This is one of those joining the bandwagon kind of purchases as of late… But heck, I’m not even angry! Most of you must have heard that it was only very recently that Sephora was able to restock their Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blushes. And I think that’s probably because the first time around a ot of Pinay beauty resellers hoarded the stuff; I mean I just got this two days ago, just almost at the same time as many of the girls in the US are getting these items!
Overall, I’m really satisfied with this purchase and would definitely want to buy the other shades of this blush.
And just a quick mention as well, I got this item from Make Up Haul PH, a resller on instagram. Follow them at @makeuphaul_ph. I cannot explain how happy I just am with their services, as in they already are beyond superb, but this past week’s encounters with horrible (horrible x1000) sellers I had just made them even stand out more. They reply within 10 minutes of my text (in normal waking hours though, please don’t expect your reseller to answer an inquiry at 3A.M. They have lives, too.) . The replies are often courteous, friendly, and accommodating. When I asked about this blush, I already had asked them about another item which happened to be out of stock. They even remembered to update me that the said item was back! I mean how many sellers actually keep track and respond to their customers’ previous inquiries?
So basically, for that, this store gets an A+ from me. The packaging is also nice, they even took the effort to gift wrap the blush tee hee. This is the bubble wrap it came with. Not a lot of wrap compared to other sellers, but the product came A-okay so I have no complaints on this aspect.
They also sent me a small sample! I was again impressed because I did not expect a free sample on my first purchase and for the amount I paid in this transaction…
So anyways, let’s get to the blush! Well, this is the box… it’s about as big as a powder compact box.
This shade I got is in dim infusion. I am still eyeing on getting it in Diffused Heat and Radiant Magenta…
These are the ingredients. If you have allergies, please check this list first just to ensure that you won’t have a reaction to any of the ingredients.
So to start off, these were the promises by the company regarding the product. It’s supposed to be illuminating to give a natural and glowing look and should be buildable.
I like the look of the packaging, but at the same time I feel sad that it easily gets scratched. I mean this had just gotten out of the box and yet it already has a gazillion scratches.
It’s also in constant need of wiping if you’re self conscious because its packaging makes fingerprints look so obvious! I mean can you see all those fingerprints of mine on the sticker?
As for the product itself, my first impression upon swatching it was how fine milled the powder was. It’s definitely a far cry from your usual blush, and the difference in texture is automatically noticeable.
It is also very, very, very pigmented. I cannot describe how pigmented it is! Even prior to swatching, I already knew it would be pigmented (aside from the reviews) because of the smell. The moment I sniffed it, it smelled a lot like Urban Decay’s Naked 3 eyeshadows. It had this rosy-vanilla kind of odor. I have no idea which ingredient causes the smell, but it must be the same ingredient that makes this blush and the Naked 3 palette so pigmented and buttery.
I actually had fun swiping it because it glides on so smoothly on the fingers.
As for fingers, I do recommend that the fingers be used to apply this product. The main reason being that it’s so fine milled that as I was using a blush brush, a lot of the blush was getting dusted off to the side. Using your fingers can cause less product wastage as there’d be less blush that will get flicked off of the pan. I just don’t know how this product will fare once the assigned brush (the one the box’s instructions assigned) is used with this blush.
Dim Infusion is one of the lighter colors in the set. It’s a light coral shade. It is kinda like a more melon-ey version of NARS Orgasm.
These are the swatches on my hand. They swatched really well on my hand, but fortunately and unfortunately, it took me some time to build up the color on my cheeks. This feature is good for pale girls who get too blushing too quickly and for those who always have blush problems. But for someone like me who likes really colored cheeks in a really short time, this kinda took a lot of time to do. I probably spent five minutes just trying to buld up the color, something that would take me one to two minutes with other blushes. Or maybe it also has something to do with this shade. Not exactly sure.
I was expecting it to fade with flash photography, but it actually fared better compared to without flash. This whole ‘ambient lighting’ and illumination now makes sense. This is definitely the kind of product that you would want for photoshoots, for commercials and TV ads involving a lot os stage lights, and for those girls who just do not want to have their cheeks lose color in photos. This is probably the most amusing thing about this blush.
I’ve already mentioned that I got this blush from Make Up Haul PH. I got it for 2050 plus shipping of 90. In terms of value for money, I do think that this product is worth the money. It’s pigmented, fine milled, and does well in flash photography. It does give this nice glow, I noticed this as I stared into the mirror. And I also do think that this is another thing you can consider aside from NARS Orgasm that can suit many skintones and be of good quality in general. As for the long time to build, maybe it really just is a shade problem. I’m still eyeing on other shades, and if I do try them, I’ll definitely report my findings here.
And to add, it is worth the value for money because this is by far the most expensive blush I own and it does feel like it’s the most expensive one! There is good reason for the hype behind this.
What’s the most that you’ve shelled out for a blush? Please do tell me in the comments box!
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