The arrival of Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush has caused a lot of ooh-ing and ahh-ing in the beautysphere in recent weeks. Having fallen head over heels with the Ambient Lighting Palette (review here) I just knew one of these would have to be mine. I lost patience and pre-ordered Radiant Magenta from Space NK, though held off on posting about it until this week’s official launch (for reasons I’ll explain below). These blushers are a thing of beauty - that’s a cert. Are they for everyone? Possibly…
The sleek, slim metallic palette is in itself a thing of beauty. Full size mirror: check; closes securely: check; feels sturdy: check; no unnecessary brushes: check.
Gasp… isn’t it gorgeous?! Each blush is unique, which is what makes these a. extra special and b. a challenge. The reason for this is that the pigmented blush is marbled with original Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powders. This gives them a magical sense of dimension, softening and blurring the pigment for a beyond-blush, lit from within glow. If you get the right ratio of pigment:marbling. I’ve been told that this is an issue for many and while it’s not a huge one for me, I’d kinda like a little more marbling in mine. Radiant Magenta is bright. The strongest, brightest colour of the bunch, it packs quite a lot of punch, and while I do like a bright pink flush, I have to be a bit more careful with this than I’d like. I’m pretty sure this would be less of an issue for deeper skin tones and won’t bother me at all come Summer, but for now, it’s the one element that prevents a 100% perfect status.
I want to blend the blush with the Ambient powder to soften it, but the more I blend, the more product ends up on my brush - and therefore my cheeks, so to avoid being too Aunt Sally, I really need to go gently with this. I photographed the brush above after lightly swirling it in the powder - and you can see both the depth of colour and how much product is picked up. I’ve since switched to the Real Techniques Duo Fibre brush, which allows for a much more subtle application - tapping some off on the back of my hand pre-cheeks is still essential. I realise this is partly my own issue… when I have a new makeup product I like to keep playing with it - reapplying, touching up throughout the day - it’s a weakness. And with Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush, there is no excuse/need to do this. Hardly a fault really…
Left - finger swatch, right - brush swatch. The colour is quite exquisite really. The cool pink magenta base takes on a slightly warmer, coral tone when blended with the powder.
Apologies for the rubbish quality phone pic, but hopefully this will give you some idea of how it looks applied on my colouring. I actually think Radiant Magenta would look amazing on darker skin tones. I paired it with my still much loved Sisley Phyto Lip Twist in Pinky (& yes I did plan my Summer-in-February outfit around a blusher!).
So in a nutshell, these rock. I want another one that I’ll get more wear out of in Winter. If you opt for the Radiant Magenta and have the chance to check them out in person, I’d probably do so to ensure that you’re happy with the amount of marbling. I’m hovering over Dim Infusion at the moment…
Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush costs £28 at Space NK or Liberty
Do you like the sound of these - and if so, which one?!
