can detect it the entire time the compact is open, and I can also smell it on my face for at least ten minutes before it goes away. It’s not the strongest I’ve ever smelled and it’s not overwhelming, but I never fail to notice it.
In terms of longevity, I’ve had no issues. It’s just the perfume and radiance level that I’m not thrilled about, but I’m so pleased with how it looks paired with certain blushes that I’m still glad I bought this. I must admit though that I’d be unhappy if I paid full price for it. It costs the same as a Prada highlighter refill, which I think is a worthier purchase, minus the Prada one being overly perfumed. I still hate that.
The packaging can seem a bit bulky, since it’s the same size as the Prisme Libre pressed powders and bronzers without including the brush. However, I don’t mind because of the potential to be refillable (the bottom pops out), and the fact that I dropped it on a hard floor and the compact sprung open without the highlighter breaking.
One more thing I wanted to mention is that for some reason, the Douglas website lists the shade I own (H004 Coral Copper) as “H005 VELOURS BRONZÉ.” This makes me wonder if there is a 5th shade coming and they accidentally listed it. However, it could also be purely an error. Shade H002 Rosy Gold is currently listed as Coral Copper instead. At the time that I finished typing this post, the shade names for the new/reformulated Tom Ford Bronzers are still incorrect and I’ve seen incorrect names as well as two products with switched names listed before. So, it could mean nothing, or maybe it was even a planned shade that got scrapped, but how fun if I learned a secret!
Whenever I discovered errors on the Sephora-US website, I used to email customer service and they corrected it within a few days. I’ve attempted to contact Douglas twice in the past and once I never got a response. The other time was regarding the swapped names of the holiday Gucci blushes and they didn’t respond back until three or four weeks later and it took another week for them to attempt to correct it (which still had another error). So, I don’t bother.
Anyway, that concludes this series of reviews! I hope this has been helpful. Thank you for reading!
Not pictured above (but will still be reviewed) are two additional Satin Kajals, the Brightening Waterline Pencil, and the Orchid Palette.
I utilized the 20 and 25% off sales Victoria Beckham Beauty had during November and December last year to buy new (to me) products, along with additional shades of things I already love from the brand! So, let’s get right to the reviews and updates!
The Cell Rejuvenating Illuminator in Golden
This product contains the Augustinus Bader proprietary TFC8® blend of skincare ingredients in the formulation. I bought the smaller 20ml size which retails for €88. A mini sizes of the Augustinus Bader face creams are 15ml for €93. So, I was curious how comparable these two products would be. Unfortunately, since Augustinus Bader doesn’t sell minis of The Light Cream (only The Cream and The Rich Cream), I can’t confirm if The Light Cream has the most similar consistency to the Victoria Beckham Beauty Illuminator. I can only say that AB’s The Cream is thicker, not as lightweight, and feels more moisturizing. I don’t consider it that heavy as a skincare product on bare faced days or to sleep in overnight, but I prefer to wear thinner layers of skincare when I plan to wear makeup.
Although I need a lot of hydration to combat my dry skin, putting heavy products or adding too many layers (that build up to a thick amount of skincare) clogs my pores easily and leads to other problems. So, I always prefer using the most lightweight yet effective hydrating and moisturizing products. At a bare minimum, I try to use a milky toner and sunscreen daily. Depending on which combination I use of those two products, adding a moisturizer on top is already overkill. With this Illuminator from VBB, I tend to be able to use my milky toners and my best absorbing sunscreens together without there being any problems. So, the VBB Illuminator is better at doubling as a moisturizer and primer, coupled with my other skincare products, than AB’s The Cream.
I’ve been using the Illuminator since January, but strictly as a primer under makeup. I haven’t noticed any long-term changes to my skin, but my face feels suppler and hydrated each time I put it on. It makes for a nice smooth canvas to put makeup on and the glow is subtle. It does turn my skin a little more golden-yellow in color, but it’s only strong enough to impact the shade of my foundation if I’m using one that has sheer to light coverage. This actually helped turn one of my Chanel foundations into a better shade match, but it has also made a bad match worse. So, it would be nice to have an option that’s clear or close to it. I have heard that the shade Pearlescent might not be the frosty white color I assumed it would be, so, I might consider trying that one in the future.
This isn’t the only glowy golden product out there. I also own a mini of the Milk Hydro Grip + Glow Primer.
Milk’s primer is thicker. It has less gold pigment, which means it doesn’t alter my foundations as easily. Milk’s glow comes from shimmer particles, whereas VBB’s shine is due to a combination of shimmer and the slightly emollient finish. VBB’s sinks into the skin and is better at hydrating than forming a slight barrier (like Milk’s). Other than hyaluronic acid, there isn’t that much else benefiting the skin in the Milk formula, but it does extend the wear of makeup because it has stronger gripping power. VBB’s is better for those that prioritize skincare because, for example, among the long list of skincare ingredients is four types of hyaluronic acid instead of just one. There is a big price difference, but part of that is due to the ingredients used as well as the packaging. Milk’s is plastic. VBB’s is super luxurious and heavy with a magnetic closure for the cap. I’ve seen the cap stand askew when I’ve taken it out of my makeup bag, but the magnetic hold is strong enough that it never got knocked off entirely.
I can also think of the Charlotte Tilbury Hollywood Flawless Filter and Dior Forever Glow Star Filter Multi-Use Highlighter as additional products that can be used as glowy primers, but they don’t feel as nice on my skin when they cover my entire face, rather than being used in specific areas as liquid highlighters.
Although I haven’t been able to detect long term changes to my skin, I enjoy the nourishing feel of the Illuminator so much that I will seriously consider repurchasing it (on sale) after I’ve emptied my current container. Even though getting the full size is more cost effective in terms of price per milliliter, VBB is still a “clean” beauty brand. So, I don’t want to risk getting a larger size and not using it up within the 12 month period after opening time frame. Also, if Augustinus Bader ever releases The Light Cream in a travel size, I could potentially prefer that instead for pricing reasons. I’ve gotten Augustinus Bader skincare for up to 30% off at various retailers, but the maximum discount I’ve been able to get from VBB has been 25% during the holidays. Then again, AB’s product might not be as suitable for me under makeup. So, I will consider these factors and make my decision by the end of 2026.
Satin Kajal Liner (with Sharpener) in Cocoa, Fig, and Olive
It’s very difficult to get me excited about a colorful eyeliner, so it says a lot that I own three of these. Of course, I have heard so many beauty gurus praising the Satin Kajals and even going so far as to say they’re the best on the market. Considering how many good and affordable eyeliners are out there, I rarely feel that high end and luxury eyeliners are worth the price. I still can’t answer that question of worth for others, but I will say these are my current favorite non-liquid and standard colored eyeliners. By “standard colors,” I mean eyeliners that aren’t duochromes or multichromes.
There are matte, shimmer, and jewel liner finishes. Cocoa and Fig are matte, but Olive has a shimmer finish. I did not purchase any jeweled ones because that’s the only type I’ve heard aren’t as well liked by other customers (because the jeweled ones are supposedly gritty feeling).
The consistency of these liners are super creamy in the first few uses, but afterwards they are a more controllable level of creaminess that allows one to glide the product over the skin without tugging and there is enough time to smudge it a bit and smooth it out before it sets down to its budge-resistant and waterproof finish. The evenness of the distribution of color and ease of creating the shaded effect are what puts these above many other eyeliners.
Also, I am mindful to keep the proper cap on each side of the pencil. I came across a video where a brand owner explained that the cap with the extra lining inside the plastic is meant to keep it airtight (I forgot the exact term that was used), whereas the cap that fits over the smudger side does not have this lining. The Kajal could dry out if the caps get swapped for an extended amount of time. Since I hadn’t paid attention to this kind of thing until this year, I wanted to share this reminder for anyone else who might not have known this. In the case of the VB Beauty kajals, the cap for the pencil side has a white inner ring and the smudger side is black.
Besides using these to line the eyes, they also make for great eyeshadow bases to used solo or to intensify the color of whatever powder eyeshadow gets used on top.
Cocoa is a beautiful shade of brown, but it’s too light to add definition/dimension to my lash line. I still use it sometimes as a transition color in deeper dramatic looks.
I love this shade of purple, but it can look patchy when smudged or blended out. It looks best when drawn on, like for eyeliner use, and not touched much afterwards. If I use it as a base color that will be covered up anyway, then patchiness isn’t a big deal.
My only complaint about Olive is that it’s not actually olive in color/tone. This is a blue-based green or deep teal-green. I’d expect this color to be called Peacock or something. It’s still a pretty color, but the name is misleading.
I do find these to be long-lasting and waterproof (yet easy enough to remove with micellar water and a makeup eraser cloth). However, because this formula gives some wiggle room in which to be able to smudge it before it fully sets down, I struggle to use these in my waterline. They drip away or get wiped away long before being able to lock down. So, I don’t bother trying to tightline with these. I’m fine with this being the situation because of how well they perform at other tasks.
These might be the best kajals in the world, but I will always love and prefer a black liquid eyeliner pen. I very seldom have the desire to use a colorful eyeliner, so I am perfectly content with having just a few of these. I still don’t think it’s totally necessary for a casual makeup wearer to spend so much on a Satin Kajal considering how many great eyeliners are available at more affordable prices. However, I can acknowledge these are extremely good.
Instant Brightening Waterline Pencil
Historically, this type of product has always been difficult for me to use because of my easy-to-become-watery eyes. I gave up buying them several years ago and the only reason I decided to get this one is because it’s made specifically for use in the waterline. The Satin Kajals have their own formula and don’t work for me in the waterline, but are amazing for many other purposes, so I thought this product being sold apart from them for this designated task could be the answer I’ve been looking for.
In terms of this “universal” color, I do think it’s a good one. It has the right undertone balance and isn’t too light/white. Unfortunately, my watery eyes do not allow this to work. My waterline is too wet and even if I get the color to stay there, it never fully sets. The tiniest touch hours later still makes it come off instantly. Also, my eyes look too strange if I have a light color on my lower lash line and nothing below it adding definition. So, I usually put a dark eyeliner between and below my lower eyelashes. In doing so, if my pencil isn’t sharp enough to avoid getting some in the brightened liner section, I have the hardest time fixing it. And then the darker color discrepancy looks messy and amateurish.
While I like the creaminess of the pencil for gliding it across the waterline, it taking too long to dry (if at all), makes this just as much of a struggle to create this kind of eye look as all the other liners in my past. The part that is nearest to my eyelashes (basically between my eyelashes) is what stays put and sets down as long as actual tear droplets haven’t fallen and wet the whole area. So, I know this can work. It’s just not that great on me.
Posh Gloss in Poolside and Aperitivo
The Posh Glosses adhere well to the lips, and both hydrate and form a moisturizing barrier. It can last through at least one meal and several drinks before needing to be reapplied. The brand claims (and pretty much all other brands too) that their gloss isn’t sticky, but it is a little. However, it’s a lot less than many other glosses I use. I don’t think it would cling so well to the lips and be as long lasting without having at least some tack to it.
This formula has totally different ingredients from the Pat Mcgrath Lust Glosses, but they remind me of each other in how plush they feel on my lips and how conditioning they are. If I had to nitpick at the tiny differences, I would say that PML’s has a thinner viscosity, more shine, and it has a scent. VBB’s is better at conditioning my lips and the oil content makes it slightly less sticky despite having a thicker overall texture. Less gloss comes out onto VBB’s applicator, so it’s easy to get an almost as thin layer from just applying one swipe on the lips and then rubbing them together. When it comes to the pigment level, the Lust Glosses range from being equally pigmented, less, or more pigmented than the Posh Glosses.
What I look for most in a gloss is how well it helps combat dryness and how pretty the color looks. I prefer them to be unscented and they don’t need to be high-shine (just have some shine). I essentially view my favorites as liquid lip balms. With all this in mind, the Posh Glosses have surpassed Pat Mcgrath’s formula in my eyes, but I still reach for Pat’s for specific colors. PML has twice as many shade options. I still easily recommend both products, and they are around the same price at €34 for 4.5ml for PML and €36 for 4ml for VBB. However, Pat Mcgrath usually has a holiday sale where the Lust Glosses are marked down by 50% (or $12), at least in the US. Whether the brand will continue to do that sale during the bankruptcy proceedings is unknown. As for the Posh Glosses, I believe 25% off is the biggest discount the brand offers.
There is no shortage of great glosses out there. I will happily continue to use Poolside (Aperitivo is a brighter pink than I expected), but I haven’t found a shade in the lineup that I’m over the moon about. So, I like this a lot, but it hasn’t breached the “favorites”category. I don’t regret buying one, but given the size of my lippie collection, it should have stayed at just one.
Posh Balm in Cannelle
In the top photo, the balm is on the left half and the right half is bare. In the bottom photo, the balm is spread across the lips entirely.
The lip balm feels great on the lips. I still consider it to be a little sticky, but it’s less so than the lip glosses. These aren’t as long lasting either though and the pigment level is much lower. As far as I know, the shades Colette, Fleur, and Cassis have the pH-adapting ingredients, but Glacé does not. One of the reviewers I watch said Cannelle doesn’t have it either, but Red 27 is listed as one of the ingredients for that shade and after having used this enough times, there is now a little bit of pink around the rim of the packaging. So, I think it’s safe to say this shade is pH-adaptive too. There just isn’t a lot in it.
The amount of shine I get from the balm is good, but the color can cling a bit to the cracks of peeling skin. I have to be careful to really work the product into my lips, a bit more than I’d expect from a low pigment product.
I prefer my lipgloss to be nourishing, but I absolutely expect a balm to have even more lip-caring ingredients. While this balm does satisfy me regarding hydration, the need for me to reapply it more often than the brand’s lip gloss is why I won’t be buying anymore. I cannot gain the benefits if the moisture layer comes off and I don’t notice it until many hours later. At least when most of the Posh Gloss has worn off from eating, I can still feel residue that continues to keep my lips protected. So, if I delay in reapplying, it isn’t as much of an issue.
I will say though that the Posh Balm is more nourishing than a lot of high-end and luxury balms I have used in the past. I have not tried the reformulated Nars Afterglow Lip Balms, but I loved the previous Laguna shade (similar to Cannelle), and yet I rarely wore it because it wasn’t hydrating enough. In fact, I end up not liking the majority of lip balms in stick form, so I still give the brand kudos for the Posh Balm. One product that I like more is the Lisa Eldridge Baume Embrace simply because of the similar amount of nourishment and the extra pigment. Although I have to reapply the Baume Embrace more often, that’s the tradeoff for have significantly less stickiness. I’m glad I bought one of these, but I don’t need anymore.
The Concealer Pen with TFC8® in MD1. 5
I would ordinarily never spend €56 (the sale price) on a concealer, especially taking into account the minuscule 2.4 ml (0.08 fl oz) of product and how much of it is wasted due to the click delivery system (and what gets stuck in the applicator’s bristles), but I had many reasons to think this would be worth it:
The Augustinus Bader TFC8 blend is in this product. I rarely use eye creams, so this seemed like an easy way to finally get good skincare into this area while also being able to camouflage my dark under eye circles.
Although the brand’s foundation is out of my price range, I still wanted to have a better idea of what my shade could be among the VBB complexion products. This knowledge could benefit me if the brand ever decides to release another foundation or concealer in the future.
I was impressed by this concealer’s performance when I tried it out via the foil sample pack. This provided a lot more coverage than I expected and although I could only test it for six hours, it didn’t budge in that time frame. So, I figured that even if the full wear time didn’t end up going far past six hours, I could at least use this like a daytime eye cream on no-makeup days or potentially even like an under-eye primer if it played nice with other concealers.
Unfortunately, the consistency of the samples are not the same as what customers get from the actual product. The sample is thicker and less fluid. I can only assume that’s due to being old and/or it managed to gradually dry over time within the foil. That sounds like it would be a bad thing, but the sample adhered to my skin way better! How the sampler looked right after being opened can be seen HERE, but also the photo below shows the difference in viscosity and even how it looks over the lines of skin vs the concealer pen. This isn’t a one-time incident either. The photos I took below were from a second sample pack that I got from my most recent order.
It makes sense that the concealer needs to be very fluid, given the type of dispenser the brand chose. The reason this matters is because products this creamy and emollient do not stick around on me. I had a similar problem with the Chanel Ultra Le Teint Correcteur Concealer. No matter what methods I use, I cannot prevent it from being absorbed by my skin and/or fading. It starts early and just continues gradually disappearing within 2-6 hours depending on how unlucky I am.
When I put the sample and actual product side-by-side, as shown in the photo below, I can see that the right half looks more emollient and continues to look wetter after being set with powder. Also, the act of patting in powder with a brush manages to lift some of the concealer back off.
It doesn’t help that when my eyes get watery, any falling droplets makes it disappear too.
I used a lot of product under my eyes while taking these blog photos, but that is not the cause of the problems. When I use less product under my eyes, it just disappears faster. I’ve tried different powders with it, my MILK under eye primer, leaving the product to sit for a while before setting it, etc. Not only does it not fade gracefully, it also creases. So, even if I wanted to just use it as an eye cream, it looks terrible after 3-4 hours. Mixing it with other concealers or using a tiny amount underneath them doesn’t help either because the VBB concealer breaks the others down. So, this product was an absolute fail for me. It’s incredibly disappointing to buy a product, expecting it to work as wonderfully as the sample, but then it doesn’t.
I decided to post swatches of how MD1.5 compares to the others, since my shade isn’t available in the free sample pack. Although DK1 is neutral, I think it actually might have been the better choice for me than MD1.5, but it doesn’t matter at the end of the day if the fading issue can’t be resolved.
The thought has crossed my mind to try and transfer the concealer from the pen into a tiny jar (in the hopes it can dry and solidify a little without drying out completely). However, doing that could lessen the efficacy of the skincare ingredients.
Matte Bronzing Brick in 4 (Warm: Amber / Contour: Sunset)
I bought my first Bronzing Brick three years ago and posted a review showcasing Shade 5. Since the moment I first tried this product, it has always ranked among my top 5 favorite bronzers, but I didn’t use it as often because I always needed to mix the two shades. The right half had too strong of a red undertone for my preference, so I would combine it with the left half to try and balance out the color and tone down how dark it was.
I finally decided to give Shade 4 a try, and I’m so glad I did! The darker half has more of a golden-orange undertone that I can use by itself. I still use the lighter half of the pan to either diffuse the edges or lighten the overall color. Essentially, the main difference between the two Bronzing Brick colors is that Shade 4 makes it way easier for me to create a natural flush of warmth without overapplying. Purely because of that ease, I stopped using Shade 5.
These are examples of the darker bronzers in the duo used by themselves.
These are examples of how the bronzers look on me utilizing both halves of the Bronzing Brick in the proportions that I like (and not equal amounts of each shade in the duo).
In case anyone has read my old review, I want to clarify that although I was concerned that my powder might be getting hard pan, it never fully did. The look on the surface seems to really have been caused by the oil based products I was using at the time. I took the photo of Shade 4 when it was untouched, but I can attest to mine still looking normal after at least fifteen uses.
The reason I love this bronzer so much is because it’s incredibly finely milled, super blendable, and gives such a natural look to the skin. It’s matte, but doesn’t look flat. I also like the ability to tweak the color. I can pick up product easily, even with my most delicate natural hair brushes, and it doesn’t have powder kicking up everywhere. This is an expensive product, but I can see how much finer it is than the majority of my powder bronzers. Whether that small difference is worth the increased price is up to the individual consumer. As a bronzer lover, I definitely would not want to be without this.
Lid Lustre in Tea Rose and Starlight
I reviewed the shade Velvet before in my Cocoa Eye Wardrobe post I keep linking, so the other two Lid Lustres are the newest additions to my collection. I rarely buy single eyeshadows, but most of the Lid Lustres are known for their incredible shine and sparkle. I watched many swatch videos and decided that Tea Rose and Starlight were the only remaining shades I wanted.
Tea Rose is supposed to be “infused with Quartz” and “Citrine Extract” is in Starlight. These two might not look as impressive on my eyes when used solo, especially since my camera doesn’t do them justice, but I am rarely disappointed when I use them to amp up the shimmer effect in my eyeshadow looks. I must admit that these two shades don’t stand out as much on my eyes as Velvet does, but I still like them.
I’ve found that this formula works best when applied with a finger. It has good adherence and very little fallout. It doesn’t fade and it looks smoother if I apply it with a damp brush, but wetting it doesn’t increase the overall shimmer impact. I don’t get creasing or fading when I use the Lisa Eldridge Liquid Silk Liquid Eyeshadow underneath because it’s a good barrier to prevent the oils from my eyelids from breaking down the eyeshadow. If I use a Lid Lustre on my bare oily eyelids, there will be creasing before it begins to break down fully. So, please be aware that if you have oily lids too, a good primer is likely necessary. I updated my original review with this clarification.
Because I have so much makeup, it’s not unusual for me to eventually stop reaching for a product after I’ve completed the review in favor of starting to use something new. When it comes to these Lid Lustres, I can’t say that they’ve been used often since last October, but the amount is certainly more than I expected!
21:50 Rêverie Eau de Parfum (Sample Size), Suite 302 (Sample Size), and San Ysidro Drive (Sample Size)
The fragrance category is the most subjective category within the realm of beauty, which is why I rarely talk about the perfumes I’ve purchased or sampled. However, it felt like a wasted opportunity to forgo talking about these altogether considering I have 3 of the 4 scents and even the travel sizes are expensive to blind-buy. Perhaps my opinions as a perfume dabbler could still be helpful.
21:50 Rêverie Eau de Parfum – “Tobacco leaves, plum, vanilla pods and Tonka beans blending with the cedarwood.”
The initial impression I get when I spray this is that it’s a sweet fragrance with some amber. After it dries down on my skin, vanilla is definitely the most prominent smell. I like that 21:50 Rêverie features a creamier type of vanilla scent as opposed to sugary.
After about an hour in, the tobacco leaves and cedar come through. This combination of creamy, smoky, and slight woody scent is how it continues to smell for the rest of the day. It projects within a small area in the beginning, but after 2-3 hours it becomes a personal scent. I have to clarify though that I only spray 1-2 spritzes of a perfume on myself, at most, since everyone I interact with in my daily life are incredibly sensitive to fragrances. The majority of perfumes I buy are basically skinscents on me (perfumes are more prone to fading/dulling down on dry skin), which is why I tend to spray my clothes instead. Doing so takes skin chemistry out of the equation. If I just spray my clothes, I can smell this perfume for longer than many others I own.
I must admit that I cannot smell the plum at all, which is disappointing since I love the smell of plums. If I was able to detect it, that would probably be the push I’d need to buy a travel size of this because this is my favorite scent out of the three from VBB that I’ve tried. This is a very nice fragrance, but I don’t love it enough to be willing to spend so much on it, especially since I have to be so careful and so selective about how and when I am able to wear perfumes out of consideration to those around me.
Suite 302 Eau de Parfum– “Black cherry and red peppercorn; rose centifolia, midnight violet, and narcotic musk; plush velvets saturated with papyrus, black leather and masculine tobacco leaf.”
Tom Ford’s Lost Cherry and Kayali’s Lovefest Burning Cherry are some of my favorite perfumes. I love a good cherry fragrance, so I expected to like Suite 302 as much as 21:50 Rêverie or potentially even more.
When this fragrance first hits the air, I can detect the sweet cherry smell, but there is a smoky spice element that overtakes it once it settles onto my skin. To me, it smells like incense. Thankfully, this scent grows sweeter within the first hour. I can smell more of the cherries. However, after that first hour I smell florals and sweetness mixed with a peppery-spice smell, and that’s basically how it stays for the rest of the day. I don’t consider this a true cherry perfume because of how quickly that specific note just registers as sweet rather than fruity. If I check how I smell midday, I could easily forget there was supposed to be cherries at all. This scent profile overall is interesting, but I don’t like it enough to be willing to spend that amount of money on it.
The projection and longevity of this one is on par with 21:50 Rêverie.
San Ysidro DriveEau de Parfum – “Passion fruit and pink peony; ocean air infused with rich rose absolute, saffron flower and agarwood; black amber and vanilla”
In the opening, I cannot distinguish what kind of florals are used. There is a sweetness, but it doesn’t register as passion fruit to me. The overall scent of this is bright and uplifting, though not my style as a gourmand lover. I wasn’t very interested in this scent, but I chose it specifically to review since I didn’t want the other free samples, and I have backups of the other two fragrances already.
Fairly early into the wear time, I can smell the saffron and more of the salts and wood. The dominating smell is still “sweet floral” up to that first hour. After that, I can isolate the rose smell and finally the vanilla. Eventually, I can tell there’s amber as well, but that’s as far as it goes. Once the top notes have faded, what is left behind is more my speed, but it’s also a much less unique type of smell.
I also have to admit that I don’t have many fragrances with oud, and the ones I do own are blended with so many other things that I can’t say for sure that I know how oud smells on its own. According to Google, it can be so many things: woody, earthy, animalic/musky, smoky, resinous, and “depending on the origin (e.g., Thailand, Cambodia), it can range from fruity and floral to medicinal, spicy, or leathery.” So, basically it’s a broad category that can account for practically everything! San Ysidro Drive had a tiny bit of an incense smell as well, though weaker than Suite 302, so I’m going to guess that that was due in part to the oud.
I don’t know if it’s just my sample, but I think it’s interesting that this projects the most of the three, but its scent is the quickest to fade (after about six hours). Without being able to smell any passion fruit, I’m not a fan of this in the beginning, but I like how it wears as the day goes on. That being said, it’s my least favorite of the three samples and I unsurprisingly don’t have any interest in buying it.
I know Portofino ’97 is popular with a lot of people, but the notes are so far away from the kind I like. It even has patchouli, which I hate 95% of the time. So, I don’t intend to ever try it. I’m very glad that the brand offers these samples to customers though, and there is a discovery set with all four in case someone does not want to wait to get the complimentary samples one order at a time.
Additional Updates
Eye Wardrobes
Since I posted a First Impression of the Orchid Palette, I wanted update that the quality in this one is on par with Victoria and Cocoa. The mattes are soft to the touch and create low or medium kickup depending on the brushes used. The light purple shade (Shade 2) tends to lean quite pink on my skin tone, but it still looks enough of an orchid-purple color to satisfy me. The deeper purple (Shade 3) doesn’t swatch very well and looks patchy, but that quality is what gives the hazy smokey effect on my eyes that I like. Having a deep shade like this is easier to control. The mattes blend well into each other and although Shade 2 can appear as if it has a bit less pigment than the amount in all the other quads, I think it’s just a matter of this type of color not popping as much on my skintone. The satin eyeshadow (Shade 1) can be used as a highlighter on my face. I like putting it in the inner corner since it’s much smoother than the shimmer eyeshadow (Shade 4), which is practically a Lid Lustre in pressed form. I don’t get creasing from the shimmer (but I always use an eyeshadow primer or eyeshadow base) and the shine doesn’t fade. It grips to my eyelids well enough that I don’t feel the need for a specific glitter primer or to spray my brush.
I’ve had no issues with longevity, but my eyeshadow looks are so much more impressive when I incorporate the Fig Satin Kajal into the eyeshadow looks. For example, I love how much more purple Shade 2 looks if I apply it on top of Fig. I get so much more depth from Shade 3 as well. The best part though is that my eyeshadow looks practically newly applied by the end of the night when I use the Kajal as my base. I did a side-by-side wear test and could see that without the Kajal, the eyeshadows still looked great, just not as fresh looking. The pictures I take at night aren’t the best representation (due to lighting issues), but I’ll post an example anyway.
Vast Lash
I’ve talked about this mascara in the Cocoa Eye Wardrobe review. Sometimes a mascara gets better over time, but the sample I own did not. An example of how this mascara looks on me is in the Eye Brighter section of this post. I don’t think it looks good on me and my eye lashes are at its best and longest right now because I’m still using the Sweed Eyelash Growth Serum. So, I can officially confirm this mascara isn’t for me. I can’t help but still be curious about the Future Lash mascara, but the brand doesn’t offer samples of it at this time.
Cheeky Posh
I first bought Miniskirt four years ago and it eventually started to smell like crayons, which indicated that it needed to be replaced. Even though I loved the color, which was so similar to Fenty’s Rose Latte, I hardly used it because I had such an issue with the color blending away and transferring. Still, because the Victoria Beckham Beauty brand had quickly risen to be among my top five favorite brands, I wanted to have a usable blush again. So, I decided to repurchase it. Miniskirt continues to be my favorite shade within the range, so I thought it would be best to stick with that color.
I don’t know if the change in climate or the fact that I’m using different skincare and makeup can explain why I no longer have the same problems as before, but I’m very happy about it! The Cheeky Posh blush is a bit firm, but I am still able to draw a line or stamp the product along my cheeks and blend it out with my brush of choice without it disturbing the foundation under it. The warmth of my skin helps the blush to spread a little more as I work my Rephr LC02 brush into my cheek. Sometimes, out of habit, I still warm it up on my hand before applying it with the brush.
I can’t speak for all the shades, but Miniskirt imparts a good amount of pigment. It still sheers out a bit the more it gets worked into the skin, so I don’t have to worry about applying too much.
This product looks the tiniest bit dewy, but it’s not very emollient or sticky. At most, if I touch my face it just feels like residue left behind from a moisturizer. Setting it with powder eliminates that feeling entirely, but at the cost of turning it completely matte.
Even if I don’t set this with powder, I no longer have the issue of it transferring. If I press a napkin to my cheeks, I can only see the faintest hint of color. That does not mean that this product is long-wearing though. If I don’t use a primer, powder, or some other means to increase the longevity of makeup, this blush significantly fades from my cheeks within six hours. With helper type of products, I can get at least eight hours of wear before the fading starts to be noticeable. Twelve hours in, I can still see a light flush of color on my cheeks. I don’t know how much longer it lasts before disappearing because 8-12 hours is my typical wear test limits.
I honestly don’t know how much use I’ll get out of this because I use powder blushes at least 80% of the time. However, I’m still happy to have a fresh one.
Also, for anyone wondering about the scarf I tied around my hair in some of the photos, it’s the Victoria Beckham Beauty ’97 Portofino Scarf that was a limited edition free gift with purchase item.
I also want to acknowledge that in the time since the Orchid Eye Wardrobe launch, the brand has released a new shade of Posh Lip lipstick and two Colour Wash Bronze Water Tints. I do not intend to buy either products because I’m on a lipstick low-buy and liquid cheek products are not my thing. Plus, the Bronze Tints aren’t likely to work on anyone darker than tan. Whenever I am unsure if a product will show up on me, I try to wait and see if EnamoredBeauty on Instagram will review it (since we have similar taste in makeup), and it was pretty much invisible on her. I also watched reviews of ladies with light to medium skintones being able to pull off wearing both Water Tint shades. The decision to launch only these two colors in similar depths is…interesting.
I’m glad I didn’t have my heart set on trying that product anyway. It also means that this brand review is complete with me having reviewed everything I wanted by the brand. Anything else I buy from VBB in the future should be new products and/or shade extensions to things I love.
Important Note About the Referral Program
Victoria Beckham Beauty has a referral program, which they send reminders about to customers via email. There are very few brands I like enough to want to spread the word about, but because VBB had become one of my favorites, I figured there was no harm in talking about it. Looking back, I could have thought harder about the fact that although I see everyone I talk to in the comment section here on my blog as friends, as well as those I chat with via social media, they are probably not who the brand meant when they ask customers to “refer a friend.” In hindsight, they most likely meant people I know personally, even though I am extremely close with several online friends across the world that I have never met. Still, I had the sense to check the fine print details in the email, the Referral Program terms and conditions, as well as the V-Suite Loyalty Program terms and conditions. As of February 2026, there was nothing in there prohibiting customers from sharing their referral codes publicly. There was no warning stating that it’s possible for a referral code to be able to be misused and that if someone misused it, it would endanger the standing between the brand and referrer. Based on everything I read, there was zero reason to suspect that sharing the link with my friends and strangers via my blog would bring anything but a positive outcome. Posting on my blog would bring more business to the brand than sharing with my in-person friends who don’t buy luxury makeup.
What happened to me is that I shared my referral link/code in one of my Victoria Beckham Beauty reviews. Someone used it and everything was fine. Then, in another Victoria Beckham Beauty post, I wrote a thank you message hoping the person who used my link would be able to see it and I posted my link again. Other strangers used it and that’s when my account got blocked with no warning whatsoever.
I noticed that my year-to-date spending had been reset to zero and I had been knocked back to Tier 1, which is actually the reason I reached out to customer service. It was then that I was informed that whoever else used my referral link, “are using drop-shipping addresses to place their orders which is explicitly prohibited by the terms and conditions.” Therefore, I was kicked out of the referral program, loyalty program, and would not receive any other benefits.
I had to look up what drop-shipping is, and if you use ctrl+f to search for the word “drop” it does not come up at all in the terms and conditions. Accounts with fraudulent activity can be terminated or suspended at VBB’s discretion, which is perfectly understandable. The part that they don’t state is that by posting a referral link for the general public, any fraud that a stranger commits with that link (which a referrer has no control over), will result in them flagging the referrer’s account as participating in fraud as well. Since I don’t normally participate in referral programs, I didn’t know that it was possible for fraud to be committed through a link, and as I mentioned before, there is no warning written about that being possible in the terms and conditions. So, when a customer gets an email asking them to talk about the brand with their friends and encourage them to check out the products, doing so leaves that customer vulnerable to their own account being permanently blocked. Had I known this was possible, I would never have shared it with anyone! Not even my own family! Another aspect that confuses me is the line in the TOC stating, “Referral benefits are subject to the referral program terms, which are separate from these Terms.” So, I would have accepted getting removed from the referral program, but to have my entire account blocked for something out of my control and not clearly stated anywhere on the website or emails felt unjust.
One other aspect that I keep wondering about is the fact that Influencers/Affiliates talk about a brand and post links and codes publicly. Out of the hundreds and thousands of people who use their codes, there’s no way that none of them are misused (for example if one of the customers continually buys products, uses them, and then returns them). Yet, not a single company would ever hold an Influencer or Affiliate accountable for what a stranger does. So an Influencer who gets paid by a brand is protected from something like this, but a customer who gets a 20% off discount to give more money to a brand is considered undeserving of the same protection.
Feeling quite defeated about the whole situation, I immediately deleted the referral links from my blog. I replied to the email and figured it was 50/50 whether my account would be reinstated or not. Two days later, I got the news that my Uncle (who was also my godfather) had passed away, so I honestly didn’t have any fight in me to post about the situation on social media or do anything further to contest what happened. I have no issues accepting repercussions if I break terms and conditions, but what I did (posting my link on my public blog) was not listed as a prohibited action. Warning that what someone does with your link can jeopardize your own personal account was not listed either.
Another line in the terms and conditions states, “Any disputes related to the Program should be directed to Victoria Beckham Beauty’s customer service team. We aim to resolve disputes fairly and amicably.” I can say that this seems to hold true. A few weeks later, VBB wrote back that they reviewed my case and so my account was reinstated. One of the points I had expressed was the fact that the terms and conditions should be updated so that all customers now and in the future will understand what they’re getting themselves into by giving their referral links to anyone, and so they can be aware of the possible repercussions that doing so could bring (not just the positives). I am grateful that the representative on my case accepted and even thanked me for the feedback. The response back to me was very kind and understanding. This issue was able to be resolved, but it does not change the fact that I feel it is my responsibility to warn readers about the negative side and risks that are possible by sharing your customer referral links with others. I had made a post encouraging people to refer the brand too and thanking the ones who used my VBB link. So, of course I feel a strong obligation to talk about it here in the hopes that this doesn’t happen to anyone else.
This whole thing has not changed how I view Victoria Beckham Beauty products. Other than the Brightening Pencil and Concealer Pen that simply don’t work for me, everything else is a hit. The bronzers and eyeshadows rank in my Top 5 within both of those categories. The Posh Glosses and Satin Kajals are among my favorites as well. The brand got me to spend €66 on a primer, which I am even considering repurchasing in the future. I love many of these products, and based on that I still consider VBB one of my few favorite brands. However, I still have some lingering negative feelings over the whole ordeal. I was so happy initially when my referral link was used, and then what happened afterwards was like getting kicked down several pegs. As if I should know my place as a customer and not try to share things publicly as if I’m an influencer. The benefits of a loyal customer who is in the highest tier of their reward program isn’t anywhere near as important as an influencer with clout. That’s how it felt to me.
My account getting reinstated helped to repair some of the damage, at least enough that I made another purchase since then, but I honestly still have some lingering negative feelings. Regardless, my reviews of VBB products will continue to be unbiased. There’s no denying that they are high quality products with some of my favorite luxury packaging. I don’t expect those aspects to be any different in the future and I hope to only have good things to say about the brand going forward.
Thank you for reading, and I sincerely hope this has been helpful.
This is Part 2 of my deep dive into my most recent Chanel purchases. Today’s focus is on the foundations specifically.
I’ve praised the N°1 de Chanel across several posts, but never officially reviewed it. So, I will do so today and showcase the newest shade I own in that line, along with discussing my newest purchases: the Water-Fresh Tint and Water-Fresh Complexion Touch.
N°1 de Chanel Red Camellia Revitalizing Foundation in BD91, BD101, and BD121
This has been my holy grail complexion product since the beginning of 2024. I had dry to normal skin when I lived in Florida, but over there I could still pull off wearing soft matte and natural finish foundations. When I moved to Germany, my skin required way more hydration due to the difference in climate, and most of my previous foundation favorites didn’t cut it anymore (even ones known for being hydrating).
The N°1 de Chanel is accurately described as a luminous and moisturizing foundation with buildable coverage. Although it still doesn’t look ultra glowy on me, it’s the most hydrating foundation in my possession currently. It looks natural-finish in the beginning, and within an hour my face gets a glow that appears as if it’s my own natural oils (as if I have a normal skin type). As the day goes on, that oil level remains the same and doesn’t get greasier. So, I love it for that reason. I also prefer medium coverage (and up) foundations. So, I can apply a small amount with a brush that isn’t so dense to get easy medium coverage or use my typical foundation brushes and 1-2 pumps for the high coverage I tend to aim for.
This foundation is very long-lasting with minimal transfer, depending on how hydrating my skincare products are underneath. My only gripes are the shade availability options, the added parfum/fragrance, and price. It smells like the typical florals from a prestige fashion house, which isn’t bad, but I would prefer for it to not be there. The scent is quite noticeable as I apply it, but thankfully it doesn’t linger in the air for that long.
I own BD91 and BD121 because they were the only shades that had the potential to work on me that I could buy from reputable discount makeup retailers online. Two years ago, I refused to pay $80 on a single foundation that I could not return, and I was uncertain if BD101 or BD111 would be my best shade. I figured at the discounted price I paid, I could get BD91 and BD121 and just mix the two colors if they didn’t work out. As it turned out, BD121 is a little dark, but the biggest issue is that it’s overly orange on me. Whenever I tried to combine the two colors, I could get the right depth, but it was always a little too warm. So, I eventually started using BD91 only, and would just rely on bronzer to balance it out.
Look using N°1 de Chanel in BD91
Attempts to pull off BD91 after my trip back to Florida last April left me feeling dissatisfied. This is why I eventually succumbed to my wishes during the holidays and decided to get BD101 from the Chanel website. In the US, shades BD101 and BD111 used to be exclusive to Chanel. Now, they can both be found at Ulta. In Germany, BD111 doesn’t exist and BD101 can still only be purchased directly from Chanel.
BD101 in the N°1 de Chanel isn’t a whole lot darker than BD91, but it is at least closer to my year-round skintone while in Germany. So, I expected BD101 to be my shade in all other Chanel formulas. I didn’t realize the Complexion Touch range runs slightly light!
Chanel Les Beiges Water-Fresh Complexion Touch in BD101
This product is intended to be hydrating, which it is to an extent, but the finish is natural rather than dewy or luminous. It was my mistake for assuming a foundation with “water” in the name would give my skin a shinier or wetter appearance than the N°1 de Chanel, but it does not. On the bright side, the Water-Fresh Complexion Touch has been transfer-proof. I don’t need to use a setting spray with it, nor setting powder. Also, it does not contain parfum.
What immediately impressed me about this formula is how easily and evenly the pigment microcapsules break into the solution. I can squirt some directly on my face and my brush will break and spread the spheres and blend it into my skin in the same amount of time as any traditional foundation would. When I was using the Rose Inc Tinted Serum, I had to pump it out onto the back of my hand and crush the pigment capsules with my brush first for a bit before transferring the product onto my face, otherwise the pigment would not mix into the solution properly and then would not spread evenly on the face. There would be patches of unblended spheres without enough liquid left to move it around.
As seen in the photo below with comparisons to the Rose Inc Tinted Serum, The Complexion Touch is viscous enough that it is slow to drip when I hold it at an angle, but it still feels light and gel-like on the skin, whereas Rose Inc’s is runny and feels watery. They have a lot of ingredients in common, but Chanel’s feels a bit more emollient and contains more pigment. In my example photo, the Rose Inc pump dispensed double the droplet size, but when I rubbed it, it was still sheerer than Chanel’s. Rose Inc’s product is a true tinted serum. The Complexion Touch is more of a lightweight and buildable light to medium coverage foundation, but it can be applied as sheer as a tint if it’s used with a sponge or a less dense synthetic foundation brush. Perhaps it could be built up to higher coverage, but I can’t do that due to the imperfect shade match. It’s better for me to use as little product as possible.
I miss the Rose Inc product a lot, so I really hoped this would fill the void. Unfortunately, BD101 is a bit too light for me. In this formula, it’s slightly lighter than BD101 in the N°1 de Chanel.
Heavier application. Applied later in the day.
Better lighting. Morning.
Because it’s at least not orange and too dark, I can somewhat pull off wearing this if I bronze up the perimeters, but the whole reason I wanted this was for minimal makeup days. I wanted something that would even out my complexion while being hard to detect on the skin. An ill-fitting shade is a glaring indication that I have makeup on. Unless Chanel expands the range to include B111, there isn’t another option for me. The Complexion Touch is technically more expensive than the N°1 de Chanel, at $3.50 per ml vs $2.67 per ml, and yet it didn’t dethrone that foundation. So, perhaps I would not buy another shade even if the brand releases more colors.
This foundation comes with a tiny brush, but it’s too small for me to enjoy using it all over my face. Instead, I’ve used it to apply the Complexion Touch as a concealer under my eyes. I can’t wear my shade alone because my dark circles are so deep that the product looks grey on top of them. However, it did give the Correcteur I mentioned in Part 1 its best results when paired together.
I’ve tried using this as a primer or mixed in with my darker foundations to improve the shade match. Even though this is water-based and some of the combinations were oil-based, that didn’t seem to impact the longevity or change the consistency in a negative way. I was able to successfully get the shades closer to my face color, but unfortunately I kept feeling that every product I used (N1 de Chanel, Rose Inc Tinted Serum, the Water-Fresh Tint, etc) looked better alone than when mixed. For example, when I mixed it with the Rose Inc Tint, it improved the color, but added just enough coverage to prevent it from looking undetectable, while also not managing to give enough coverage for me to like it. Sheer coverage is one thing, but when it’s light coverage, I feel like I may as well try to cover most of my imperfections. I either want a tint that’s so low coverage it just evens out the skin without being able to tell I’m wearing makeup, or having the minimum of medium coverage.
The Complexion Touch has a fair amount of positives going for it, but it isn’t a good fit for me or my preferences.
Chanel Les Beiges Water-Fresh Tint in Deep and Medium Deep
Deep
This is the product I should have started with all along. As I mentioned in the previous section, I want either a veil of color to even out my skintone while looking like my normal skin or an imperfection-erasing foundation. This checks the “nearly undetectable” box! It’s perfect for minimal no-makeup makeup days.
Using my barest amount of skincare with the tint, I get a natural finish with the tiniest bit of glow. The second I apply powder products like highlighters, blush, and bronzer, those are enough to mattify my skin and I lose any luminosity. My face then feels mostly dry to the touch, and the tint doesn’t transfer. A single long pump (pushing it down fully) is all I need to create that veil, or perhaps a tiny bit more if I’m using a brush that isn’t dense.
I need to clarify that this tint is water based and also water soluble. Although I don’t get transfer if my face touches something, I still need to wear a primer underneath if I want any chance of avoiding streak marks if I cry or my face gets wet in some other way.
If I use two full pumps (or 4 smaller pumps) to get medium coverage all over my face, I will be able to feel some of the gel residue when I touch my face, and it will have that kind of wet shine that glycerin (and maybe other ingredients) leave on the skin, similar to MAC Fix+ and other hydrating sprays. Thankfully, I can still get close to medium coverage with three small pumps of tint without being able to feel it on my face.
The tint is still self-setting if I use my typical skincare products underneath, though I will get a little bit of shine as the day goes on. If I use my most hydrating skincare, then my face can surpass the glow of the N°1 de Chanel Foundation. If I don’t use setting powder, it will be dewy for quite a while, but even then it dries down on its own eventually. At most, it’ll feel as if I just have a gel moisturizer on. In my skin’s most hydrated state with the Water-Fresh Tint on, touching my skin will transfer moisture to my fingertips, but no actual pigment from what I can see. When I press a white paper towel to my skin everywhere, there is only the faintest hint of color.
There are times when I’m testing a new concealer or eyeshadows, but I don’t feel like putting on a full face of makeup. Products like this are useful to make me feel a bit more put together. Of course, I can take a fuller coverage product and just sheer it out. However, if I’m already not in the mood to put in much effort, I’m not going to want to mix products together in that moment either.
The Water-Fresh Tint is runny in consistency and sheerer than the Complexion Touch, but the Rose Inc Skin Enhance Luminous Tinted Serum is still even more watery and with lower coverage. The Complexion Touch and Rose Inc product have more ingredients in common, but there are three ingredients that the Water-Fresh Tint shares with Rose Inc’s Serum Foundation that the Complexion Touch does not. That means that there are only 6 out of 28 total ingredients in the Rose Inc formula that can’t be found in either of the Chanel ones. In my eyes, that adds even more credibility to the rumors that Rose Inc took a lot of “inspiration” from Chanel in making their Luminous Tinted Serum.
Also, neither of Chanel’s Water-Fresh products have that cooling sensation on the skin. I’m not a cosmetic chemist, but it’s possible that it’s merely the benzyl alcohol evaporating on the skin, which according to Google, “extracts heat from the surface and causes a localized, temporary cooling effect.” If this is what’s responsible for the amazing feeling I loved from Rose Inc’s Tint, perhaps it’s for the best that the Water-Fresh ones don’t have it.
The Water-Fresh Tint has added fragrance, but it’s less noticeable than with the N°1 de Chanel Foundation. Again, it’s that kind of classic luxury brand floral smell.
Like the Complexion Touch, this also comes with a brush, though I am more willing to use this one all over the face because flat tops lead to such fast applications of products. Still, a bigger brush is my preferred application tool. With the Complexion Touch, the capsules were so easy to mix in that I could just use my fingers to apply it to my face if I wanted. Although the Water-Fresh Tint’s capsules mix better and more evenly than the Rose Inc Product, and I can apply this to my face like a normal foundation, it takes extra effort with fingers to get the color fully and evenly dispersed in the solution. So, I recommend using a brush.
No online retailers in Germany have the shade Medium Deep. If a color within my expected shade range is unofficially exclusive to the Chanel website, I can assume that one is going to be my best shade match. So, I bought Deep first to try it (and as a potential shade adjusting product). Deep is a little warmer and darker than I am right now. The coverage level reminds me of the Beekman 1802 Milk Tint SPF 43 Tinted Primer Serum, which I also have in the shade Deep. Thankfully, Chanel’s isn’t as dark as Beekman’s, so I believe I can get away with wearing it. However, I couldn’t stop nagging at myself to get another shade too. That’s how I ended up buying the second one.
For anyone curious, this was the gift bag charm for February/Valentine’s Day!
Like I mentioned in Part 1, one of my biggest gripes with Chanel is the fact that, in Germany, my best shade match is exclusive to their website across all of their foundation formulas. Since they almost never have sales or discounts on their own site, that means I have to pay full price if I don’t want to mix shades or to rely on other products to balance things out.
Considering how much I loved the Rose Inc Skin Enhance Luminous Tinted Serum, and its similar formula to Chanel, I think it’s a great alternative for someone wanting to spend less money (provided they have a shade option and it doesn’t oxidize). To clarify, the Rose Inc Tint starts off as my correct shade, but it looks orange in photos and perhaps when I use certain skincare products with it, but I’ve never been able to figure out which ones cause this. Chanel’s Tint is $72 and Rose Inc’s Tint is $49. Rose Inc’s product does dry down more in the German climate than when I was in Florida. Over here, Chanel’s is more hydrating. So, it’s a bit of a toss up as to which one I like more. Medium Deep was a deciding factor and ultimately having my better shade match tipped the scales in Chanel’s favor.
In addition to these three photos, I also took a picture of Medium Deep swatched across my cheek (like I did with the shade Deep), but it was not visible at all, so I did not include it here.
Medium Deep is a good match, but it looks even closer when I use the Victoria Beckham Beauty Cell Rejuvenating Illuminator in the shade Golden as my primer underneath.
To sum things up, the N°1 de Chanel Foundation gives the most coverage with the most hydrated finish, and has the biggest shade range of the three. The Water-Fresh Complexion Touch has the second-most coverage and shade range, but it’s the least hydrating. The Water-Fresh Tint has the least amount of shades and provides the lightest coverage, but it’s the second-most hydrating.
It’s clear to me that the N°1 de Chanel Foundation is something I will continue to repurchase, and in my correct shade from now on. However, I’d like to bring up the fact that the Danessa Myricks Yummy Skin Tint Foundation was second on my list of most used foundations in 2025. It’s $39 if you live in the US, and it’s the most similar performing that I’ve found to Chanel’s (with Chanel’s being more hydrating). For some reason, Danessa’s is €51 within the EU, but sometimes the retailer Purish drops the price to 50% off. Just like the Rose Inc product, I feel that this is another excellent alternative.
I technically don’t need any other foundation, but I do like having a nearly-undetectable option too. So, I am glad I bought the Water-Fresh Tint. It’s only because the two Chanel products are holy grails to me that I am willing to spend so much on them. However, $100 or €85 is my personal limit at which a foundation won’t become worth it to me no matter how amazing it is. For example, I don’t see myself ever buying the €121 Victoria Beckham Beauty Foundation Drops, the €125 Hermès Plein Air Luminous Matte Skincare Foundation, or even Chanel’s €168 Sublimage L’Essence de Teint. The €75 for my exclusive shade in the N°1 de Chanel Foundation is the most I’ve ever spent, and I’m not so sure I’ll be willing to try any others this expensive again. I was tempted by the Tom Ford Architecture Radiance Hydrating Foundation, which I could have gotten for €68, but I don’t want to purchase anymore foundations with fragrance in them. Chanel is my final exception on that.
I know I’m late to the game on these. Although I don’t have a TikTok account, these pudding pots have become so successful that I’ve been seeing them talked about everywhere in 2025 in particular. For the past few years, I’ve done my best to stop buying cream and liquid cheek products due to their quicker expiry time than powders. This was my reason for not buying the Pudding Pots, but when I saw Fwee’s products become available through German retailers like Douglas and Flaconi, the FOMO grew too strong for me to take! I started with one, then ordered three more, and now I have forced myself to stop at 7 out of the 35 total!
I’ve included photos of what the colors look like in their frosted glass pots, but it doesn’t help. So many of them look identical to each other or look much deeper than how they appear on my skin. I watched so many swatch videos and scrolled through so many photos, yet I still ended up with shades that were unexpected. So, if anyone reading this has access to these in person to be able to try them out, I highly recommend doing that.
These colorful Pudding Pots don’t just look like desserts. They have a fruity/candy-like smell too. But don’t eat them! Haha.
BLUSHES
Shade Name: My ND04 Undertone: Warm Description: Natural Nude Coral Category: Just Me Moment
This has been touted as a “universal” shade. It can be built up enough to show on my skin, but I will probably use this exclusively on the apples of my cheeks going forward. It’s a little lighter of a color than I’m used to wearing on its own, but I still like it. It’s also much lighter on my lips than I would normally wear.
Dear is a little more pigmented and even warmer of a color than My, so I think it suits my skintone quite well for a relatively light shade, but I still wouldn’t wear this on my lips.
Shade Name: Feel’n RS01 Undertone: Warm Description: Rose Coral Category: Faded Moment
This is supposed to have a warm undertone, but it looks cool toned on me in person. It’s at least the most cool of the seven I own. It’s pretty, but I like it a bit less than the others.
Shade Name: Chill’n MV01 Undertone: Warm Description: Cooled Down Greyish Brown Category: Cold-Hearted Moment
I thought this would look way more cool-toned on me based on the description, although it is technically listed as being suited for those with a warm undertone. I can clearly see purple tones in the pot, but for some reason it’s bright pink on my skin. This is probably the biggest twist in expectations vs reality out of the seven I own. I like it more than Feel’n, but it still ranks lower on the list.
To me, this is like a darker version of Dear. I prefer this shade, but I try to apply a thin layer (less than pictured) so that it’s a bare flush of brightness since it’s a more poppy color than I expected.
Shade Name: Lyrics RS02 Undertone: Warm Description: Brown Coral Rose Category: Faded Moment
This is the warmest shade of the bunch, and most easy to see on my skin, so I thought I would like this the most. However, it’s a bit too warm. I prefer Memories.
Shade Name: Memories RS04 Undertone: Warm Description: Marsala Rose Category: Faded Moment
This is the one shade I end up using most often. It’s a little less warm-red and more of a pink-red.
EXPERIENCE
The consistency of this product is like a bouncy mousse. It has a dimethicone-heavy formula, but that is what gives it its slip-like texture with a matte look. The blurred blush and lip trend that has long been popular across Asia is reaching similar heights in the west due to so many US and European brands now coming out with their own versions. There are so many options to choose from worldwide!
Wet n Wild isn’t fooling anyone with their Mother Fluffer Pudding Blush. It’s a dupe too!
I only really have two blushes that are comparable to Fwee’s Pudding Pots. The first is the Catrice Velvet Pudding Blurring Blush which indeed feels like a creamy pudding and does not have much bounce. The second is the Rare Beauty Soft Pinch Matte Bouncy Blush which has the slip feeling and bounce without the mousse texture that is so easy to be picked up. Rare Beauty’s is more compact in the pan.
I mentioned in my review that I like the Rare Beauty blush only after applying a hydrating spray on top, which gives it some glow. I thought I wouldn’t mind how matte Fwee’s blushes look if I could use the same technique, but it doesn’t transform it, and I have to be careful not to touch my face too soon afterwards because the sprays (e.g. from Pat Mcgrath and Charlotte Tilbury) make the blush susceptible to lifting off before it dries again. For my skin type and preference for nude blush tones, I actually like Catrice’s product the most! As long as my skin is adequately prepped, the blush doesn’t look flat on me. There are currently only five shades in the line, but the one I own in 040 Maple Mousse is dark-skin friendly. Just like Fwee’s Pudding Pots, the Catrice Pudding Blushes are scented (though they smell like white chocolate rather than fruity/candy). They are less expensive too, but I believe Fwee’s formula consists of slightly more expensive ingredients. Since my main concern is how it looks and performs, that isn’t enough to change my mind about Catrice’s blush being my favorite of the three.
The Fwee Pudding Pot spreads easily enough, it’s non-drying, and a minimal amount doesn’t look cakey. I don’t have issues with longevity when I apply this on top of foundation, but if I’m going for a minimal makeup look, my skin just eats this blush up. I have to apply a heavier amount than I want in order to counteract the fading so that I end up still having visible blush at the end of the day.
For the best blended results, I make a single tap into the pot with my Rephr LC02 brush and blend the product onto the back of my hand, warming it up, before applying it to my cheeks. I might have to build up additional layers if it’s one of the lighter shades, but this way ensures I don’t overapply.
I bought the Fwee Fingerlike Silicone Lip Brush when I realized my brush and fingers won’t be able to get product out of the small opening that easily as it gets used up over time. I can apply a few dots onto my cheeks with the lip brush as well, but I still run the risk of applying too much, and this kind of formula doesn’t diffuse as easily as a powder product. So, I use this tool mostly to apply product onto my lips (which is great thanks to the slanted curve of the soft silicone tip) or onto the back of my hand.
At YesStyle, there are mini sizes of the silicone tip lip brush as well as a full size brush with a bristle type of tip.
Back to the discussion of the Pudding Pots, I haven’t liked any of these as standalone lip products. The colors are too saturated for my taste, yet they look strange if I use a minimal amount because the two spots of darker pigment on my lower lip are obvious to see underneath. The way the color grips around dry patches on my lips is also unflattering. So, I don’t enjoy how they look unless my lips are already in a good state. They are not transfer-proof, but they last fairly well before I need to touch up my lips. Another fortunate thing is that even though I expected this formula to dry out my lips, it doesn’t seem to. It’s comfortable to wear for the mostpart, but it still doesn’t look flattering enough to me even if it’s not drawing out my lip’s moisture. It’s possible that I could like this paired with other lip products for an ombré effect or after I’ve filled in my lips with lip liner, but I haven’t been inspired to try either technique. I prefer to just consider this strictly a blush.
Overall, I think the Pudding Pots are a fun and youthful product. I resisted buying them for so long, and I wish I had the willpower to have been able to keep resisting them simply because I’m not interested in the matte look. I couldn’t turn them into a glowier looking product, the way I did with the Rare Beauty Bouncy Blushes, so that’s unfortunate for me. I think I look better when my skin has some shine to it. For everyone else that loves the blurred matte trend, I can understand why Fwee’s product is so popular. They are reasonably priced and come in so many shades (perhaps even too many). The formula isn’t difficult to work with as long as the product is either warmed up or built up in small layers.
So, I understand why people like these, but I still think they’re a little overhyped. The best aspects about these Pudding Pots are the shade options, fun texture, and packaging which technically other brands could have as well. When it comes to the performance, it isn’t as unique.
I hope that these photos have been helpful. Thanks for reading! Other reviews I recommend are from Tina Tanaka Harris (for video quality showing every shade), Itskrystle (for in-depth information and testing), and Corizus (someone else similar to my skintone).
Lili's Beauty Blog 