My Blush Collection

I received a request last week to share my blush collection, and I thought that was a great idea. One of the main notions I try to stress is that blushes largely look the same when they are applied onto the skin. Therefore, owning a ton of blush really doesn't make a lot of sense. And even in my collection, which is not small by any stretch, there is some slight overlap. However, I feel strongly that everything in my collection is distinct enough to stay. And I have no intentions of adding more to this collection. 

By Terry Sun Designer Palette Light and Tan Vibes

I'll start with this palette of sorts since I usually don't count this as one of my blushes. I absolutely love this product. This is my favorite bronzer, just slightly edging out my Hourglass bronzer. And the blush is also incredibly beautiful. I swirl all three colors together in the blush (rather than using the top as a bronzer and the bottom as a highlight) and it creates a gorgeous peach-pink on my skin. It looks on me the way I think NARS Orgasm looks on others. 

Tarte Exposed

I've written about this blush before. This is a favorite for many people, and every time I tried it on at Sephora, it looked like nothing on my skin. And I really didn't understand how it was the perfect blush for so many people. I later realized that the harsh lighting in Sephora washed me out and that all the testers I had seen had hard pan on them. If you're not familiar, "hard pan" is when the top of a product gets a hard film on it that renders the product essentially unusable until that part of the product is removed. When I finally got my hands on a brand new blush and applied it onto my skin, I realized that it was the perfect "go with everything" blush for my skin tone. I typically wear this blush when I either don't know what to wear or just can't be bothered to think about it. 

NARS Goulue

This is a mini blush that's about the size of a NARS eyeshadow. I received this as a "perk" (eyeroll) from Sephora for being a VIB Rouge member. I wasn't planning on hanging onto this blush, but I actually really like it. It's, again, slightly pink-peach on my skin, but has more depth. I enjoy this, but I don't know if I would have paid $30 to buy a full size. 

City Color Cosmetics Be Matte Blush Blackberry

This blush surprised me quite a bit. It is $6 and is pretty great. It's a cool-toned mauve, and it actually looks great on my skin. It reminds me in color a lot of one of my favorite blushes—Hourglass Mood Exposure—but is completely matte. This blush doesn't last as long on me as some of my other blushes, but the wear time isn't bad either. I don't think this is a good blush "for the price." I think this is a good blush, full stop. 

theBalm Balm Desert

I believe I've written about this blush before as well. I was really in want of a natural blush, and it seemed as though the search would never end. Since I have warm-toned skin, I thought Becca Wild Honey would be the perfect blush for me, especially since it was receiving a ton of hype. It didn't look terrible on me, but it was not at all what I was wanting. It was very warm on my skin, and I was wanting a rose-brown blush that was primarily brown but had notes of rose. I also tried Benefit Dallas and Too Faced Pink Leopard before trying Balm Desert. This product is mainly discussed as a bronzer, but I've never tried it as one. It has always been a blush in my collection, and it is absolutely perfect and exactly what I wanted. Similar to Tarte Exposed, I wear this blush when I don't know what to wear or don't want to think about it. 

theBalm Cabana Boy

I know this may look similar to NARS Goulue, but it is actually much cooler and raspberry-toned. I really wanted a blush like NARS Sin that was a mix between red and purple, leaning more toward purple. However, most purple-toned blushes don't look that great on my skin. Cabana Boy was exactly what I wanted, and I wear it when I wear cool-toned looks. 

All of the above blushes are loves in my collection. I have whittled down so many blushes over the years and I feel very confident in my entire blush collection. With that said, the following blushes are what I consider my "favorite."

theBalm Frat Boy

Frat Boy makes me so happy. For years I tried to wear pink blushes only to layer product onto my face and it not show up. Or to put cool-toned baby pink blush onto my cheeks and look washed out and sickly. When I finally realized that I have warm-toned skin, I honestly felt as though I would never be able to wear pink blush and would be unable to find any that flattered my skin. Then came Frat Boy. I was shocked when I first tried this on because it showed up on my skin, was pink, and flattered me. To make matters even better, there's no shimmer in it and it doesn't emphasize my skin's texture, but it doesn't look flat on my skin either. I really can't say enough good things about this blush. 

Marc Jacobs Lines and Last Night 

This is the newest blush to my collection and has already jumped to being a favorite. I bought this blush to replace Laura Geller Cantaloupe, which was the peach blush in my collection. Although I really liked Cantaloupe, because of its formula, I felt the product was difficult to pick up and be able to build. Because of this, I recently decluttered it from my collection. I still wanted a peach blush in my collection, and I decided on this from Marc Jacobs. And I have to say, this is one of my favorite blush formulas ever. The staying power is phenomenal, and I absolutely love the finish it gives my skin. The color is also really flattering on me because it has more pink than orange, but is still peach. I love it. 

Hourglass Mood Exposure

This is a longtime favorite. This is the blush I am wearing today, and every time I wear it, I ask myself why I own other blushes at all. (The reason is that sometimes other colors look better depending on my eyeshadow or clothing.) This was one of the first blushes I ever came across that completely flattered me and made me understand why some people are crazy about blush. It's a mauve, so it's somewhat similar to theBalm Cabana Boy or City Color Blackberry, but it doesn't look similar to either (none of them look similar, really) when applied onto the skin. But I think this is a perfect blush for warm-toned olive skin. 

NARS Exhibit A

I wrote an anti-haul post about the holiday blush palettes from NARS and specifically wrote about Exhibit A. This was the reason I wanted one of those palettes in the first place because it was a favorite of mine when I owned it years earlier. I went through a period of time (well over a year) when I wore nothing but this blush. And I loved every moment of it. When I wrote that blog post, I realized that I was willing to pay $30 more than the cost of this one blush to get it and five other blushes that were pretty but that I didn't want enough to buy on their own. And I realized that my money would be better spent just buying the one item I actually wanted. So shortly after I wrote that post, I repurchased Exhibit A. And it has been a love affair ever since. It's a tossup between this and Mood Exposure for my all-time favorite blush, but it I was really pressed, I would probably say Exhibit A. Having it back in my collection has really made me realize how much I love it and how flattering it really is. I (obviously) use a very light hand, and the color is lovely on my skin and incredibly unique without calling attention to itself. I love it. 

What I'm Not Buying: Hourglass Surreal Light Ambient Lighting Edit Palette

Hourglass has come out with another palette of their loved ambient lighting products for holiday 2016, and this one was the biggest disappointment of the season for me.

And I won't be buying.

The cost of this palette is a whopping $80 for .30 ounces of product. To put that in perspective, one full-sized Ambient Lighting Powder is $46 for .35 ounces of product.

So this Edit palette costs nearly double the price for less product than one full-sized powder.

According to Temptalia's review, the Edit palette contains $53.30 worth of product. For $80. That is one hell of an upcharge.

The palette contains:

• Surreal Light, an Ambient Lighting finishing power
• Surreal Glow, a blush 
• Surreal Effect, a blush 
• Surreal Bronze Light, a bronzer
• Surreal Strobe Light, a strobe (highlight) powder

There are a few things I would like to address.

Let's start with the positives.

I like the packaging. I've heard some people refer to it as "bathroom tile" packaging, but I personally really like the marble look to it, and I prefer it over the typical Hourglass packaging that quickly becomes covered in fingerprints.

I like that you get to sample so many different finishes within the Ambient Lighting line. You get a finishing power, blushes, a bronzer, and a highlighter. For the very few people this would work for, it would act as an excellent travel palette as you have everything in one small compact.

Now onto the negatives.

Frankly, this product is a blatant ripoff, and as a consumer and longtime fan of Hourglass, that tactic does not impress me.

Typically during the holiday season, brands will give customers a value with their seasonal offerings, with some claiming to be as high as a $350 value for $49. So it truly baffles me that Hourglass does the opposite. They give you a $53 value for $80. That I just cannot understand or support.

What is especially frustrating about this is that I absolutely love Hourglass products. My all-time favorite finishing powder is the Ambient Lighting Powder in Dim Light:

All-time favorite blush is Mood Exposure:

And all-time favorite bronzer is Luminous Bronze Light:

I love these products. I have used Dim Light daily (literally) since I purchased it, Luminous Bronze Light is by far my most used bronzer, and I wear Mood Exposure almost exclusively during the colder months (about half the year). 

I would have loved to own a travel palette from Hourglass so that I wouldn't have to carry these three large compacts with me, but I absolutely cannot justify the price. 

Another point worth mentioning is that I've heard reviewers say that the colors only work for very fair skin. That also is so disappointing. 

With all-in-one palettes, it can be difficult to figure out the right audience. The palette is either going to absolutely perfect for one specific skin tone only, or different parts of it will work for different people with all people being able to find something that works for them. The biggest problem with the second scenario is that most people won't be able to use the entire palette, only the parts that work for them. 

I honestly don't know which is better. In a perfect world, there would be complete palettes of the same idea that come in different classifications for different skin tones. It would be great if a palette such as this could come in a light, medium, and deep selection. But I am yet to see that from any brand. 

I do find it inherently obnoxious, however, that when brands do decide to go with the first scenario and make a palette perfect for one skin tone, it is always for a light one. I have a light-to-medium skin tone, and most of the shades in this palette wouldn't even show up on me, let alone the spectrum of medium and deep skin tones. 

The only value I could see in this palette is if you have the exact skin tone this palette has targeted and you personally find value in having your Hourglass powders in one compact. If you are willing to pay $80 for that convenience, this would probably interest you. 

But to me, it feels like a ripoff with no consideration for diversity, and I won't be buying.  

What I'm Not Buying: Tarte Bush Palette Color Wheel

So, as per usual, Tarte has come out with a holiday blush palette. Their Amazonian Clay blush formula has been incredibly popular for years, so the ability to nab a palette full of these pretty shades for the cost of about two full-sized blushes is very appealing. 

But, I'm not gonna buy this. 

This blush palette, with ten (ten!) shades comes off the heels of Tarte releasing and selling out of the Big Blush Book 2, which helped perpetuate the hysteria that if one does not sit in front of their computer frantically refreshing cosmetic pages that they will miss out of the latest hyped release. 

That's just not my style. 

The biggest positive that I can give the Color Wheel is the packaging. It's a smallish round disk that opens to reveal ten shades. 

I think this design is ten times better than that of the Big Blush Book 2, which was enormous and very flimsy with a sliding lid and no clasp. 

The Color Wheel palette is a little less than half the size of the Big Blush Book 2, which makes it compact, easy to store, and potentially good for traveling.

Traditionally Tarte's holiday blush palettes come in square, clutch-style packing: 

And I like the design of the Color Wheel better as it allows for twice the amount of shades.

But, and here's the thing. No one needs ten blushes. And that's the biggest reason why I won't be purchasing the Color Wheel. 

Really, the palette looks to be about eight blushes and two highlight shades. And even though there are eight individual blush shades, I know they would not look markedly different on my skin. And my guess it that they won't look all that different on most skin tones. 

That's the thing about blush. We don't pack it on like we do eyeshadow, and we always sheer it out. We want it to look natural, and when sheered out, most colors look pretty similar. 

For my warm olive skin, these are the blush shades I want:

• A rose
• A mauve
• A warm pink
• A coral 
• A mauve/brown 

That's it. That's all I want. And really, the rose, mauve, and mauve/brown shades all look pretty similar as is. 

If I had cool-toned skin, I would want a cool pink instead of a warm pink and maybe a lavender instead of a coral. But really, I don't see most skin tones wanting/needing more than five blush colors ever. 

I look at Tarte's Color Wheel and I ask myself: 

Will all the colors look markedly different on me? No. 

Will all the colors flatter my skin? No. 

Does the entirety of this palette offer me something I don't already have? No. 

Will I use this over my current collection of blushes? No. 

So, what's the appeal of this palette? Is it the color selection? The packaging? The value? 

I suspect the latter. See, that's how this entire holiday shopping season works. If you compare how much it would cost you to buy each individual blush at full size, this seems like a steal. BUT. You likely wouldn't buy every single one of these colors full-sized if you had to. And I think that's something a lot of people (myself included) forget. If I wouldn't buy them full-sized, why should I get them in a value set?

The last thing I want to address is quality. Year after year I am always SO disappointed in the quality of holiday products compared to their permanent counterparts. I have one Tarte Amazonian Clay blush, and it was made in the USA. The Color Wheel was made in China. I know this can be a controversial topic, but it's important to see that Tarte uses a different factory when making holiday palettes because it cuts a lot of the cost to them. But this also means that the quality is not the same. Sure, the formula could be similar, but since it is made at a different lab, the quality will inherently be different. 

And if you look at it from the business perspective, of course it makes sense to use a cheaper factory and to cut costs. But really, does the product become a value to the consumer? If it was the exact same as the original product, of course it would be, but when corners are cut, I personally don't think the value is there. 

From my personal experience, when companies change labs for limited edition products, the quality is just not up to par. And I won't purchase. Some reviewers will say that they notice no difference between the quality of Tarte's permanent blushes and the value sets. But that is not my personal experience. 

So, frankly, I don't need this palette. I don't need this many blushes in general. And I'm not going to buy it.