Essence Blushes - Review and Swatches

If you've read even just a couple of my posts, you've probably read a mention about me being pale. It feels really redundant to keep mentioning it, but it does make a big difference when it comes to how I view products.

I love bright colors for my cheeks and lips. I actually think they work well with my fair skin (think Snow White), but I have to be really careful when I apply bright blushes because the Snow White look can quickly become the Extra from Moulin Rouge look. Not good. That's why I decided during one of my many fall shopping trips (Shame on me!) to pick up a couple of blushes that weren't really bright and intense.

I ended up grabbing two blushes from the brand Essence, which is a super-cheap brand sold at Ulta. These blushes are currently selling on Ulta.com for $2.99 each.

Essence Silky Touch Blush in 20 Babydoll

Essence Silky Touch Blush in 10 Adorable

Left to right: Babydoll and Adorable

These blushes do have a soft, silky feel to them, and as you can see from the swatches, they have pretty good pigmentation for inexpensive, light colors. Babydoll is a slightly rose-toned, muted pink, and Adorable is a true, light baby pink. They both have a slight sheen in the pan, but they appear matte when applied.

I love that I can use a normal blush brush to apply these since I have to use a stippling brush for nearly every blush in my collection. The trade-off with these being easy for me to apply is that they don't last as long as some of my other blushes. By the end of a workday, these are pretty much gone. While that's slightly disappointing, there are days when I'm okay with trading-off a little bit of wear time to have something that is hard for me to over-apply, especially for the inexpensive price tag.

Have you tried the Essence blushes? What did you think about them? Are there any other Essence products I should check out? Do you know of any light colored blushes that are easy to apply on fair skin that last all day?