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6 Must-Try Purple Blushes
Years ago, I don’t know that it would have been possible to come up with six recommendations if one was in the market for purple blush, but now, we have options–and I love it!
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Bittersweet and Ultraviolet are the two that would work on my skin tone. Maybe Pansy Pop, but I’ll have to check it out in person.
I hope you can check ’em out, Aj!
The only purple blush I have is ColourPop Sticky Sweet, but Bittersweet and Pansy Pop look interesting!
Love Sticky Sweet!
Purpley-pink blushes and lipsticks are my absolute favorite!!! 😀
Yay 😀
I can’t seem to use any other blush besides Full of Joy lately…so beautiful! I would love to try Colour Pop and Lorac when they become available here 😀 Hippo looks gorgeous…
Full of Joy is so pretty!
You nailed all my faves. Hippo, Secret Admirer, and Full of Joy. Bittersweet is a nice blush, but it’s actually more berryish on me. I’ve been wanting Pansy Pop and still plan on getting it for spring. Ultraviolet looks so great! Just not sure how many lavender blushes I need…
Haha! How often do you reach for the ones you own now? Maybe you need one more 😉
I wear them a lot actually! Especially Full of Joy, which would probably pair amazingly with Ultraviolet……
Hey Christine, what brush do you use to apply Pansy Pop? For the life of me, I can’t get this to show up. No matter how much I apply, it’s more of a faint highlighted tint unlike your photo! Gives the sads lol
I don’t have a go-to brush – just any blush brush – basically, I’ve never had a brush not work with it 🙁 I use SUQQU/Chikuhodo Z brushes primarily.
Ahh ok, maybe it’s the quality of brush then. All of mine are mostly synthetic/drugstore. Guess it’s time to invest in some high quality brushes, but i always felt if the blush is of good quality/pigmented, the brush shouldn’t matter. Thanks!
I don’t know about that, honestly! I can definitely use it with say, a Real Techniques cheek brush (synthetic) or MAC’s 134 brush (that’s a synthetic blend). If you find the surface is firm (this is probably the complaint I see about Clinique’s formula from those who don’t like it), try tapping at the surface vs. sweeping across and use a denser brush.
I use the Real Techniques Blush Brush and it works great. I haven’t had issues with any of the shades.
Christine, you are not gonna believe this, but yes! tapping made such a difference! Now I don’t think I’d call it tapping since it was a bit more forceful, but either way it worked! I should have asked sooner since the daisy pattern is quite demolished since I swept it so much. THANKS!!!
Happy to hear it, Grace! I wish you didn’t have to be so forceful BUT hey, if you can use it and enjoy it, then that’s really the important thing, lol!
Yay!
I had the same problem! I figured out soft fluffy brushes don’t work because then I tried a stiff scratchy blush brush from Guerlain and only then was I able to get color to show up!
Ah, thanks for letting me know. I thought perhaps I got a dud, and tried scraping the top layer thinking perhaps it dried out. But even with that, colour hardly transferred onto skin. Hmm, I will try to find a scratchier brush!
My Pansy Pop is very hard in the pan, so I use a small, dense brush and drag it around the the surface to get color. Kind of a pain, but the color is so pretty on me, I put up with it
Me too.
I did the same using the ELF blush brush since it is small and just the right size of the blush pan. I could see the blush on the brush, but for some reason it was mostly lost on my face. I thought maybe it was due to my skintone being on the warm side, and usually cooler shades don’t really show up on me, but Christine’s swatch showed up way more than mine so I knew it had to be possible! heh.. Christine’s tidbit to tap (or moreso pound in my case) really worked! I used a regular dome shaped brush this time around that didn’t work before, but the tapping method really made a difference. Very pleasantly surprised.
This technique works with MUFE Artist Shadows, too! The product is denser vs. soft/powdery so sometimes that is why it seems to help. I never noticed it before a reader mentioned it re: Artist Shadows, but I tend to tap more than gently sweep, lol!
ooh thanks I will keep that in mind! I don’t own any MUFE shadows but I will definitely consider tapping all of my products this time around. Will probably change my opinion on some of my stock and back in use! 😀
I love a purple/lilac/lavender blush! My faves from my collection are Clinique Pansy Pop, Marc Jacobs Outspoken, Femme Fatale Moonberry, Illamasqua Thrust (borders on Magenta, but I can manage a more lilac effect with a light hand), and Clinique Blushing Blush Iced Lotus.
I feel like I need both Hippo and Full of Joy in my life.
Full of Joy is really a must!
Those are so pretty! I don’t have any lilac blushes, I never considered them until I started reading Temptalia last year, lol!
Ooh! You have to try one sometime. They can be surprisingly wearable!
My only purple or purplish blushes I own are Colourpop Rain and Monster. If I apply Rain underneath a coat of UD Rapture, I get a very wearable shade of purple for my olive toned skin. UD Bittersweet or Lorac Ultraviolet could also work, I believe. The LE one by MAC, This Could Be Fun looked really good on me!? I should have bought it.?
Rain is a good one! 😀
Hippo seems like a safe bet for me. If my Rosacea doesn’t agree with it, then it’s an eyeshadow!
I bet it would work for you!
Ooooh, me loves purple blushes and lippies! UD Bittersweet, CD Rain, and Clinique Pansy Pop are faves, and I have Lorac Ultra Violet on my buy list for the next Ulta sale. Most purple blushes run pink, but finally a cooler-toned purple with blue undertones 🙂
*CP Rain*
Rain is a fun one! Very purple.
Great picks! Lorac Ultraviolet is next on my list. I don’t have that or the MAC one. Hippo I use more as a highlighter or topper, but I agree that it’s stunning.
I’d add Tony Moly Milky Violet. It’s nice if one has fair skin and wants a very subtle hint of violet. I usually use it as a matte highlighter with a more pigmented purple blush, though. The same goes for Everyday Minerals Cameo. They both are really light…almost too light for me. I also love ColourPop Pegacorn (used with an extremely light hand) and Purple Rain (though it’s a little harder to blend out than most CP blushes). MUFE Artist Shadow (pigment) in S-924 Purple also makes a really pretty blush when used with a light hand.
That’s another vote for Tony Moly Milky Violet! Will have to google that one!
*CP “Rain”, not “Purple Rain”. I listened to Prince too much in the 80s and 90s, I guess. lol
Those look so nice! I’m really loving Pansy Pop and Secret Admirer. Full of Joy is beautiful too, though I’m not sure if it would look good on me. The only purple blush I own at the moment is Hello Waffle’s Likes Matte(r). I swatch it a lot-I’m in love with the color, but I’ve been so afraid to actually wear it!
WEAR IT, Nicole!! Try it sometime before bed, maybe 😉
Lol! I think I will. I’m feeling very inspired by this thread!
They are really pretty. Cool Filipinos.
They are!
I am OBSESSED with the Tony Moly Crystal Blusher in Mily Violet. I have really fair skin and it just looks beautiful with it!
Sounds gorgeous!
Bittersweet is on my to buy list. It’s such a glorious colour. I would love to have Pansy Pop. but it seems Clinique only have a few ot the pop blushes for sale here. Annoying!
Thanks for the remainder to get Bittersweet, I seem to forget about the premanent products with all the LE’s that are coming out.
I hope Clinique gets the other shades there soon!!
Ultraviolet is on my radar, but I just don’t know. I don’t live anywhere near an Ulta, Sephora, or Nordstrom. I have a problem with every blush I try turning coral on me. This situation has developed over the last ten years. For a while long ago, Burt’s Bees made cream blushes, and there was one that looked totally lavender in the pan. It was pink on me. They discontinued it. Chanel’s Pink Explosion? A nice coral on me. I just want a pink blush! Maybe Ultraviolet would do the trick.
If anyone has any other suggestions, I’m all ears. I’m NC10 with “mature” skin.
What do you apply as a base, if anything?
Guerlain’s Lingerie De Peau in #12, Rose Clair. I don’t normally use a primer. Do you think a primer would help?
Thanks, Christine
I’m really not sure, but it might minimize your issue somewhat. If you have a sample or can get one, it might be worth trying!
It sounds as though skin oils or ph levels are changing the color of the blush. I have that problem a lot. Creating a barrier works the best for me. I put on my primer, foundation, and setting powder first, then the powder blush. The blush still stays set in place, but doesn’t turn hot pink or bright orange.
Hi Rachel R., thanks for your comments. With the exception of the primer–which I don’t normally use–that’s the way I do it.
Skin oils–I do have an oily t-zone but not necessarily oily on my cheeks.
I’ve often thought it’s “something” about my skin. Perhaps you’re on to something with the ph levels.
Since you and Christine both mentioned a primer, maybe that’s what I need to try. I am already starting with a sunblock, serum, daytime moisturizer, then foundation, etc., and never felt the need to add another layer, but maybe that would do the trick.
Thanks again!
I hope you find something that works for you. Let us know if you do.
Along with Pansy Pop, I also love Outspoken by Marc Jacobs (and I’m wondering if it’s been discontinued…!!!) and Rain from ColourPop. That Ultraviolet from Lorac has been tempting me… =)
I’m so glad so many have Rain! It’s a lovely color.
I have Hippo and I think it’s more of a highlighter, not a blush. I went on the hunt for purple blush a few weeks ago. I think they’re still pretty hard to find unless you buy online.
Depends on your skin tone 🙂
Full of Joy is my go-to blush, but I might pick up Pansy Pop as well. I was palying with the Lorac and I wasn’t quite sold on the texture.
But I’m thrilled that more purple blushes are coming onto the market. They’re a great alternative for someone like me who has redness in the skin but doesn’t want to feel like that redness is getting emphasized by the blush.
Full of Joy has such a nice finish on the skin!
I have Bittersweet, but I don’t wear it often… I should though!
You should!
Full of Joy looks beautiful, I don’t know how I missed it! I have Pansy Pop, and an older Bareminerals loose powder blush called Heaven that I like a lot.
It is! Such a great MAC shade!
Ultraviolet and Bittersweet both look lovely! I’m glad to see that there are so many good quality purples available.
Me too!! Times are a-changin’!
The only one of these I have is Pansy Pop — I definitely need more purple blushes! Hippo, Bittersweet, and Full of Joy, I think!
Pansy Pop is a great one to have 😉
I wish Clinique UK carried Pansy Pop. 🙁
🙁
Milani Fantastivo Mauve is my only purple blush. With a collection like mine, it’s quite surprising that I have only one. I’ll take a look at Full of joy in my next visit to a MAC counter.
I don’t even remember that blush! Is that still available? It sounds pretty.