Reasons I love Cheek Pops:
1. Just look at them. Make-up doesn’t get much prettier than this. And the Gerbera design is quite deeply cut, so it’s hanging around for a while.
2. The texture. Looks like a cream, feels and behaves like a gel-silk-powder hybrid. These are extremely finely milled. I know they are powder, but they don’t feel powdery to the touch. The reason for this ‘magic’ is that the formula actually began as a liquid, slow baked into a silky, lightweight powder.
3. The colour. Cool pink, bright pink, peachy coral and terracotta. They look bright in their little compacts, but sweep a brush across them and it will look like there’s almost nothing on the bristles. Applied to cheeks, the same thing happens… a sheer whisper of colour appears. Keep swirling the brush on your skin and the colour builds - yep, you guessed it - like magic. Although subtle, the colour is definitely buildable, just add a little more - and go easy, because they do become bright as you layer them up - though still look almost invisible in texture, as if part of your skin.
4. Consistency. Each one applies evenly, blends easily and lasts well (I may have been spotted wearing a different colour on each cheek as part of this research)
5. The packaging. Sturdy, simple and displays the colour on both sides for easy selection, storage and maximum prettiness (why would you want to hide those flowers away?). If one shade is not enough, you may like to know that they stack really neatly too (see pics below)
From top left: Plum, Berry, Peach and Ginger Pops. Peach looks more coral in real life and Ginger, more brown toned - as you can see in my first pic above.
Swatches
Even on my fingers you can see the sheeny, sheer, buttery is-it-cream-or-powder texture. Magic I tell you.
Plum Pop is not plum, but a pretty pink with blue-verging-on-lilac undertones (that’ll be the plum bit - more obvious in the pic below) and a slight shimmer. I expected this to look overly pastel-y and shimmery on my cheeks, but it really doesn’t - and is in fact my favourite of the bunch.
Berry Pop is a more red toned pink and the brightest of the bunch. I like to add a pop of this on the apples of my cheeks, layered over the Plum Pop, a la Charlotte Tilbury blushes. It brings cheeks to life with a just in from a seaside walk type flush.
Peach Pop is my second favourite, a lovely corally peach that adds warmth to the face and is really easy to wear.
Ginger Pop is the other shade I didn’t expect to like, but I can’t be unfaithful to any of these so far… this colour is more subtle than I expected, works well as a neutral blush with natural or evening looks and has enough brown to add contour and bronze to certain complexions.
Presentation
I do love glamorous packaging, but sometimes simple is best - and with contents as pretty as this, Clinique was right to let them do the talking.
The extent of my enthusiasm for this product emanates from the fact that I seriously didn’t expect to be so impressed. Such a small amount of these pretties is required and they last so long on the skin that I think they are great value for money. And as always with Clinique, they are 100% fragrance free and allergy tested.
Clinique Cheek Pops are due to hit counters from 21st March rrp £16.50 and have been released online early this weekend at Clinique UK or Sephora (which now ships to the UK).
