Make Up For Ever B218 Artist Face Color (Blush) Review, Photos, Swatches
B218
Make Up For Ever B218 Artist Face Color ($23.00 for 0.17 oz.) is a rich, medium-dark fuchsia pink with cool, blue undertones and a semi-matte finish. The pigmentation was intense with full coverage achievable with little product, but the denser consistency gave me a lot of control over the application to avoid going completely overboard with it.
My recommendation for someone who wants sheerer coverage would be to use a smaller, more buffer-like brush so there’s good contact with the blush’s surface but less area overall, so it can be applied more precisely and then diffused and pulled out from there. It was not difficult to work with at all, but the intense coverage and brightness of the color do require some care during application. I appreciated how blendable the shade was, as that really is a must-have in this type of a color. On me, it stayed on well for nine hours.
Overview of the Formula
The formula is supposed to have “intense color payoff” with a “long-lasting finish.” The range is split into three types–Highlighters, Sculpting Powders, and Blushes–that is easy to determine by the first letter of the shade name (H for Highlighter, S for Sculpting, and B for Blush). There are three finishes–matte, shimmer, and pearl but was less obvious. In fact, the majority of the “matte” shades were more like semi-matte or natural matte where there were no distinctive shimmer particles but they seemed to take on the natural finish of the skin, which gave the “mattes” a particularly seamless finish on the skin but might be dewier on oilier skin types than desired. None of the 34 shades available were frosted or metallic except three of the highlighters (H100, H106, H312).
The pigmentation ranged from medium to opaque, depending largely on the shade, though they were always buildable if they were not opaque in a single layer. Some of the deeper, more matte shades were less forgiving and took more effort to diffuse and blend, even when I used a lighter hand or a more feathery brush. The texture was smooth, velvety, and moderately dense without any powderiness or dustiness in the pan. The formula has lasted between eight and ten hours on me.
You can view swatches of all of the blushes, all of the highlighters, and all of the sculpting powders in the Swatch Gallery.
FURTHER READING: Formula Overview for details on general performance and characteristics (like scent).
Top Dupes
- MAC Let's Be Friends (LE, $24.00) is lighter (95% similar).
- ColourPop Sandbar (P, $4.50) is less shimmery (95% similar).
- ColourPop Please-blossom (LE, $7.00) is less shimmery, lighter (90% similar).
- ColourPop Pegacorn (DC, $8.00) is more shimmery (90% similar).
- Fenty Beauty Crush on Cupid (P, $20.00) is more shimmery, lighter, more muted (90% similar).
- ColourPop Island Shine (LE, $12.00) is less shimmery, lighter, warmer (90% similar).
- MAC Pink Desire (LE, $24.00) is more shimmery, darker (90% similar).
- MAC Rosy Does It (LE, $30.00) is more shimmery, more muted (90% similar).
- MAC Bred for Beauty (LE, ) is less shimmery (90% similar).
- Give Me Glow Pink Freak (P, $14.00) is less shimmery, lighter (90% similar).
Formula Overview
$23.00/0.17 oz. - $135.29 Per Ounce
The formula is supposed to have "intense color payoff" with a "long-lasting finish." The range is split into three types--Highlighters, Sculpting Powders, and Blushes--that is easy to determine by the first letter of the shade name (H for Highlighter, S for Sculpting, and B for Blush).
There are three finishes--matte, shimmer, and pearl but was less obvious. In fact, the majority of the "matte" shades were more like semi-matte or natural matte where there were no distinctive shimmer particles but they seemed to take on the natural finish of the skin, which gave the "mattes" a particularly seamless finish on the skin but might be dewier on oilier skin types than desired. None of the 34 shades available were frosted or metallic except three of the highlighters (H100, H106, H312).
The pigmentation ranged from medium to opaque, depending largely on the shade, though they were always buildable if they were not opaque in a single layer. Some of the deeper, more matte shades were less forgiving and took more effort to diffuse and blend, even when I used a lighter hand or a more feathery brush. The texture was smooth, velvety, and moderately dense without any powderiness or dustiness in the pan. The formula has lasted between eight and ten hours on me.
Browse all of our Make Up For Ever Artist Face Color - Blush swatches.
Ingredients
Wow! What a bright shade! This would be really pretty if you applied it a little more sheer!
Wow, they didn’t skimp on the pigment here!
That’s an understatement, haha!
Feeling nostalgic here! All through the better part of the 80’s I wore a blush this EXACT color just about daily. It was one of favorites ever. Nevermind that it probably looked a little crazy with my then spiral permed, heavily highlighted big hair, I wore it fearlessly! Who knows, I still might ?
I love that there was a period of time where this was uber popular 😉
Wow, this colour! It’s a little blue-toned for me but I love the peachier/rosier shades the brand came out with 😀
It is an intense one!
So bright! I’d have to put it on to see if I liked it.
It is!