As a very pale person with jet black hair I struggle to find blushes which fit my usual look which is reminiscent of retro style makeup, similar in many ways to that of Dita Von Teese etc.

So after pretty much pinning down porcelain, dewy but full coverage foundation I began to find an inner loathing to powdery pink blushes which began to feel jarring with the rest of my look. I love cat eye flicks and deep plum lipsticks, so wanted something redder - in other words Snow White style rosy apple cheeks.

I quickly clicked powder blushes wouldn't have the right pigment to provide such a colour, and when browsing Illamasqua's site to purchase their Eyebrow Cake (amazing!) I fell upon their Cream Blush. I decided to purchase this along with the Cake and their Highlighter in Aurora with the 15% birthday discount that weekend.

It was trial and error getting this to work for me, I did actually go out and buy a Real Techniques stippling brush thinking it was the way to go but BELIEVE me, this is so very pigmented you need the very tip of your finger to pat the colour into the apples of your cheeks to make this work. I add concealer after this blush under my eyes to avoid excess rosiness (I look like a 5 year old just in from playing in the snow otherwise!)

This is beautiful, very pricey but will last FOREVER, so economically worth it really if used correctly. The packaging is fiddly but just use tweezers to click it open! It looks lovely, so I can't complain much. Can't really imagine Brazen on darker skin tones, might have to have a rethink for when I tan...

FAB, try it!

Love this cream blush from Illamasqua. As a dark haired PPP I use this as both a cheek and lip colour. You need to apply with a light hand, either with fingers or a brush, but the cool toned red-raspberry is beautiful and unlike Stila's CC its non greasy and has pretty good staying power.

Illamasqua's cream blush called Brazen is highly pigmented, in a red with cool tones.


It blends easily, however, one has to restrain dabbing the Mac 187 into the blush, because it's overkill on the cheek. If you have a heavy hand, I would first dab the brush and tap on the back of hand, and then transfer to the cheek.


The color is very pretty, and longevity is a full day. It gives a dewy look, rather than matte.


But, because of the strong pigmentation, I really don't like it as much as my Becca cream blushes. I would much rather build up a blush, than to attempt to take away or mute the blush down.


Color payoff is A. But application is a bit tricky so that's a B-.