I love the gradient. It runs all the way through, and all of the colors (the light, the dark, everything in between) are flattering and lovely. It's a matte blush - no shimmer here! - and the spectrum of plummy brown it offers is beautiful. Why did I pass it up twice, then? Well, it's $29.50. Seems rather high for a Clinique blush, doesn't it? Sure, it's $29.50 for 0.31 oz, which is massive, but as some bloggers have mentioned before - I'll never use this up! Sometimes I'd prefer a smaller product with an appropriately smaller price tag.
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| I don't like these boxes. Am I the only one? The green-peach-pink floral print is dated and hideous, in my opinion. Sure, I'm just going to toss it out, but there is nothing immediately eye catching about this. I guess this is a personal problem. |
Here's the ingredient list.
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| I had to peel the Nordstrom sticker off and replace it, because it was originally stuck right on the ingredient panel. I know sales associates are in a hurry, but really? (Oh man, I'm just on fire today, aren't I?) |
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| Dark shade on the left, lighter shade on the right |
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| Slightly different lighting; darkest shade on the left again, and lightest on the right. |
The mauve color is really, really flattering and very lovely. When swatched, it seems a bit powdery, but once brushed lightly on cheeks, the finish is not powdery at all. It makes a great contouring color, as well, since it doesn't have any sort of shimmer. I'm lazy and run a brush along the whole thing (from light to dark) and swirl that on my face, which gives me a natural, rosy brown color that I love. You can take a brush to the separate parts, though, and use them individually, which adds some versatility to this product. I was surprised by how pigmented it is - start with a light hand! I was also surprised that this one lasted all day. When I took my makeup off at 7 pm, it was still going strong, even though I put it on 12 hours ago. This one is definitely a win, all-around. And it's perfect for fall!
Like many others, I often give Clinique's color cosmetics a pass (even though I depend on their skincare!), but you know, all of the blushes and bronzers I've tried from the line have been really lovely, so maybe I need to get over the mental block. It would help if they updated their packaging. It all looks so blah and bland, it's easy to pass over!
Try it if: You want a natural-looking matte blush that is quite versatile - it has a dark and light shade, and both are readily accessible (it doesn't have any sort of crazy out-there pattern that makes it impossible to pick out the two different shades).
Skip it if: I can't really think of a good reason to skip this (it's limited edition! Go go go!), although I have a suspicion that it may not show up as well against darker skin tones. In that case, you may want to test it out first.
$29.50 for 0.31 oz, at Nordstrom and Sephora or other Clinique counters. Limited edition.
