A couple of months ago, I reviewed Milani Coming Up Roses Blush, a limited edition that seemed to be in very limited supply at CVS during the second half of 2013. I imagine that due to the popularity of that LE, Milani has come back with more new shades of the Coming Up Roses Blush for spring:
- 05 Coral Cove
- 06 Lady Rouge
- 07 Love Potion
- 08 Tea Rose.
I was happy to have the opportunity to try them out.
Like last time, I love the embossed rose on the face of the blush. It is sooooo pretty. The trend these days for pressed powder eye shadows and blush is some sort of embossed design, and I think flowers are just lovely, especially for a spring product.
The compacts are very large – 0.60 oz. and almost 3 inches in diameter – making them not particularly portable. That said, I imagine they will be very long-lasting. I doubt that I will ever use it up because it’s so big.
The formula tends to be very powdery which makes sense since the first ingredient is talc. Using my blush brush to pick up some of the product, the blush spilled out over the compact and my bathroom vanity. A little messy.
I swatched the four shades on my inner arm. I should have applied body lotion or moisturizer first because I found them difficult to swatch. The powdery blush did not build up, and it required lots of back and forth with the brush to make all but Love Potion 07 visible.
However, on my face, it was a totally different story. As usual, I applied moisturizer and CC cream, and I had no trouble at all getting the blush to show up. In fact, I should have tapped my blush brush to shake off the excess blush before applying. I chose Tea Rose that looks in the compact to be a medium pink/mauve, and boy, did it ever adhere to my cheeks! I was never able to blend it in/away satisfactorily, so I had to remove some of it with a tissue because it provided too much color. In fact, this happened twice, so you’d think I would have learned from the first experience! Today, I applied Coral Cove which I thought was a lighter shade, but it too was highly pigmented and went on just as bright as Tea Rose!
Because it’s so pigmented and adheres to hydrated skin so well, pick up much less on your brush than you think you need! I mean it!!
Just for fun, I applied it to my skin a couple of hours after moisturizing and BEFORE I applied my CC cream. That was a more “normal” experience. It wasn’t overly bright on my skin, more the look I seek. But I almost never go without foundation or BB/CC cream, so I can’t say that experiment was ultimately helpful to me. Maybe it will be for you!
In spite of my little experiment, powder/mineral foundation users make sure you’ve put on a fair amount of moisturizer before your mineral foundation, otherwise it may be difficult to apply this blush if your skin is on the dry side. And have a clean brush on hand to try to blend, blend, blend, if necessary 😉
Here’s a couple of photos of me wearing Tea Rose, but in the first pic it looks like a did a really good job tissuing off the excess because you can hardly see the blush which was not true in “real life”. It’s still quite visible towards the sides of my cheeks. And on the lower pic, you can see it more clearly. I’m a pale blush kinda gal, so this is more color than I am used to.
And here’s Coral Cove. I think it’s a pretty coral shade. This time, I picked up as little as possible on my blush brush and I made sure to tap tap tap before applying. It’s still a little bright for me.
The blush wore well and lasted for more than 8 hours every time I’ve used it.
In spite of the fact that I wish the blush was less bright, less powdery and more blendable, I am in love with the look of the embossed rose compacts. If you can deal with a little messiness, if you apply moisturizer and or BB/CC cream first, and don’t mind working at blending a bit more than usual, you shouldn’t have any major problems. My assessment is this is a very cute, long-lasting and long-wearing blush in a nice range of shades for spring. And if you see them in a store near you, snap ’em up because I know these will sell out fast.
They should be appearing in select Walgreen’s stores now or very soon. If you can’t find them in stores, try the Milani website. Each compact is priced at $7.99. Made in Italy.
THIS IS AN ADDENDUM to this post. I just do not want to give up on these cuties from Milani, so I tried something new. Instead of applying the Coming Up Roses blush with a brush, I applied Lady Rouge with my fingers. I ran my finger across the blush and patted onto my cheeks. It blended perfectly on my face. As usual, I’m wearing CC cream. This was the solution to my issue. I didn’t get any messy fallout on the compact or on the countertop or on my face when I applied it this way. This is the solution for me. Try it!!!!
Here’s a new pic of me wearing Lady Rouge. I love it!
On another topic, please hop on over to my Giveaway. In conjunction with Midnight Velvet, the contemporary fashion retailer and sponsor of my very first giveaway back in October, I’m giving away a $50 Gift Certificate to Midnight Velvet in celebration of Spring and their Spring catalogue and product line. Floral prints are big for spring, so take a look at my new floral printed satin pumps from MV. I ADORE them! I hope you’ll enter. It’s super easy 🙂
I have to be honest and say these were a disappointment as much as last year’s first release. Yes, this year they’re all matte but they are just as dry & chalky as last year. I recently bought all 4 of them on the Milani webstien, so when will Milani learn that the consistency of these blushes should be re-formulated? Can you believe I literally HAD TO throw a Limited Edition blush away from last year’s collection from how disappointed I was? I threw away “BELLA ROSA” coming up roses blush because it lacked pigmentation, way too dry, chalky & extremely difficult to blend. I think the quality of these blushes should be like the baked blushes they recently put out to their permanent line because they’re so pigmented & easy to blend out.
Maria, you’re right that these need a reformulation. But surprisingly, I didn’t have such a hard time with the one I got back in late October, Floral Passion. It was a much lighter shade so blending it wasn’t such an issue. I have a feeling the “cuteness-factor” is so high with these, that they sell out in spite of the fact that they’re not perfect.
I’ll have to check these out when I see them .. !
You know, you have the most beautiful blue eyes 🙂
Monica.
You are so nice to say that, Monica! Mostly, I think they look like the grey-blue Atlantic Ocean, but the winter light makes them look very blue 🙂 These are adorable blushes, but they can be a little messy and a little hard to work with. But I think of them as beautiful sculptures and display them on my vanity. Tea Rose and Coral Cover, pictured in the photos, are my faves.
You’re totally right Allison, the design & packaging is what makes me a total sucker to buy these blushes. I bought a backup of Flora Passion and Romantic Rose from last years collection because they were the most pigmented and easiest to blend out. If they come out again next year with another batch I think I’ll pass.
Maria, I’m so glad you said that you didn’t have a hard time blending out last year’s models, ‘coz I didn’t either. But these are hard work to apply correctly. I’m hoping they’ll tweak the formula for the next installment, if there is one 😀
Maria, I hope you see this reply. I just tried a different way to apply the Coming Up Roses blush. I applied it with my finger, and it worked like a charm! I ran my finger over the top of Lady Rouge, one of the deeper/brighter shades, and applied it over my CC cream and it blended perfectly! No fallout, no mess on the compact or countertop. This is how I will apply it from now on. Hope you’ll give it a try if you haven’t thrown yours out yet!! Let me know if you do.
I LOVE Milani blushes and am excited to try these. Are they similar in pigmentation to the normal baked-blushes? Luminoso is my all-time favorite!
Natalie recently posted…February Favorites
Natalie, I’d say these are even more pigmented and a little harder to blend. But they are just so darn cute, I find them hard to resist. The lighter ones, Coral Cove and Tea Rose, are my favorites. And a little goes a very very long way so only put a little on your brush. Let me know what you think if you buy one!!
Tea Rose looks so pretty!
Natalye recently posted…The Best of Both Worlds – Lorac: Pro Palette Review and Swatches
That one is my favorite, too, Natalye! I have to use very little on my brush and use a light hand when applying. Thanks so much for commenting 🙂
Yes, I read your reply and I knew it took a while to reply, but I did try a new technique to apply these blushes too. I applied the blushes after spraying on some Make Up Setting spray & before applying setting powder to my face and it adhered to my skin very well and all I had to do was use a stippling brush to blend everything together to avoid any rough edges & make it look like a natural flush to the cheeks.
How smart, Maria! That’s a great way to deal with these cute but a bit hard to use blushes. I hope others will read your tip and take note! Thanks for your comment. Talk to you again soon 🙂