Ok, I have a confession. I don’t really think that the complaints that I have with these two products are petty. It was just really hard to figure out how to title this post. As I was thinking about it, I do think some people would call them petty complaints. The Pat McGrath Blushing Delights Palette and the Armani Beauty Color Melting Balm in Warm Plum are two products that I think I would have considered favorites if I wasn’t a beauty blogger. As a reviewer, I pay more attention to small details and analyze products more than I think a “normal” consumer would. If I never wrote a review and never read the brand’s claims (for Armani), I truly think these two items would be favorites.
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Pat McGrath Blushing Delights Blush and Highlighter Palette, $60.00
If you saw my initial swatch post, then you already know that I’m unhappy with how lightweight and cheap the packaging feels for a $60 palette. However, now that I’ve had a chance to test this palette out, I can’t deny the quality of the products inside the package. The 3 blushes and 1 highlighter in the Blushing Delights palette are baked. They are very pigmented but incredibly smooth and easy to blend. For my skin tone (medium deep) I do not find myself needing to be very careful. I never overload my brush with product as a rule, so that could be why. I just lightly tap my brush in the product and it gives me enough pigment to work with. I do apply product to my brush for each cheek. I have seen fair and light skin tones say they have to be very careful with this palette so keep that in mind. The blushes do have a healthy sheen to them, but they aren’t shimmery. They look very smooth on my skin and don’t accentuate any texture. The highlight on the other hand does have some larger shimmer particles that you can see, but I don’t find that it accentuates my texture very much, which is nice.
To me, the highlight and 3 blushes are definitely worth the $60 price tag. And while I’m annoyed that it doesn’t feel more substantial, I do think the overall design of this palette is pretty. When I take a step back and just think about it as a fun Bridgerton collaboration, the quality of the actual product is outstanding. We’ve all seen brands put substandard products in limited edition collections and rely on the fun packaging to appease people. I do think the criticism of the packaging is still valid, but I can’t say it isn’t worth the money. A single Pat McGrath blush is $38 and while this is a different formula, the quality stands up to those individual blushes. So $60 for 3 blushes plus a highlight instead of $114 for 3 of her standard formula is really a great value.
If you can enjoy the packaging for the novelty it was meant to provide, and you don’t mind strong pigment, I’d highly recommend this palette.
The Blushing Delights Palette retails for $60 and is available on the Bergdorf Goodman website.** (As of April 17, 2023)
Giorgio Armani Melting Color Balm, $38.00**
If I hadn’t written a review on the Armani Melting Color Balms, this would have been at the top of my blush favorites list. This is kind of a tricky thought to have because stacked up against the brand claims, I still would not recommend this blush. As I mentioned in my original review, the formula of this shade in particular is stiff and dry. I did know this when buying it based on the review I read, but I was hoping that the brand was just having batch issues. Regardless, I still like this blush because I think the dryness helps it work better for my needs.
If I apply too much of this shade it ends up looking like a bruise on me. By only applying a small amount I get to experience it as a warm plum blush rather than looking like I have a purple bruise. If the formula was creamier, I’d likely get much more pigment on my brush at a time. So I’ve actually been enjoying this a lot. I just had to let go of how I felt it should work and let it work the way it does. Now maybe this isn’t necessarily petty when considering it is $38 and the other shades in the range don’t seem to perform this way. I just feel like if I personally like using it and enjoy how it looks on me, I should try not to be so caught up in what the brand claims.
The Armani Beauty Melting Color Balms retail for $38.00 and are available at Sephora.com.**
I do think it is important to continue to give critical reviews and point out when brand claims may fall short. However, I do want to try and do a better job of enjoying my makeup for the pure fun of it more often. Sometimes once the makeup is done, we are so happy with the final look we are willing to put up with a few quirks. The Pat McGrath Blushing Delights Palette and the Armani Melting Color Balm give me that feeling. After I’ve applied them, I no longer seem to care what problems they have.
As always, thank you for your time. Do you have any products that are difficult in some way but you love them anyway?
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Nikki From HR 