Blush

Catrice The Great Christmas Advent Calendar Cream-To-Powder Blush Review

By Maychiri's Thoughts - December 07, 2024

Oh... this is a... dark red blush. I didn’t think it would be this dark tbh. This is... definitely too dark for pale/fair skin, which seems to be a running theme with this calendar. So far, the colours have been balanced for light/medium skin, but it’s alright, not everything has to fit my (too) fair skintone. Anyways, if you don’t know what a cream to powder formula is, it’s basically creamy in the pan, which becomes powdery as you are applying it. This isn’t my first product of this type, I have already reviewed one Essence highlighter which is exactly like this, so check here if you want to read it! This kind of formula has been really good in the past, so I am cautiously looking forward to this blush – I say, cautiously, because obviously blushes and highlighters are two completely different products. But let’s see how good it is, and if I can even wear it with how dark it is!
 
 

 
 
Packaging: cute lil pink pot! Although, it does feel suspiciously lightweight, hmm. It looks and feels a tiny bit cheap, I wish it had more art deco details. As it is, it only has a mauve rectangular detail with the Catrice logo. It’s a pretty thick pot, but that ensures that the blush stays safe during transport. The lid closes very tightly and requires you to open it with either your nail or some kind of nail file or something else that is thin. Inside, there is a lovely little mirror so that you can apply the blush on-the-go! You’ll find information about this blush in the back, including an ingredient list!
 
 
 
 
 
Ingredients: meadowfoam (Limnanthes alba) seed oil, vitamin E for nourishment. No parabens. The scent is peculiar; it smells vaguely sweet and plasticy. It is a hard scent to describe, but it is nice. The expiration date is 18 months after opening. 

 
Colour: in the pan, it is muted dark red. I was seriously worried that this would be far too dark for me, but it isn’t this colour once you apply it. It is actually bright red. This is still way too intense of a colour for my skin, but at least it’s kinda wearable. It’s definitely a very retro kind of colour, so it will be good for 1920’s style makeup looks. It’s a very “look at me!” kind of colour, so if you are a blush fanatic, you’ll for sure love it. I do love me some rouge, but this colour is just too intense for me.
 
 
So far, I am disappointed. And I hate that I keep saying that for products in this calendar, but I just am. The pigmentation is poor and, as you can see from the swatch, it is also uneven. Perhaps it will be better once I use a brush to apply it...

 


I must say that I don’t like how this blush looks on skin..for multiple reasons, but one of them is because it doesn’t look lived-in, like it is part of the skin. Idk, it just doesn’t look too natural.
 
 
 
Pigmentation is quite intense, but it varies depending on what you use to apply it. If you choose to apply it with your fingers (do not recommend), it will be much more intense than if you apply it with a brush. In either case, though, it is very intense and very red. One layer is enough to reach this level of pigmentation; additional layers might need up looking like you have real blush blindness. So it’s really not very buildable, and that makes it harder to use – well, it’s one of the reasons, at least.
 
 
 
Right, so, this is a “cream-to-powder” kind of formula. What this means is, the formula stays creamy in the pan, but it becomes powdery as you are applying it. In theory, this should be the ideal kind of formula as it would combine the benefits of a cream formula with the benefits of a powdery one. But it’s... not at all that ideal. In fact, it is horribly tricky to use if you aren’t applying it on bare skin. But even on bare skin, it looks a bit blotchy. 
 
 
 
It’s pretty greasy in the pan, but it very quickly becomes very powdery. Just a few brushstrokes and it’s already completely powdery. Herein lies the issue, as it dries down way too soon, giving you no time to properly blend it out. And that’s why it is so blotchy and uneven. That’s also why it’s problematic if you apply it over powders. Instead of combining the strengths of both, it’s like it combines the weaknesses of both. It’s just really not a fun formula to use, they really should have just stuck to having a normal powder blush – or cream blush, pick one or the other, not both! 

 
The texture is silky. It’s not exactly radiant but it’s also not matte, as there is some satin shine peeking through. I’m having a tough time discerning whether this is just my sebum, but it does appear that this is the blush’s shine. I prefer matte blushes, but there is something nice with how naturally glowy this blush is. It will blend very nicely with highlighters, that’s for sure. However, this shiny texture does make pores look slightly larger, but it’s not very textured at all.  
 
 
The bigger issue is the blotchiness. But overall, it’s a pretty nice texture, pretty soft, although I would like it to be matte.
 
 
Ignore the unnaturally pink skin; I was testing out the Under Eye Brightener

Oh god, applying this blush is a PAIN. I believe that it’s the cream-to-powder formula that makes it this tricky to use. See, if you apply it after powdering your face, it will end up looking so blotchy and uneven and just awful. I thought this might happen as I am, technically, layering on a cream on top of a powder, which isn’t the best idea, but I also figured that, since it becomes a powder, it won’t matter that much. Oh, but it does! I tried to apply it with both a brush and my fingers, and both were unable to make it look even. It looked horribly blotchy no matter how much I tried to make it even. In fact, the more I tried, the worse it became. It looks much, much better if it is applied onto bare skin, but that isn’t ideal at all. So I may have to underpaint with it and see if that improves it at all. I do believe it will be better if I apply it before setting powder, as it will be layered onto creamy products (concealer & foundation). When I applied it to my bare skin with a brush, I only needed 2-3 brushstrokes until it looked even and intense. So now I am puzzled as to how actually I should use this. It also isn’t really blendable; if you try to blend it, it will just become even more patchy. So you really have to perfect it the first time around. Very annoying to use, I literally felt pissed off and just gave up on it – yes, it is blotchy in pictures, but I really couldn’t fix it no matter what. And this is such a shame as the powder-to-cream highlighter from Essence was fantastic so I was hoping this would be good, too... how foolish of me.
 
 

Well, at least it’s super comfortable to wear. It is extremely lightweight; I cannot even feel it on my skin with how light it is! And it doesn’t seem to be comedogenic, I didn’t have any reactions thus far, so: so far, so good!
 
 
 
 
 
Longevity is decent, but it definitely does not appreciate being on oily skin. It doesn’t take too long for sebum to start breaking through and making it even more patchy than before. Only 2 hours in, and I am already noticing signs of wear. So, obviously, it isn’t in good shape after a whole day. You’d have to reapply it during the day to keep it as even as possible, but, remember, it applies so badly over powders... which you probably have if you are touching it up.  
 
 
Eh, not the worst longevity I have had in a blush, but far from the best. I just wish it could survive more than a few hours before already looking rough from sebum. Well, at least the pigmentation holds for long...
 

This blush is very easy to remove; it takes no effort at all to remove it and it doesn’t leave any stains. 
 

 
All in all, I am thoroughly annoyed with this blush. Not necessarily disappointed, just annoyed. I knew from the swatch that making it even would be a hell of a challenge, and it is. Well, unless you apply it under literally everything else – including foundation! But if you do that, you’ll lose 90% of its pigmentation, so what’s the point? I, at first, tried to use it as a normal blush, over setting powder. My thinking was that, since it is a mixture of a cream and powder formula, it could be applied after powders. I was very much wrong. It ended up looking so bad and it was so unfixable that I just gave up on it. Yeah, yeah, it is horribly uneven in the centre of the cheeks... I tried my best to fix it, but it just needed up being even more blotchy. It’s like it cannot be blended out properly after it turns into powder. Like, I can blend it out okay while it is still cream, but since it becomes powdery so quickly, you very quickly lose the ability to actually blend it out. It blends and applies a bit better if you apply powders last, but that comes at a cost of pigmentation. Speaking of, the pigmentation is very rich! Just one layer is more than enough to get very red cheeks! Anything more and it might veer into clown territory. Also, the colour is sooo intense! It’s way too intense and dark for me, although, the colour in the pan isn’t what you get on the cheeks. After applying, it becomes bright red, not dark red like it looked in the pan. This is a VERY loud colour, and since the blush isn’t buildable, you are stuck having bright red cheeks – hope you like that, as there is no changing that! One occasion where having such bright red cheeks will be useful is if you need to make any kind of vintage makeup look, especially a 1920’s kind of look, as this kind of colour was very popular then. Nowadays, we gravitate more towards pink and peachy blushes, but I guess there is still use in having a bright red blush. Just try to be careful how you use it, and have a lot of time because this thing needs all the time it can get to get it to look decent. Suffice to say, I am not happy with this brush. Not at all. It’s just way too difficult to work with and it feels gimmicky. Ugh, another mediocre product... how many can there be in one Advent calendar???



Rating: 4/10


  

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