What blush do you always lust over but won’t buy? Or won’t wear?
I think blushes like NARS Exhibit A are so, so gorgeous in the pan, but I tend to reach for blushes that are less intense!
Do you have a question idea? Submit yours here.
We're here to help you make better beauty purchases that you'll enjoy and love! We recommend signing up to take advantage of personalized features like tracking products you own, viewing dupes that you already have, and more!
Here are some useful resources for you:
Curious how two shades compare to each other? Type in the shades below to get instant side-by-side swatches!
Comments that do not adhere to our comment policy may be removed. Discussion and debate are highly encouraged but we expect community members to participate respectfully. Please keep discussion on-topic, and if you have general feedback, a product review request, an off-topic question, or need technical support, please contact us!
Please help us streamline the comments' section and be more efficient: double-check the post above for more basic information like pricing, availability, and so on to make sure your question wasn't answered already. Comments alerting us to typos or small errors in the post are appreciated (!) but will typically be removed after errors are fixed (unless a response is needed).
We appreciate enthusiasm for new releases but ask readers to please hold questions regarding if/when a review will be posted as we can't commit to or guarantee product reviews. We don't want to set expectations and then disappoint readers as even products that are swatched don't always end up being reviewed due to time constraints and changes in priorities! Thank you for understanding!
We try to approve comments within 24 hours (and reply to them within 72 hours) but can sometimes get behind and appreciate your patience! 🙂 If you have general feedback, product review requests, off-topic questions, or need technical support, please contact us directly. Thank you for your patience!
NARS’ Taj Mahal! This is sooo pretty in the pan, but I rarely ever wear it because it just doesn’t flatter me the same way it does other people. It’s not that it looks bad; I can make it work, but it takes more effort and even then it still isn’t the best on me. I sure love to look at it, though!
Illamasqua Lover but I already have so many colors similar.
Tom Ford! I lust after those blushes, they’re supposed to be amazing, but even though I’ll pay a lot for makeup I have a hard time swallowing the $55 price tag. Also I can’t see them in-store and I’m hesitant to buy online without looking at it in person. Are they really *that* awesome?
Love Lust is that amazing!
Tarte Amazonian Clay blushes-they are all so lovely, but quite expensive for a teenager’s limited budget lol. I only have Dollface, but there are a couple that I think I need to own soon. 🙂
Basically all the Benefit Box o Powders.
NARS Sin; although I really want it, and I know it will work very well on me, I just can’t bring myself to buy it any time soon. There are just several other items I’m currently lemming that I know will get more use, as I’m not really big on blush. I do swatch it every time I’m at Sephora or a NARS counter, though…
I have lusted over Laura Mercier Second Skin blush in “Lush Nectarine” for several months. I won’t let myself get it until I finish two of: Milani Luminoso, Josie Maran Fiction (in a face palette), and Tarina Tarantino Feather. I’ve got some dips going in the first two — whoo hoo!
I always tell myself I’m going into Sephora to finally buy a full sized BeneFit Bella Bamba, but then the NARS blushes catch my eye…
Don’t do it! Such a glitter bomb!
I like Glitterbombs, my parents even had the foresight to make my middle name “Glitterbomb” 😉
It’s not particular shades but rather lines of blush that I lust for but don’t buy because I already have so many. That said, I particularly want more Tarte Amazonian clay blushes (Peaceful in particular, but there are others that catch my eye) and the new Kat Von D blushes – gah the textures are amazing!
Oh definitely Tom Ford blushes!
Exhibit A f
Bobbi Brown Peony!
I agree on Exhibit A and Mata Hari for me as well, I just never get around to purchasing them. There are also a number of MAC pro blushes that look gorgeous. I rediscovered NARS Mounia tonight- wow! I did not realize it had been discontinued, I cannot fathom why.
Oops, not Mata Hari but Taj Mahal and Gina are the two I perennially lust over.
The TOM FORD blushes! I would love to buy “wicked”, but it’s just sooo expensive, especially here in Europe (55€!!!) And I do buy high end products and am willling to spend more money for better quality, packaging, etc., but this is just too much. I feel ridiculed by the brand….but still, the colours are sooo pretty!
Where in Europe do you buy them? I cant find them anywhere in Holland or belgium, and the websites don’t ship tom ford.. (as far as I know)
I live in Paris, they have a TOM FORD counter in the Galleries Lafayette and at Printemps. I wouldn’t know about other countries though, sorry…
Christine, That’s what I was going to say lol. I always try NARS exhibit A, and yet, never dare to buy it.
It’s going to be Tom Ford’s Narcissist. I have a heavy hand and I’m afraid I’ll overdo it. It looks so pretty on the pan though…
NARS Orgasm. When I tested it I found it needs to be built up, and I don’t have 4 hours every morning to spend putting on blush.
I just love Nars Cactus Flower, but like you Christine, I get cold feet and never buy it, even though I have seen some fair skinned ladies who pull it off wonderfully… Ahhhh!
Buy it Meagan~!! It’s AMAZING~!! You can buff it out to be a light flush on the cheek or build it up to be an intense pop of color. It really is beautiful.:)
I can only think of one, and that’s NARS Taj Mahal. Georgeour in pan and gorgeous swatched. Knowing myself I will probably get it eventually even though I’m pretty sure it won’t work that well on my NW20ish skin tone. I have Exhibit A and love it, but Taj Mahal will probably be too golden for me.
I agree with you, Christine! I love the idea of a bright, saturated blush, just not on me. I also lust after any blush in a gorgeous, intricate compact. Can’t think of a specific example right now, but I tend to stay under $30 when I buy blush.
Blush is my favorite. Right now I’m lusting over the Burberry Spring blushes. I want them both. I will buy as soon as I can get to Nordstroms.
MAC Dollymix… one of these days I will break down and buy it!I have a lot of their blushes but they are all pretty tame compared to Dollymix, and I’m not sure if I’d wear it enough to make it worth the purchase.
Tom Ford Wicked.
I love the color, but it’s so bold that I know it would only get very limited use so I can’t justify the cost. So I’ve stuck to just admiring it in photos.
Nars’ Taj Mahal! I L-O-V-E it, it looks stunning in the pan, but I would look just weird with that blush on my face. I am very pale with a yellowish- greenish under tone, soooo for me it is only love from afar
NARS Sex Appeal.. it seems like a blush I would wear constantly as it is so subtle and I have never found a peach blush that didn’t look orange or dirty on my skin.. but for me, it’s almost too subtle to be worth purchasing.. I’m sure one day, when i’m feeling flush, it’ll come home with me.
I am yet to own a Chanel blush, I desperately want one, but no shade has screamed at me yet..
Any Tom Ford
NARS “Outlaw” and to some extent Benefit “Hoola” or “Dallas.”
Nars Taj Mahal. However, my reasoning is pure laziness and being a bit of a cheapskate.
Every time I see the bloody testers in Sephora I’m so overwhelmed with desire to purchase it, and then realise there aren’t any more because for whatever incredibly bad reason, Sephora is no longer restocking/carrying that shade. And I can only buy it at Nordstroms or Nars online, which means I just won’t go out of my way to pay the shipping price (as Nordstroms isn’t close to where I live).
I think Nordies ships for free.
Nordstrom most definitely ships for free. Also free returns as well 🙂
The Tarte Amazonian Clay blushes. I love the colors, and they say the formula is amazing…but rarely even WEAR blush! Not only is it way out of my budget, but there is NO way I could justify buying a $25 blush when I have like 20 drugstore blushes sitting in my makeup storage untouched.
Tom Ford or Sisley-Paris. I can not bring myself to buy any piece of makeup that is that expensive. The price tag is way to high to be disappointed in any of the shades.
Nars Taj Mahal, ive always wanted it, because i know it would suit me because im south asian, but i always think say to myself its one of those blushes that unless im going to a major asian event, its going to look out of place. Maybe for my wedding!
NARS Cactus Flower and MAC Frankly Scarlet. They look so pretty in the pan but I know I won’t get good use out of it.
ALL of the Burberry blushes! I finally caved and bought one. I wanted Tangerine, but it was out of stock, so I got Russet. The texture is just as soft and beautiful as you say, Christine! I’d collect them all, but that $42 price tag is in my way!
Extremely bold blushes in general. I’m quite pale, very so in winter, so it feels like a waste of money to buy these in-your-face colors when I can probably a achieve a similar look by building up a less pigmented product.
Tom Ford blushes are also just a tad out of my mental price range for what I’m willing to spend on blush. Still beautiful to look at, though!
I would say I’m reluctant to get plumy toned blushes because you can’t use them year round and I’m not sure plumy tones would look good on me.
I have two: NARS Taj Mahal and Dolce Vita. I think Taj Mahal is absolutely beautiful in the pan and would look lovely on my dark skin. However, it appears very shimmery to me, and I prefer matte blushes so I don’t know if I’d reach for it enough to justify buying it (especially with it being so expensive). But again, it is absolutely gorgeous! I also adore Dolce Vita because I feel it is the perfect everyday pink for women of color, but I have other blushes that look so similar to it based on the swatch I do of this color every time I’m in Sephora! So again, it’s hard for me to justify spending so much money on this one because the similar colors are so much cheaper and give the same great color payoff and longevity, so I’ll just keep admiring these blushes from afar.
Yves Saint Laurent Creme Blushes! The price tag makes me think NO!
Color wise I’m not afraid of anything (I love bright colors, In fact Exhibit A is writen on my shopping list)
But I know which blushes work for me!
Anything peach/brown (like MAC blush in Peachtwist) doesn’t look good on me!
Two specific shades would have to be Tarte’s Exposed. sooo gorgeous but its sooo similar to Bobbi Brown’s Slopes blush that I can’t justify the $25. Nars Sin is another one that haunts my dreams every time I see it it makes me giddy but since I have so many blushes already I always cave and put it back.
One blush I lusted over and finally purchased (WHICH I HAVE NO REGRETS OVER) was Kevyn Aucoin’s dolline. The most beautiful color ever seriously at least check it out. The $37 price tag is steep but it’s indescribable
I actually bought exhibit A even though I was quite frightened, and it looks suprisingly nice on my NW15 skin. 🙂 But you have to take great care when applying it, it’s not a blush I use if I have little time or are going somewhere important (in case I mess it up). 😛
I’m very curious about NARS Exhibit A but scared to buy it even though I’m sure it’s complimentary to my NC 55 skin tone. I have golden undertones and the redness of this blush seems a bit jarring. I wear NARS Taj Mahal at least once a week – it’s my favorite blush hands down. When the summer comes and I’m darker, I think I’m going to try Exhibit A. I think it will look great with dark chocolate skin. Wish me luck!
Tom Fors’s because of the price, I don’t bite. Also Guerlain’s but I’m allergic to them but want them..lol