I have to confess that I’m a sucker for pretty packaging. More than once have I thrown caution to the wind and bought a beauty product simply because of how it was packaged, with little to no knowledge on the product and not having checked any reviews on it beforehand. Sometimes I end up disappointed, as many of us do in that situation, but other times I’m pleasantly surprised and end up completely loving the product.
In this case, the latter was definitely what happened when I bought a Pressed Cheek Color blush from Les Merveilleuses LADURÉE in Tokyo. That’s right, the same company that makes those irresistible French macarons and other treats also has a makeup line! Their collection is supposedly inspired by the colors of their macarons. How cute is that? Fun fact: “merveilleuses” means “marvelous women” and refers to the female members of a fashionable aristocratic subculture in Paris during the 18th century!
Product description: "As you choose your clothing, you change your look. Creates a new beauty-in-expression with wide color variations."
As is the usual with some other brands, you have to buy the blush and the case separately. They come in these beautiful pink boxes with a vintage flower pattern design and gold detailing on and around the logo. What I purchased here was the Pressed Cheek Color Refill in the shade #07, the blush itself, and the Pressed Cheek Color Case.
Let’s look at the blush case first. Isn’t it absolutely gorgeous? I’m usually not the biggest fan of makeup cases or housing that’s white because they get dirty so easily, but I’ll make an exception for this one! The case is made of a sturdy plastic and also has lovely gold detailing.
When you first open the case, you can immediately see the depression in it where you’ll be inserting the blush. I like the size of the mirror that comes with the case too as I find it large enough for quick touch-ups unlike with some other blushes that have mirrors where you can barely see your face because they’re so tiny.
The case is a double compartment and underneath is where you’ll find the included brush. The brush itself is of pretty good quality and the synthetic hairs are soft and gentle on the cheeks. I still don’t prefer this type of brush when applying blush though, plus it’s just too small and it’s hard to blend properly with it since it’s ‘narrow’ so I stick to a nice angled or round fluffy brush.
I always keep this brush in the case though because it’ll help with emergency touch-ups in case I forget to bring my preferred type of brush. Also, unlike a lot of blushes that come with scratchy, sub-par brushes, it would still be a shame to just throw this away!
Now onto the blush! As I mentioned earlier, this is the shade #07. No fancy or cute names for the shades, I’m afraid. There’s a whopping 20 shades in total! No matter your skin tone, you’ll definitely be able to find a shade that you’ll love. Some of the other shades are actually perfect, if not meant for, contouring!
The blush is as equally gorgeous as the case and I adore the same 3D design on it, but I know what you’re thinking; the shade looks a little intimidating, doesn’t it? To be honest, that’s one of the reasons why I got it! I love really vibrant blushes, especially since I try to make my blush one of the key ‘features’ of any makeup look I do. The moment I saw this hot pink shade, I knew it was the one I had to get!
This is the blush once inserted into the case. Inserting it was super easy! After removing it from the box, just snap it into the case and you’re done. Once in, it sits there securely and I even gave it a few hard shakes upside down to test it and it held strong.
A close-up of the blush. It has a smooth texture and it’s not too powdery or chalky in the slightest so you won’t experience any major fall-out or excess blush powder getting everywhere with this one.
I did two types of swatches here to show you how you can work with this blush: on the right is a somewhat heavy swatch and on the left is a swatch applied with a lighter hand which looks more natural. Like with almost any blush, it’s really up to you how you want it to look! Also, the blush is really pigmented so it’s best to build up the shade gradually.
I took another picture, but this time with flash. The swatch that was applied heavier still really pops while the the other swatch was expectantly washed out a little. If you can see it on the right swatch, the blush actually has some shimmer to it, but it’s only obvious when you apply it that heavily and even then not that much. Someone would still need to stick their face inches from yours to see the shimmer, haha.
See? The blush isn’t actually that scary to work with! Here I’ve applied it somewhat lightly and blended it out so that it looks as natural as possible. There are days when I like to apply it a little heavier to really show of how vibrant and pink it is, especially if I’ll be going out at night, but on this day I decided to make it quite natural-looking since I was just going to work.
Staying power of this blush is great, but it also depends on your method of application. The heavier you apply, the longer it’s going to last and vice versa. I usually apply with a ‘medium hand’, if that makes sense, and this can easily last 5-6 hours on me even without a primer or setting spray! There are times, especially if it’s been really hot out and I’ve gotten oily and sweaty because of it, that it fades a little but there’s always some color still left on my cheeks by the end of the day. Since the blush is really pigmented and you don’t need a lot each time even if you’ll be applying it a little heavily, it can last you a long while. Even after a month of using this blush frequently (at least every other day or every couple of days), the design on it still looked mostly undisturbed and almost brand new.
Overall I really do love this blush and it’s safe to say it’s one of my favorites…ever! It’s just a shame that it’s so difficult to get a hold of or else I’d be purchasing more shades already! The next time I’m in Japan I’m definitely going to be picking up at least a couple more of these. Ooh la la!
WHAT I LIKE:
WHAT I DON’T LIKE:
ANYTHING ELSE:
Price: ¥3,800 for the Pressed Cheek Color Refill, ¥1,500 for the Pressed Cheek Color Case
Purchased from: Isetan Department Store (Tokyo, Japan)
When you first open the case, you can immediately see the depression in it where you’ll be inserting the blush. I like the size of the mirror that comes with the case too as I find it large enough for quick touch-ups unlike with some other blushes that have mirrors where you can barely see your face because they’re so tiny.
The case is a double compartment and underneath is where you’ll find the included brush. The brush itself is of pretty good quality and the synthetic hairs are soft and gentle on the cheeks. I still don’t prefer this type of brush when applying blush though, plus it’s just too small and it’s hard to blend properly with it since it’s ‘narrow’ so I stick to a nice angled or round fluffy brush.
I always keep this brush in the case though because it’ll help with emergency touch-ups in case I forget to bring my preferred type of brush. Also, unlike a lot of blushes that come with scratchy, sub-par brushes, it would still be a shame to just throw this away!
Now onto the blush! As I mentioned earlier, this is the shade #07. No fancy or cute names for the shades, I’m afraid. There’s a whopping 20 shades in total! No matter your skin tone, you’ll definitely be able to find a shade that you’ll love. Some of the other shades are actually perfect, if not meant for, contouring!
The blush is as equally gorgeous as the case and I adore the same 3D design on it, but I know what you’re thinking; the shade looks a little intimidating, doesn’t it? To be honest, that’s one of the reasons why I got it! I love really vibrant blushes, especially since I try to make my blush one of the key ‘features’ of any makeup look I do. The moment I saw this hot pink shade, I knew it was the one I had to get!
This is the blush once inserted into the case. Inserting it was super easy! After removing it from the box, just snap it into the case and you’re done. Once in, it sits there securely and I even gave it a few hard shakes upside down to test it and it held strong.
A close-up of the blush. It has a smooth texture and it’s not too powdery or chalky in the slightest so you won’t experience any major fall-out or excess blush powder getting everywhere with this one.
I did two types of swatches here to show you how you can work with this blush: on the right is a somewhat heavy swatch and on the left is a swatch applied with a lighter hand which looks more natural. Like with almost any blush, it’s really up to you how you want it to look! Also, the blush is really pigmented so it’s best to build up the shade gradually.
I took another picture, but this time with flash. The swatch that was applied heavier still really pops while the the other swatch was expectantly washed out a little. If you can see it on the right swatch, the blush actually has some shimmer to it, but it’s only obvious when you apply it that heavily and even then not that much. Someone would still need to stick their face inches from yours to see the shimmer, haha.
See? The blush isn’t actually that scary to work with! Here I’ve applied it somewhat lightly and blended it out so that it looks as natural as possible. There are days when I like to apply it a little heavier to really show of how vibrant and pink it is, especially if I’ll be going out at night, but on this day I decided to make it quite natural-looking since I was just going to work.
Staying power of this blush is great, but it also depends on your method of application. The heavier you apply, the longer it’s going to last and vice versa. I usually apply with a ‘medium hand’, if that makes sense, and this can easily last 5-6 hours on me even without a primer or setting spray! There are times, especially if it’s been really hot out and I’ve gotten oily and sweaty because of it, that it fades a little but there’s always some color still left on my cheeks by the end of the day. Since the blush is really pigmented and you don’t need a lot each time even if you’ll be applying it a little heavily, it can last you a long while. Even after a month of using this blush frequently (at least every other day or every couple of days), the design on it still looked mostly undisturbed and almost brand new.
Overall I really do love this blush and it’s safe to say it’s one of my favorites…ever! It’s just a shame that it’s so difficult to get a hold of or else I’d be purchasing more shades already! The next time I’m in Japan I’m definitely going to be picking up at least a couple more of these. Ooh la la!
WHAT I LIKE:
- Gorgeous packaging.
- Over twenty different shades to choose from.
- Good staying power.
- Highly pigmented.
- Not chalky or too powdery.
- Has very fine shimmer in it.
WHAT I DON’T LIKE:
- Quite expensive, especially if you’ll be buying both the blush and the case.
ANYTHING ELSE:
- Only available in Japan and France.
Price: ¥3,800 for the Pressed Cheek Color Refill, ¥1,500 for the Pressed Cheek Color Case
Purchased from: Isetan Department Store (Tokyo, Japan)
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