Review: Essence Blush Play Sculpting Blush Palette (10 Play It Peach)

I thought these sculpting blush palettes were a gimmick, since I usually just use one blush shade all over and I'm not too keen on blushes anyway. I like a good flush of color, but mostly very subtle. But Essence's Blush Play Sculpting Blush Palette really made me like this concept. It creates a dimensional look with three colors. You'll especially like this palette, if you're not into bronzers or highlighters and prefer blushes. 


It comes in a plastic white packaging with transparent lid. I like minimalistic design with transparent lid that let's you see the actual shades.

In it is 8 grams of product and it costs 4.39€.

 

As far as I know it only comes in one shade called 10 Play It Peach. But the palette itself includes three blush shades. You can obviously use these individually or use them together to create a more dimensional look.

Formula is on the drier side. The most creamy shade of all is Define, which is also the most pigmented. Both shimmery shades Highlight and Define have good pigmentation too. Sculpt is less pigmented, which is kind of expected for a more matte looking blush. I also like that because this shade is dark and I don't want to apply too much at once. In general pigmentation is good and the brush picks up color well.

Staying power is also good. I still notice it on my skin at the end of the day, but it definitely fades a bit. The most long lasting shade is the darkest Sculpt.


Highlight - it's a very light peach shade with lots of small shimmer in it that gives off a silver sheen, but with a hint of peach to it. If you apply it heavily it almost gives you a pinkish sheen to it.
Sculpt - medium vibrant red toned peach shade. This one is the darkest in the palette and it has a more redish peach tone, but it's still vibrant. It's not completely matte, but it has just a tiny bit of sheen to it, more like a satin finish.
Define - light vibrant shimmery peach shade. It has a bit more of pink tone to it and tiny light gold shimmer which gives it a bit of sheen, but it's in no way full on shimmery. The shade is quite vibrant and it's one of my favorites from this palette. It also has the best pigmentation and the creamiest texture.


I also wanted to compare these shades to some of my other blush shades. 

The closest shade to Highlight that I have is Catrice LE Treasure Trove Golden Powder in C01 Golden Grace. Catrice is more of a proper highlighter, but it has that beige peachy tone to it, although it's darker and not nearly as white peach toned as Essence.

I also didn't find any dupe in my collection for the shade Sculpt. I compared it to MAC Blush in Pinch Me, which is darker and has a bit of that pink tint to it, but it's more of a redish brown shade. I also swatched it next to H&M Pure Radiance Powder Blusher in Rosy Brown, which is also darker and a lot more brown toned. Essence Sculpt is more vibrant compared to these two.

Next to the shade Define I swatched Trend It Up Powder Blush in 010 which is a lot more muted pink. More of a dirty pink and it's also darker. I also swatched theBalm Hot Mama! blush and it's also darker, but has a nice golden shimmer to it. As with Sculpt shade, this one is also a lot more vibrant than my other blushes.


I usually use just one shade at a time or one darker shade and a highlighter shade, but I wanted to show you that you can create a lovely dimensional application of blush by using all shades.

I used Define to apply all over the cheek and even a bit further back to the hairline, because I like blush to also be a bit sculpting. Then I applied Sculpt only on the apples of the cheeks to make it appear more natural. The strongest color in the center and then fading into a lighter color as you go towards the edges of your application. Sort of like you would blush naturally. Then I also applied Highlight on the tops of cheeks, blending it into my other two blush shades, but mostly keeping it on the upper half. It gives you a lovely glow and it replaces your usual highlighter on tops of cheeks. 



Here is also a comparison of me not wearing any blush on left photo and then with all three shades on the right photo. My camera makes it hard to pick up blush colors, but I hope you can see the difference. 


I love that you can make your look all about blush and with these three shades create a really dimensional look. Obviously you can do this with your own blushes, use two different tones and a highlighter, but here you have all three shades in one palette.



I quite like this palette, although I wouldn't have picked it up myself, because blushes are not a priority in my makeup collectionb. It's a  fun concept and it creates a really dimensional look, if you use all three shades together. You can use shades separately too. They have good pigmentation, buildable texture and fairly good staying power. I also like all the shades, although I wouldn't say they're all really peachy. 

*I got this product on a blogger event.

6 comments

  1. For my skin tone, only the darkest shade would work so it's not worth it for me but the idea is great and for lighter skin tones, this would look beautiful like it does on you! x Nikita

    BLOG//Jasmine Loves

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    1. Yes, unfortunately Essence mostly carries the shades for light and lighter medium skin tones. Shame really, because their products are really nice for the price. Thank you :)

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  2. Waw, čudovita paletka. Essence zadnje čase res preseneča. Tudi končni izgled mi je všeč. xx

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    1. Essence zna presenetit ja. Sploh za ceno. Ta paletka je res čudovita in prav lepo pride, ko vse tri zmiksaš :D. Hvla :)
      xx

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  3. These shades look amazing in your skin!

    carolinasmakeuplife.blogspot.pt

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    1. Thank you. <3 I think they'll look really nice on most light skin tones :).

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