It’s time for another Brand Battle! Blush has been around for ages. To me the perfect blush has a high color payout, but isn’t to pigmented. You don’t want to be a clown. However you also don’t want a whisper of color. There are some days I’d like quieter blush than others, however it’s easier to blend away some of the color than to pack on a million layers and pray to The Gods that it lasts through the workday. So today I will be judging these blushes based on Availability, Pigmentation, Value, Variety, Texture and Wear. We will be comparing Tarte’s Amazonian Clay 12 Hour Blush, Makeup Revolution’s Blushes, NYX HD Blush, NARS Blush, Lorac’s Color Source Buildable Blush and Benefit’s Blush Boxes. Hopefully by the end of this we will know which blush is best. Let’s get started!
All of these lines are readily available online. However Benefit’s blush you can purchase at stand alone Benefit Cosmetic boutiques as well as at Sephora, Ulta, Macy’s, Nordstrom, and some other boutiques. Nars you can find at Ulta and Sephora, as well as at several department stores, but Benefit got the edge by having stand alone stores as well as independent boutiques. NYX Has recently stepped up their game by being more accessible in Targets. You can also find them at Ulta and online as well as in independent boutiques. Tarte you can find at Ulta, Sephora and sparingly at department stores, and Lorac I could only find at Ulta and a few independent retailers (like Frends Beauty which only has one store front that I could find). Makeup Revolution I could only find at some Ulta locations and online.
To me the perfect amount of pigmentation is something that is visible when you put it on (I want more than a whisper of product) but isn’t to dark or heavy (we aren’t clowns after all). Lorac barely edged out Nars in this regard. I feel they have the exact perfect amount of pigment and I rarely ever feel the need to swipe on a second layer of blush, finding that one is perfect once I’ve lightly blended it in with my beauty blender. Nars is a VERY close second. If I am more liberal with how much product I put on my brush then one swipe is fine, but I often have to dip in for a second. I tied Makeup Revolution and Tarte for third place because both are good. I usually need 2-3 passes of blush, but it sets nicely. Benefit’s blush is to pigmented for me. It makes me feel like a clown and requires a lot of blending to tone it down (which does vary from blush to blush in their line). NYX has to little pigment for me.
This is a DOUBLE POINT category! I have two categories, that to me, just matter more. So the points in this section are doubled. What I did to select this is I took the cost of each product and I divided it by the ounces of product to get a dollar amount for how much we are paying per ounce of blush. None of these have more than a quarter of an ounce of product. Makeup Revolution was a clear winner. The product is only $5 and equates to $27.77 per ounce. NYX is next costing $7 which puts us at $43.68 per ounce. This is where things get crazy. Tarte blush is $29 which makes it come out to $145 per ounce. Lorac slides in at $23 each and $164.28 per ounce. Nars rings in at $30 per blush while Benefit is a little less at $29, but they tied both coming out to $187.50 per ounce. WOW! I honestly did not realize how crazy blush is.
This includes how many shades there are, and I also wanted to go off of if there are Matte and shimmer shades available as well as the tonal value of the shades. What I mean by tonal value is that I wanted to be sure that the brand doesn’t only carry paler pink shades and light shimmer shades, because most of those don’t work for people of color. I specifically looked for deeper rose tones and nudes that are more commonly used on deeper skin tones. Nars was the clear winner. They had 33 shades and a wide variety including deeper tones, matte options and shimmer choices. Lorac steps in next at 14 and does also include depper tones and a shimmer modifier line (that I didn’t include in the total because they just give a soft shimmer, and aren’t color themselves). NYX HD blushes only have 12 shades, but they have 24 kinds of blushes total. However I didn’t feel they had any deep enough choices that would typically be worn on women of color. Tarte and Makeup Revolution tie at 13 each, and I feel like both of them lack deep rose and nudes in their lines. Benefit is dead last with only 7 shades. And the only one that is deeper in color is the Dallad Dusty Rose Blush & Bronzer
Texture refers to the formula itself and if it is smooth and creamy and silky, or if it is dry, crumbly and easier to break. Not only are dried formulas more fragile, but they also dry out the skin and tend to wear off quicker. Lorac easily takes the cake here. Loracs formulas feel silk-like when you put them on or run your finger over the pan. It’s incredible. Nars is next. Theirs has that velvety feel but is just a little more powdery. Benefit’s formula is super creamy but also very fragile. Makeup Revolution is where we move from soft silky formulas and twoards powdery options. However I felt their products doesn’t dust up to much and tends to be just a little softer. Tartes is powdery, it’s a very standard blush. However Nyx’s is the most powdery, it create the most dust (which means the most waste) and is the most fragile. Their HD Matte Blushes are better than their baked blushes, but still not great.
This is out last category and the second DOUBLE POINT one. Wear is performance, and performance is everything right? Lorac’s lasts all day, is easy to apply, has minimal dust and sits on your skin naturally and mimics your skins texture and it also lasts all days long. Nars creates a beautiful soft finish, with minimal applications and it is long lasting. Makeup Revolution and Tarte tie because they both create some dust and have medium of amount of staying power. If I apply it at 7 a.m. I have to reapply around 1, but 6 hours is nothing to scoff at. Benefit’s is weird. There is a lot of fallout and I feel like it is gone within 5 hours. I also have to add that the brush it comes with is junk, and when I use it I get a lot of the bristles on my cheeks as well as streaky and unflattering results. Nyx is last because it’s all but disappeared within 2 hours and needs the most layers as well as creating the most dust or fallout.
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Here are all the scores. I would like to note that I think all of these are great brands. Based on personal preference I do prefer them in the order you see them. I don’t use NYX or Benefit much becuase they aren’t my favorites, but I actually use Tarte and Makeup Revolution more than any others on here based solely on price point and because I have received several Tarte blushes in subscription boxes and on sale. Do you agree with my line up? What’s your favorite blush?