A lot of affordable makeup is pretty fantastic, and I don’t spend enough time talking about it. So for May, I’m dedicating the entire month to posts about products under $20. I specifically picked 13 YesStyle blushes that looked like they had a real chance of being olive-friendly and were all under $20 to test. I originally planned to put all of them into one big affordable YesStyle blush roundup, but once I started writing, it became very clear that 13 blush reviews in one post was too much. So I’m going to do the powder blushes today, and then this weekend or early next week, I’ll post the liquid, cream, and cushion blushes. I promise there will still be all the other affordable May posts so we’ll just have an extra post. In this post, all links are affiliate links (thank you for your support!), but all opinions are my own.
Swatches are in the same order from left to right as the order of blushes are reviewed in the post. I tried two different lighting conditions, and the second photo is truer to the actual colors of the blushes, but I think you can see the formula better in the first. Feedback always welcome!
dasique Blending Mood Cheek in 05 Violet Knit – These are the powder blushes I reach for the most out of these 6. The formula is so smooth and blurring and has what I’d call a skin-finish matte texture. It’s very soft and blurred, but not flat or dry. There’s a pale lilac I use more as a blush topper, a warmer pink that gives a pretty almost peachy pop (although if you’re less green, it’ll probably be just pink), a cooler purple that actually stays purple on me instead of turning pink, and a bright cool pink that is my my perfect everyday brightening blush. My camera kept pulling the warmer pink so much more peach/orange than it looks in real life, but the difference between the warmer pink and cooler purple is much clearer in person. I can use one shade, mix them, or shift the tone depending on the rest of my makeup, and it’s the rare blush quad where I actually use every shade.
NAMING Fluffy Powder Blush in Taro – I’ve talked about this one before in my beige makeup for olive skin post, and it still holds up as one of my favorite beige blushes of all time. The formula is also excellent. It’s smooth, easy to blend, and very hard to mess up. Compared to the dasique quad, this has a little more of a satin finish, but you probably wouldn’t be able to tell the difference unless you were really looking for it. This is the kind of shade I can wear when I don’t want my blush to compete with the rest of my makeup, but I still want my face to look finished. If I had to pick one single powder blush from this group of 6 to keep, it would probably be this one because the color is so perfect.
Unleashia Dough Dough Waffle Blush in No. 3 Jammy Grape – This is not the blush I’d pick if you want something matte, because it is definitely shimmery. There are no obvious flecks or chunky sparkle on my face, but it’s definitely more of a blushlighter. It’s smooth, glowy, and sheeny in a way that makes my skin look really nice but it’s not matte or blurred. Jammy Grape is a brighter pinky-purple shade, and it gives me more of that spring/summer pop of color. It’s also the most pigmented of this group of blushes here, so I don’t have to build it as much to get it to show up. Even with the extra pigment and sheen, I still find it easy to use because the formula is so smooth and blends out without getting patchy. This is the one I reach for when I want my blush to be brighter, glowier, and more noticeable.
rom&nd Better Than Cheek in C02 Blueberry Chip and N02 Vine Nude – I have both C02 and N02, and you don’t need both unless you’re looking for pale blushes with slightly different undertones (I know at least one of you is, and if you’re reading this, then yes, you specifically do need both). They’re also really hard to see in the swatches with my current skin depth, but I promise they’re very pretty in person. The formula is really nice but texturally, these are a little less smooth and blurring than the dasique and NAMING blushes. They still have that soft, airy, pale powder blush look, but if your main goal is “as blurred and smoothing as possible,” these would not be my first choice. If you are very fair and your biggest issue is blushes looking too pigmented too fast, these are perfect. The tones are so pretty and soft and really easy to build up slowly. I also really like them for blending out another blush or giving that Dior Rosy Glow style blush topper effect. When I first got these, I used them both all the time, especially in winter as a very pale blush.
Judydoll HOT Pretty Blush Powder in 68 – This is a really pretty pale cool pink, and it also gives me that Dior Rosy Glow type of effect that’s bright and fresh. The Judydoll formula and the rom&nd formula are almost exactly the same, and I would happily reach for any of them for this type of color. As we’ve moved into spring and warmer weather, I’ve definitely been reaching for this one more than the rom&nd. It works as a topper, but I can also wear it by itself when I want a fun lilac-y pink cheek that still looks like it belongs on my face. Warmer pinks work well on me because I’m a warm olive and I personally like that almost-peachy (not cheeto) look in the warmer months, but if you want to stay in that cool pink/lilac/purple blush family, this is the one I’d pick. *I can’t find this shade on YesStyle right now but it is on Stylevana for about $5.
What other products would you like me to review? Let me know if there’s anything else you’d like to see here, and thanks for reading! As always, some links may be affiliate links that support the blog, but all reviews/opinions are completely my own and unsponsored.
Makeup and Skincare Reviews 