Charlotte Tilbury First Love Cheek to Chic Blusher (£30.00 for 0.28 oz.) is a medium, peachy brown with a satin finish and warm undertones–when blended together. The outer shade is a lighter, peachy-beige with a pearly sheen, while the interior shade is a muted, rosy brown with a mostly matte finish. Kevyn Aucoin Natura (P) is browner. NARS Luster (P, $29.00) is warmer, more golden, more shimmery. NARS Gina (P, $29.00) is less shimmery, slightly warmer. MAC Seasonal Appeal (LE, $21.00) is darker. MAC Margin (P, $21.00) is more shimmery, rosier. MAC Barefaced (LE, $21.00) is similar. See comparison swatches.

The texture is very, very finely-milled, smooth, and silky to the touch.  The center shade was just slightly powdery, but the blush didn’t look powdery at all once applied to the skin; in fact, the powder came together and blended beautifully against the skin.  Both shades individually had good color payoff, and the pigment was still rather buildable on–it could be applied lightly, more normally (medium coverage), or heavily.  The blush wore just over seven hours on me, and it was noticeably faded and a little patchy after eight hours of wear on me.  I liked it, and the texture is really, really lovely, but I wish the wear was a bit longer.  The compact was also surprisingly lightweight–could use a bit more heft to feel like a luxe product.

According to the brand, the product is supposed to be applied in two steps, where you apply the outer shade first across along the cheek bone (“to structure the face”), and then apply the interior shade to the apples of cheeks. I wish the compact was split in the middle or horizontally, because it’s not as practical to use them separately as it is together, and to a degree, they are really layered with the two-step technique, but the outer shade is meant to more defining, while the center shade does more of the blushing, I suppose. You will likely get a little bit of both on your brush, though, unless you use smaller-than-average blush brushes.

Note on purchasing: I bought mine at Selfridges online, and I will say that it took almost two weeks for my order to clear customs, where I was on the phone with DHL almost every other business day for ten to twenty minutes (probably forty minutes for the first call). Selfridges claimed they’d handle all customs paperwork and the like, but I can’t say that was my experience.  I had to give a lot of very, very private information to DHL/FDA as well as prepare documents to show packaging, ingredients, etc. DHL was polite, but it was extremely time-consuming and it took so long that even if it didn’t clear, I’d be out of luck because I’d miss the date to return to sender and it would have been destroyed.  I was also disappointed that Selfridges put a couple of sheets of tissue paper around all the products and that’s it–and so the products had a lot of room to shift around. For an international package, I’d expect more protection–I’m just glad nothing broke.  I don’t know if I would ever order internationally again for cosmetics from Selfridges as a result of my experience, so just a heads up.  Hopefully we’ll see the line here in the states next year.

Charlotte Tilbury First Love Cheek to Chic Blusher

Charlotte Tilbury First Love Cheek to Chic Blusher

Charlotte Tilbury First Love Cheek to Chic Blusher

Charlotte Tilbury First Love Cheek to Chic Blusher

Charlotte Tilbury First Love Cheek to Chic Blusher

Charlotte Tilbury First Love Cheek to Chic Blusher

Charlotte Tilbury First Love Cheek to Chic Blusher

Charlotte Tilbury First Love Cheek to Chic Blusher

Charlotte Tilbury First Love Cheek to Chic Blusher

Charlotte Tilbury First Love Cheek to Chic Blusher (outer)

Charlotte Tilbury First Love Cheek to Chic Blusher (inner)