A couple of months back there was a good sale at Ulta on the Ulta brand products so I picked up their Extreme Wear Cheek Stain. It was still summer and I felt like a peachy color would be good for me, so I got the shade "Gleam". There are 3 other colors available.
I've worn it quite a bit over the past couple of months, trying to figure out if I like it or not.
Here's my take:
It's quick and easy to swipe on. It is not greasy. Hard Candy had a stick blush that was so greasy I tried it once and threw it out promptly. It is a water-based cheek stain. This almost feels like a stick-gel. It's not so much a gel, but that's the way it kind of feels once you are rubbing it on your face. It's very hard to describe. It glides on easily and doesn't tug at your face. It doesn't dry up or anything, so you have plenty of time to blend it out into your skin. Here are some photos of where I rubbed it on and then blended it in.
The thing that kept me from immediately loving it was that it wasn't pigmented enough. To be able to actually see it after you blend it in, you have to either reapply in layers until you get the desired color, or just put on a whole lot all at once. I'm just not a fan of that. I don't want to have to keep applying to get the color dark enough. If you like a very light blush color, this might be perfect for you.
Now, you'll notice in the "swatch" picture above that there is a shimmer to the blush. No fear, when you blend it out and then add translucent powder over it there is zero shimmer. If you WANT it to have shimmer, you are going to need to not wear any powder over it.
This does provide some nice flexibility (light color that can be built up, shimmer or no shimmer).
And it's worth mentioning that this never caused any acne/breakouts for me.
Also, it's inexpensive. You can get it on sale right now for only $5 HERE. It's regularly $8.
I think I will probably just use this up and move on to another blush. Meaning: it's good enough for me to keep using, but I haven't found THE blush. I guess I'll keep on looking.
Have you found a blush you LOVE? SHARE with us all in the comments, please.
