The Shockingly Bright and Pigmented.

Since picking up Dior Aurora a few weeks ago, I've really been enjoying the look of a subtle bronzer on the cheeks with a bright pop of color just on the apples for a slightly sunkissed, slightly flushed look. For the pop of color, I've been reaching for a few of my 'scarier' blushes (i.e. the shockingly bright and pigmented ones) and applying them more sheerly with a duo fibre brush to avoid clown cheeks.

Clockwise from bottom left:

Barry M Apricot (matte, bright orange)

NARS Taos (shimmery, burnt red)

MAC CCB in Virgin Isle (bright orangey coral)

Illamasqua Hussy (matte, bright watermelon pink)

  MAC Salsarose (slightly shimmery, bright red with a touch of hot pink) (center)

Left to right (swatched heavily, then blended out):

Barry M Apricot

NARS Taos

MAC CCB in Virgin Isle

Left to right (swatched heavily, then blended out):

Illamasqua Hussy

MAC Salsarose

Lately, I've been favoring using my Sigma F15 Duo Fibre brush to apply these blushes because its bristles pick up far less product than traditional blush brushes, which helps to prevent accidentally applying too much product - and believe me, that's very easy to do with highly pigmented blushes! Brushes like the MAC 188 and 187 would work really well also.

 I first gently tap my brush in the blush two or three times (duo fibres don't pick up as much product as regular brushes), fluff the brush multiple times on the back of my hand to remove any excess blush to the point where I think there's probably not any product left on the brush, and then I apply whatever's left on the brush just to the apples of my cheeks and swirl gently to blend, paying close attention not to spread the color all over my cheeks - doing so with bright pink, orange, and red blushes may make you look like you either got a terrible sunburn or suffer from Rosacea...neither of which are very desirable! 

With bright and pigmented cream blushes (Virgin Isle), I tap my ring finger in the product once, apply it to my apples, and blend it out with a clean finger. You could also use a brush if you prefer, but I find that Virgin Isle is so pigmented that I get more control when I just use my fingers.

Anyway, my personal favorite of the lot is probably Illamasqua Hussy - so gorgeous!

What's your take on super bright and pigmented blushes? Do you go for it or do you steer clear?

Disclaimer: The Sigma brush mentioned was sent to me free of charge for review purposes only. I am not affiliated with this company, nor am I getting paid for featuring it on my blog. The opinions expressed in this post are honest and based solely on my own experience with the product(s).