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Illamasqua Chased Blush Review, Photos, Swatches

Cool, Pink Cheeks with Illamasqua Chased Blush

Illamasqua Chased Blush ($23.00 for 0.14 oz.) is a matte, blue-based medium pink. I know Sephora describes this as a lilac pink, but I don’t know if that’s very accurate. Its not so much lilac as it is just a very cool-toned pink. Personally, I found this shade a bit hard to pull off, but I liked it softly tapped onto the apples of cheeks with a smoky eye and a light pink or nude lip.

The texture is matte, so its great for those who find shimmery blushes too much for their skin. Illamasqua’s blushes, while matte, are not powdery or chalky. As with most matte textures, some trial and error is to be expected, but if you keep working with it, you’ll happen upon just the right technique and application method to give you very natural-looking color.

I also like that you can build up the color intensity by applying more, but you don’t have to worry about getting too much with just one swipe, either. I found just one tap of the brush on the powder was enough to give me the color intensity I wanted more often than not. Its always better to start off lighter rather than heavier–easier to add more than it is to diffuse it. But in the event that you feel like you’ve overdone it, use a buffer brush or take some loose powder and blend it out to lighten the color.

I’m not a huge fan of Illamasqua’s packaging, because its bulkier than Id like (or that it needs to be). You get a good amount of product for your money — Illamasqua’s blushes are just slightly more expensive than NARS in terms of price per ounce ($156 compared to $164). Illamasqua blushes come in a good range of shades, ranging from vibrant to soft.

22 Comments

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Cherie Avatar

Glad you reviewed this! I am interested in picking on up and have been doing some research. I was just reading about this brand at http://blog.sephora.com/2010/01/get-look-illamasquas-alt-cheeks.html and they stated that the design of the package was on purpose-to act as a guide for placement. It said you place the curved side of the packaging just under your cheekbone and use it as a stencil to create a superstructured look.

Does anybody else use it this way??

Christine Avatar

But why are their eyeshadows packaged the same way? LOL. Sometimes I wonder if it’s just marketing BS that comes out *after* the fact and just “fits,” you know? Of course, they could have done this with blushes and just made everything else in line, but yeah… I hear that and think “marketing!”

aradhana Avatar

i don’t really see how holding it under the cheekbone will help…
anyway, i agree with you about the packaging…and i’m sure i’ve said it before, i wish the product names were a little more longlasting, because mine have tended to rub off…
looking forward to trying their powder blushes though, becuase so far i’ve only tried the creme formula.
(i’m still not seeing the swatches though…) 🙂

Ayla Avatar

Hi! I’ve been wanting to try more blushes out side of my comfortable range. The problem is that I have a darker skin tone since I’m biracial. Do you think this blush would work for darker skin tones?

penelope Avatar

this looks like nars mata hari but nars is more pigmented, cost lesser and has a better package than illamasqua imo. thanks for the review christine b/c i have always wonder how their blushes are like but i will stick to nars for now and dior in the future.

Kristina Avatar

I hate their packaging so much, I think they tried so hard to be different. Different isn’t always good.

I don’t know, I guess I just don’t “get” Illamasqua; the whole vampy alter ego thing. I don’t have a vampy alter ego. It’s a little too Tim Burton for me.

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