Make Up For Ever B500 Artist Face Color (Blush) Review, Photos, Swatches
B500
Make Up For Ever B500 Artist Face Color ($23.00 for 0.17 oz.) is a pinky plum with subtle, warm undertones and a mostly matte finish. It had nearly full color payoff in a single layer, but the denser consistency made it easier to use it with a lighter hand as it did not have a bunch of powder that kicked up with use. The intensity of the shade did seem to lend to more difficulty blending it out, even when I used it with a lighter hand. It also seemed to darken slightly and appeared less rosy on me (almost cooler in tone after I blended it out).
I think it would take a few uses to find the balance in tool and pressure for easier blending. The denser texture of the formula does not work so well with really fluffy or airy brushes like a fan brush, and I found the best technique was a tapered highlighting brush and then lightly patting it along the cheek bone and using a clean, larger buffing brush to diffuse and blend. The color stayed on well for nine hours, though.
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
- Becca Nightingale (P, $32.00) is warmer (95% similar).
- Viseart Plum #3 (PiP, ) is more muted (95% similar).
- Lethal Cosmetics Echinopsis (P, $15.50) is lighter (90% similar).
- Anastasia Exotic (PiP, ) is more shimmery (90% similar).
- Danessa Myricks Rose Royal (P, $18.00) is less shimmery, cooler (90% similar).
- ColourPop Icing on Top (P, $12.00) is darker, more muted, cooler (90% similar).
- Moira Soft Berry (P, $9.50) is less shimmery, lighter (90% similar).
- Danessa Myricks Spicey (P, $18.00) is darker, warmer (90% similar).
- ILIA Sing (P, $32.00) is less shimmery, lighter (85% similar).
- Rare Beauty Believe (P, $23.00) is cooler (85% 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
Nice color! I’ll have to check out the mattes, they seem like the kind of matte blush I like – the natural/semi-matte.
I like the finish on the mattes, Aj – I’m the same way, I want something that’s not totally flat!
Pretty. Duped to death and won’t indulge, but nice shade. These aren’t doing anywhere nearly as well as I expected from mufe. In fact, find them a tad disappointing. Mufe can do a helluva lot better.
I have some better-rated ones coming right around the corner 🙂
Way too intense of a cheek shade for me, and I’m an NC37! But the core color of it is truly gorgeous. And I could so see this one looking magnificent on PoC with say NW45/ NC50 and deeper, though! Or conversely, a super fair, cool-toned person using only the smallest smidge of this powerhouse.
It is a very rich and deep shade!
I really liked this one. Hmmm.
I usually use my mac 159 (duo fiber blush brush) with these kinds of blushes. But It sounds like that might not be ideal!
Yeah, it might be a little too fluffy on the edge, IMO!
The color is pretty, but this can easily become clown cheeks!
Oh, yes, there’s a fine line!
I think between the intense color and the slight patchiness I need to skip. It kind of reminds me of a few shades I have as well.
Aww, darn!
Woah – pigmentation!
It’s an intense one!
Oooooooh…. Being so fair I kind of hoped I could make it work with my sukku cheek. I uses I will have to pass. No way I will be able to blend it like UD Rapture lol!
Holy berry, batman! Looks like an ideal color for darker skintones, but I’m not in the market for this color (I have a dupe). Still … impressive.