The Armani Neo Nude Melting Colour Balms ranked among the top of my favorite cream-to-powder blushes. They were discontinued, and I believe it was due to the myriad of manufacturing flaws and inconsistent formula that I talked about in great detail in my first Armani Blush Post and the subsequent one.

I wished dearly for the brand to reformulate and relaunch them, because that line had so much potential, but it appears we have the Dolci Makeup Blurring Multi-Use Blush Balms instead.

I never bought 45 Brick Red from the Neo Nude line because it verged closer to orange than I wanted. So, when I saw the Dolci Blush in 4 Cinnamon, I was intrigued! It’s a reddish brown blush that isn’t too vibrant, which is one of my favorite kinds of blush colors. Out of the swatch comparisons below, the shade I am always drawn to is more along the lines of Prada’s Kaffe because it has a little more brown. A color like MAC’s Pinch of Marrakesh is of similar depth, but too orange. Ironically, I always felt Fwee’s Lyrics was too warm, but it looks so pink compared to the others!

While we’re on the topic of comparing blushes, I have to say that while I was aware that the packaging would be small, I was still shocked to see it in person. The photo below shows the maximum amount of blush that can be rolled up. It looks smaller than the Prada blush, but surprisingly the Prada only has 3.5 grams of product (which is the same amount the Armani Neo Nude Blushes had).
Armani claims the Dolci blushes weigh 8 grams, so I wonder if that amount is what’s shown in my photo below, or if there’s more product below that would need to be scraped out. I’m not curious enough to dig into this product and find out, but perhaps someone else online will!

Although Cinnamon isn’t the perfect tone of reddish-brown that I love, I have been able to add other blushes to the apples of my cheeks and been thrilled with the end result! It’s still a very pretty color and I’ve become more impressed with the Dolci Blush the more I use it.

At first, I was dabbing the stick directly onto my cheeks and then blending the blush out with dense brushes. Doing it that way results in a very blended look, perhaps due to the soft matte and blurring properties, but it sometimes looked a little cakey.
It wasn’t until I started running my brush bristles over the stick to pick it up that way that I realized this formula is sheerer than I thought. With a brush like the Singe Beauty FO3 that’s tighter packed around the base, but has a lot more splay and movement midway through to the tips, I can get such a light veil of color that the blush looks so skin-like and natural! That was the biggest reason I fell in love with the Neo Nude Melting Balms in the first place! For those that want stronger pigment, this still builds quite a bit and I would recommend using something denser like the Rephr LC02. I’ve even used the Smashbox Full Coverage Foundation brush with it.

The Neo Nude Blushes had a cross between a dimethicone type of slip and the tiniest bit of oil. Once it dries, it has the silicone feel of a waterproof type of product (except shade 30). The Dolci Blush feels creamier and more emollient. Once it dries, it has a bit of a powdery feel, but there’s still a little residue that slightly transfers. Both blushes contain dimethicone and silicones, but dimethicone is way farther down the Dolci Blush ingredient list. Also, the Dolci Blush contains fragrance. It’s sweet and fruity (according to their Canadian website it’s supposed to be “upcycled pear and luscious fig”), but something smells slightly floral in there as well. It’s present, but thankfully not as strong as many other designer brands’ makeup. It doesn’t give me a headache, but I still prefer to not have perfume in my makeup. Wearing multiple scented products at one time can be overwhelming.

Other than this blush being easy to blot away with physical contact, as long as nothing touches my cheeks, the color remains unfaded and intact all day. The times when I lay my head on a pillow or touch my face more than usual, I’m not left completely bare-cheeked by nighttime. However, the blush is still pretty faint if I was going for a sheer look to begin with. Because this isn’t as much of a problem for me, I haven’t tested to see if using a setting spray or some other product could make it budge-proof.

As a lip product, it has a suede-like feel when it dries. I love the blurred look and it appears smooth and pretty. However, my chronically dry lips need an occlusive layer in order to stay in good condition. This looks good while on, but it feels drying and even appears drier once I remove it.
Also, this doesn’t stand up very well to my drinking and eating habits. I don’t get long wear out of it.

This costs €42 Euros in Germany (around $48 USD). I was able to get a discount that brought the price down to around the $39 price that it costs within the US. The Neo Nude blushes were $38 in 2021, and had packaging I preferred, including a mirror. The Dolci blushes have a pleasing soft touch matte component and more than double the product, so that’s the tradeoff. It’s adorably small. As much as I want to say it should cost less based on how tiny it is, I’m willing to pay that kind of price for this formula. However, I’m not in a rush to buy additional shades since it’s only worth it if it’s going to be a color I’m crazy about.

That’s about all I can think of to discuss in this post. I hope it has been helpful!

Thanks for reading!

-Lili ❤