Archived Post

theBalm Houndstooth Instain Long-Wearing Blush Review, Photos, Swatches

Reviews
Contains: Affiliate Links, Sample Provided
Christine |

theBalm Houndstooth Instain Long-Wearing Staining Powder Blush
theBalm Houndstooth Instain Long-Wearing Staining Powder Blush

theBalm Houndstooth Instain Long-Wearing Staining Powder Blush ($22.00 for 0.20 oz.) is described as a “mauve.” It’s a medium-dark pink-plum with a satin finish. For a plum, it’s quite pink and lighter than the typical plum blush. Bobbi Brown Summer Pink is pinker, brighter. Tom Ford Wicked is more shimmery, cooler-toned. theBalm Cabana Boy is more plum. MAC Pink Tea is cooler-toned. MAC Subtle Breeze is similar. MAC Gentle is more shimmery. Chanel Rose Initiale is pinker. Bobbi Brown Pink Rose is similar. See comparison swatches.

The texture was soft, finely-milled, and applied very smoothly and evenly. It was easy to blend out the product, and it didn’t stick as soon as it hit the skin, so you could diffuse and soften the edges. Houndstooth had true-to-pan color and can be applied as intensely as seen in the pan or applied with a lighter hand for softer color, but it is quite pigmented. If you are fairer or prefer a subtler look, apply less than you think you need and go from there. When I wore this shade, it lasted well for eight and a half hours, and after ten hours, it looked patchy in a few places but still held up well overall.

theBalm Houndstooth Instain Long-Wearing Staining Powder Blush
theBalm Houndstooth Instain Long-Wearing Staining Powder Blush

theBalm Houndstooth Instain Long-Wearing Staining Powder Blush
theBalm Houndstooth Instain Long-Wearing Staining Powder Blush

theBalm Houndstooth Instain Long-Wearing Staining Powder Blush
theBalm Houndstooth Instain Long-Wearing Staining Powder Blush

theBalm Houndstooth Instain Long-Wearing Staining Powder Blush
theBalm Houndstooth Instain Long-Wearing Staining Powder Blush

theBalm Houndstooth Instain Long-Wearing Staining Powder Blush
theBalm Houndstooth Instain Long-Wearing Staining Powder Blush

theBalm Houndstooth Instain Long-Wearing Staining Powder Blush
theBalm Houndstooth Instain Long-Wearing Staining Powder Blush

theBalm Houndstooth Instain Long-Wearing Staining Powder Blush
theBalm Houndstooth Instain Long-Wearing Staining Powder Blush

Explore Temptalia

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:

Foundation Matrix™

Find your next foundation or concealer match!

The Dupe List™

Find a product dupe or compare two palettes.

Swatch Gallery™

Find swatches by color, product, formula, etc.

Compare Any Two

Curious how two shades compare to each other? Type in the shades below to get instant side-by-side swatches!

22 Comments

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!

Comments on this post are closed.
Mariella Avatar
Mariella
Very Light, Pink undertones. Normal-to-Dry skin. View Mariella Full Profile

I haven’t yet bought one of these blushes but what is so weird is that when I look at them in-store, and even somewhat in the photos on your site, they all look pretty much the same colour! Since I’m still kicking myself for not getting MAC Subtle Breeze (and getting Early Morning instead), I may have absolutely NO choice but to get this blush!

Clio Avatar
Clio

I wish I could see these in a store! Houndstooth looks so much softer in these pics than in the Balm’s promotional pictures. I thought it would be very purple, but even Cabana Boy was less plum than I thought it would be, and Christine says here that Houndstooth is even less plum than that. It looks gorgeous!

Maryam Avatar
Maryam

OMG OMG this blush is looking so healthy glowy on your skin christine u r looking heavenly beautiful my o my n thanx a ton for reviewing alll this u made it on my wishlist 🙂 i don’t know where i wouod be without you love you christine you have helped me built my make up stash wonderfully n bcz of you i m in love with millani liquify’eye pencils love you <3

Clio Avatar
Clio

What are those little dots in the product? Is that a deliberate pattern or is the product itself doing wonky things? I noticed it in the pics for Toile, too, but not those for Argyle.

Linda C. Avatar
Linda C.

Hi Christine, I almost bought some of these when the Balm had their sale last year. They had them marked down for the sale even though they weren’t in stock. Now I wish I had.

On another note I love the lipstick you are wearing with it. What is that? I really love it on you.

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!