Beauty products over bae, right? We're spending this Valentine's with our bestie, so for this Beauty on Trial we've put our ultimate trust in them: to do our makeup. We're putting our faves to the test to find out which is the best powder blusher of them all.
HQ Tests: Powder Blusher
The test: We're getting our bestie to pick out the best blusher for us, and then seeing whether we'll still be best friends forever...
The score: We’ll be rating every single eyeliner out of five for the below, with a final score out of 20:
Instagrammable packaging
Ease of application
Pigmentation
Longevity
Best Powder Blusher 2019
- benefit Dandelion
- NYX Professional Makeup High Definition Blush
- RMK Ingenious Powder Cheeks
- Rimmel Maxi Blusher
- Barry M Cosmetics Blusher Quad
- theBalm Balm Beach Long Wearing Blush
- Ciaté London Glow-To Illuminating Blush
- Bourjois Little Round Pot Duo Draping Blusher
1. Benefit Dandelion
What Benefit say: Dandelion is the perfect shade of pink from Benefit that brightens everyone’s complexion without looking powdery or chalky
Why we picked it: The perfect coral tone, we want to see if Benefit Cosmetics really have created the right shade blush for every skin tone.
Price: £26
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Continue Reading: our guide to the best Benefit products2. NYX Professional Makeup High Definition Blush
What NYX Professional Makeup say: Highly pigmented, the NYX Professional Makeup High Definition Blushis super-blendable and lightweight. Vibrant and silky in texture, the paraben-free blush will add an instant flush of colour to your complexion, giving you a healthy, fresh glow that will last all day.
Why we picked it: Is there a NYX Professional Makeup product we dislike? Of course not. We want to know whether their blusher will become a must-have in our makeup stash too.
Price: £6
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Continue Reading: our guide to the best NYX Professional Makeup products3. RMK Ingenious Powder Cheeks
What RMK say: The blush blends perfectly with no loss of pearly shine, so you can create an elegant look with ease.
Why we picked it: A beaut peach shade perfect for paler skin tones, this RMK blush has a matte finish and we're excited to see if it's wort the higher price point.
Price: £20
4. Rimmel Maxi Blusher
What Rimmel say: The blush comprises an ultra-light powder formula that blends effortlessly over the complexion to create buildable results. Highly pigmented and long-lasting, the blusher infuses cheeks with a wash of colour for a natural-looking glow.
Why we picked it: Drugstore makeup at its finest, Rimmel have created a supersize blusher that we hope is gonna be big on impact too.
Price: £5.99
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Continue Reading: our guide to the best Rimmel products5. Barry M Cosmetics Blusher Quad
What Barry M say: The cheek palette combines four highly pigmented, pressed powder blushers in matte and shimmer finishes that apply and blend effortlessly, adding a natural-looking glow to your complexion. Delivering buildable colour that lasts, the blushers can be used individually or blended together to create a customised rosy hue.
Why we picked it: Why have one blusher when you can have four? This blusher palette by Barry M looks right up our street, with a mix of matte and shimmer shades. Plus, it's another one of our fave Vegan makeup brands.
Price: £5.99
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Continue Reading: our guide to the best Barry M products6. theBalm Balm Beach Long Wearing Blush
What theBalm say: Effortlessly sweeping onto cheeks, the powdered blusher arrives in a warm-neutral tone, which is able to complement and enhance all skin tones. The blush boasts an ultra-smooth formula that blends seamlessly onto base makeup for a natural-looking, satin-matte finish. Expect long-lasting results.
Why we picked it: The perf' mix between blush and bronzer? We hope theBalm have nailed it. We're excited to see how this matte bronze-blush applies.
Price: £17.50
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Continue Reading: our guide to the best the Balm products7. Ciaté London Glow-To Illuminating Blush
What Ciaté say: Delivering up to 12-hours of smudge- and cake-free wear, the finely milled formula contains an ombré blend of matte blusher with ultra-refined highlight pigments to create a natural looking flush of colour with a subtle shimmer in one simple sweep.
Why we picked it: With super cute packaging - including a mini mirror! - this duochrome blusher by Ciaté London had to make it onto our roundup of the best powder blushers, but will its performance live up to the packaging?
Price: £22
8. Bourjois Little Round Pot Duo Draping Blusher
What Bourjois say: A colour contouring duo that combines a soft blush for adding a healthy, rosy glow to cheeks, with a darker shadow for adding depth and dimension to the hollows.
Lightweight and ultra-fine in texture, the 2-in-1 pot lays down sheer, super-blendable colour, facilitating the creation of expert facial sculpting and shaping that looks natural and lasts through the day.
Why we picked it: Perfectly complementary colours to help to add colour and sculpt, this pocket-sized Bourjois blush could be the best powder blush of them all.
Price: £6.49
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Continue Reading: our guide to the best Bourjois productsBest Powder Blusher Review
Benefit Blusher Review
Instagrammable packaging
The packaging is cute but is kind of bulky to fit in an everyday make up bag but handy it comes with a mirror.
3/5
Ease of application
Easy to use and enough powder goes on your brush but there is some fallout.
4/5
Pigmentation
The colour is sheer but buildable so is more suited to a subtle look.
3/5
Longevity
I never find blusher lasts too long normally and this one was about the same as my usual blusher.
3/5
Total: 13/20
NYX Professional Makeup Blusher Review
Instagrammable packaging
I loved the cute bow that they've added on the clasp to help with opening of the blusher, however other than that it just looked like a pretty normal blusher in terms of packaging.
3/5
Ease of application
Super easy to apply, and easy to blend.
4/5
Pigmentation
Very good, little product gave a great dusky pink finish.
5/5
Longevity
My foundation started to go slightly patchy but blusher is still on just the same as when applied in the morning.
4/5
Total: 16/20
RMK Blusher Review
Instagrammable packaging
I think the packaging is really nice and neat – a good size for a blusher (which is rare!) usually they’re a lot bigger but I really like this size.
5/5
Ease of application
Easy to apply evenly, however I found that it didn't show too much on my skin tone.
4/5
Pigmentation
I had to put a lot of the blusher on to see it – I’m not sure if this is because of the shade (it was a really light pink) but it didn’t show up very well. I’d have to wear a lot of this in comparison to other blushers I’ve used.
3/5
Longevity
Once applied, it lasted well until I took my makeup off.
4/5
Total: 16/20
Rimmel Blusher Review
Instagrammable packaging
I think the packaging is quite easy to overlook, however I am impressed at the amount of product you get in the pan - it's about the same size as my highlighter.
3/5
Ease of application
The shade was a little dark for me (it's called Sweet Cheeks, 004), so I had to be careful not to apply too much, however it applied evenly.
3/5
Pigmentation
You didn't have to use much for it to show - I normally opt for bronzer over blusher daily, but I would opt for this product in a different colour to achieve a similar fresh and sun-kissed glow
5/5
Longevity
Good long lasting pigment.
4/5
Total: 15/20
Barry M Blusher Review
Instagrammable packaging
I think this is pretty basic packaging, although the windows allow you to see the best blusher product.
2/5
Ease of application
The product blends well. The fact that it is so pigmented means you have to apply carefully, however the colour options means you can blend shades to find your perfect match.
4/5
Pigmentation
A little went a long way, really impressed here. I’m sure this product will last a long time.
5/5
Longevity
Still looked great at the end of the night!
4/5
Total: 15/20
TheBalm Blusher Review
Instagrammable packaging
Love the retro packaging, and it's super slimline meaning it'll easily slot into my makeup bag. It even comes with a small mirror, perfect to carry everywhere.
5/5
Ease of application
Applied sheer, but really easy to build up, and not patchy at all.
5/5
Pigmentation
Definitely a sheer initial application, but easy to build up. Gives you a really natural and healthy (not a heavy pink) look and works really well on my light skin tone.
4/5
Longevity
It really stays all day and a big plus for me is being paraben and cruelty free!
5/5
Total: 19/20
Ciaté Blusher Review
Instagrammable packaging
Cute name of the product (the shade is called "In Too Deep"), and I love the metallic packaging too.
5/5
Ease of application
Went on easily - I just mixed the two shades together and there was no patchiness.
5/5
Pigmentation
It applies a lot less plum-coloured than it looks in the pan, making it a subtle glow for daytime.
4/5
Longevity
The shimmery highlight side of things faded pretty quickly, and the blusher slowly faded throughout the day - however it did fade evenly, so pretty impressed with this best powder blusher!
3/5
Total: 17/20
Bourjois Blusher Review
Instagrammable packaging
Love how small this is, as it'll easily fit into my makeup bag - definitely a contender for best powder blusher in my eyes.
4/5
Ease of application
Although it came with a little brush (very cute) was better to use a normal blusher brush to mix the 2 shade together.
3/5
Pigmentation
Loved being able to mix the 2 shades together. I like that you didn’t need to put loads on your brush to make an impact.
4/5
Longevity
Stayed on all night. It matched my natural flush so looked super natural.
5/5
Total: 16/20
And the winner is...
theBalmThanks to its bronze tone and easy to apply nature, theBalm has won the title of best powder blusher.
Do you have a fave? Let us know on instagram @hqhair
Shop the best powder blusher edit
Now you know the best powder blusher to pass any test, it’s time to add-to-bag.
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