Until this year, I have never owned a blusher. Never. It’s not something that I’ve felt the need to own, despite being very much in the camp of #teamGhostSkin, and having to battle with ‘Oh are you not feeling well?’ etc. questions every single winter. I guess the main reason is that I’ve never really felt like adding colour to my face, scared that I’d get it wrong, or that people would still ask if I was unwell purely because I had more colour than usual.

Now, I am a lot more confident. I’m still not a pro at application, but I do have 3 very pretty, dusty pinks, and one that was definitely an impulse buy, in my make up collection. Just to add a little bit of colour to my cheeks in the winter time.

The blushers that I’m going to review & swatch for you today are:

– Sleek’s   Rose Gold

– Sleek’s   Pixie Pink

– Natural Collection’s  Blushed Cheeks in Pink Cloud

– Nature Republic’s   Botanical Apple Dome Blusher in 01 Pink Apple

Top: Rose Gold by sleek, Pixie Pink by sleek Bottom: Pink Cloud by natural collection, 01 Apple Pink by nature republic

Packaging:

I love the little compact cases the Sleek blushes come in. They’re really thin, so don’t take up much room in your makeup bag or your purse, and are easy to store when you’re not carrying them around. They have a weight to them, not to say that they are heavy, but they feel a lot more substantial due to the weight of the mirror in the compact. The mirror does make for more easy application on the go. Both of the Sleek blushes list the ingredients and the shade on the base of the packaging.

The Natural Collection blush packaging doesn’t feel very robust at all, but then again it is only £1.99, so I’m not expecting the worlds best. The blush itself comes in a little pan, so you can pop it into a pallet if you so wish. If I had a pallet to hand, I’d be really inclined to swap from the original packaging, as it does feel quite cheap. The lid of mine has already cracked. There are no ingredients listed anywhere on the blushers packaging, only the shade.

The domed blush by Nature Republic, a Korean brand, has very similar packaging to the Natural Collection product, but is a much better quality. The plastic doesn’t feel as flimsy in the hand, and the lid does feel securely on when it’s clicked into place. It isn’t as compact as the Sleek blushes, but the product inside is a cream rather than a powder, and has a screw mechanism to move the product up. No ingredients listed on the packaging either, just the shade in english and hangul.

Rose Gold, Pixie Pink, Pink Cloud, Apple Pink

Product:

Rose Gold, Pixie Pink and Pink Cloud are all pressed powder blushes, so they’re packaged as a powder and go onto your face as a powder. The three are largely unscented, although Rose Gold and Pixie Pink both have a hint of the baby/talcum powder smell, as Talc is a listed ingredient. It is very subtle though. Pink Cloud smells of absolutely nothing.  Apple Pink is a cream blush in it’s packaging, but as soon as you put it on your skin it becomes powdery in texture, which makes application and blending a lot easier. It is also unscented.

Swatches!

The first two swatches were done with a soft eyeshadow brush, with three strokes through the powder. The third and fourth were done using the same brush (but cleaned) and used 6 strokes. I’ve tried to keep the colours as true to my own eye-view as possible.

Sleek products are always so highly pigmented, they’re great value for money as a drugstore brand.

Rose Gold  has this gorgeous shimmer to it, thanks to the gold flecks (what a surprise, given the name) mixed in to the powder. It appears as quite a dark coral base, and because of the shimmer and strong pigmentation, a heavy hand may end up with your cheeks looking a bit OTT. I would say that the shimmer does sometimes scare me away from using this blush, in the pan it can be a bit overwhelming – but with a small amount and good blending, it adds a really nice colour to my cheeks, without making me look like a clown.

Rose Gold is often labelled as the closest dupe for NARS ‘orgasm’, fyi, though I’ve never tried NARS blushers.

Pixie Pink  is definitely a love for me. It’s that babydoll kind of pink that reminds me of porcelain dolls and Snow White, it works so well for pale skinned girls. Again, it’s highly pigmented so you only need a little on your brush, and there is nowhere near as much shimmer as Rose Gold. This is probably my favourite blusher out of the four, as it isn’t too bright, even though it looks rather vibrant in the pan.

Pink Cloud has more peachy tones than Rose Gold and Pixie Pink, and that does translate from pan to skin. It isn’t as pigmented as the Sleek blushes, but the colour is pretty nonetheless. I think this blush would go amazingly well with both natural and warmer make-up looks, as the colour is very subtle on the cheeks, but still quite buildable. It blends nicely, and has no shimmer at all, which lends itself to the more natural side of things.

Apple Pink is the peachiest of the blushes, it’s a little glossy at first glance, but that’s generally due to the cream nature, and doesn’t leave a sheen or anything similar on the cheeks once it’s blended out. It’s a very similar shade to Pink Cloud, as you can see in the swatch, just a smidge darker. Apple Pink also has the tiniest amount of shimmer, really nothing as noticeable as Rose Gold, but shimmer enough to add to the ‘dewy face’ look that is extremely popular in South Korea. Sometimes I am a little disappointed with the pigmentation, but all blushers are buildable, so that isn’t a major issue.

All in all, I think these four blushes were a great place to start for me, a complete newbie at putting colour on my ghost child cheeks. It’s surprising how a blush, even a cheap one, can alter a makeup look.

Which are your favourites, or do you have any recommendations for me? I really want to try the Pink Lemonade and the Californ.I.A Blush by 3 pallets that Sleek do.

♥

You can get Rose Gold / Pixie Pink at Sleek’s website, boots or superdrug (RG/PP)

You can get Pink Cloud at boots

You can get Pink Apple at Nature Republic’s homepage, korea depart & ebay

follow me on bloglovin | instagram | twitter