Avon Ideal Luminous Blush in Cool Plum and Peach review

Avon Ideal Luminous Blush in Peach and Cool Plum

So, as promised in a previous post containing swatches of the Avon Ideal Luminous Blush, (click link to see review) I will be going into more details about how these blushes performed on my NC30, oily skin:



First of all, I have to say that Avon has got me confused about their products most of the time, especially because they tend to list very similar items under various names. For instance, these exact same blushes are sometimes listed as Avon True Color Blush, so I'm not really sure what is up with that. Anyhow, that's neither here or there. Here are a few of my thoughts about this product:

• The black smooth case is elegant and simple but was easy to show scratches. I only kept my blushes inside my train case and only packed it along my touch-up kit once but they instantly lost their 'newness'-- if you are into keeping your makeup immaculate, then this may bother you.

Both blushes have only gone inside my touch-up kit two times each, and then spent a sheltered life living inside my train case, but they look like this already.

• I did not really notice any scent-- but then again, I'm not that sensitive to fragrances.
• Both blushes looked rather matte in the catalogue but they were very glittery in person. This is not necessarily a bad thing though-- if you wanted a shimmery cheek.
• Both blushes were rather powdery-- I barely touched them with a stippling brush but got a lot of loose powders which I couldn't help but blow away as I hate messes like that. This means product wastage.  

When worn on the cheek, the color was shimmery but sheer, so you can choose to apply it more subtly.
 In fact, the Rose shade (which is the only one I did not get) looked like it would a good budget alternative to Benefit Bella Bamba (stay tuned for review and swatches), except that of course, it lacked the nuance of a high-end blush. It wore for a good three hours on my oily skin, which is just a little less than average because Benefit and Mac usually lasts four to five hours on me  (I apply blush very sparingly because I don't want it to compete with eyes or lips).

The deal breaker though is that the Cool Plum blush broke me out. One lazy day, I didn't feel like doing a full face just to fetch the Wonder Boy from preschool so I just dusted my trusty Ellana mineral foundation (click link to see review) and used the Cool Plum shade on my highlight area, cheekbones, and jaw and just let it be until my evening bath. The next day, I had several small pimples sprout just on those three areas, and nowhere else. That was the first and last time I wore it-- I had swatched it before, of course, but washed it off right afterwards. I had used the Peach blush twice before this and while I did not notice such an aggressive skin reaction, I don't want to risk it anymore.

I'm not really sure why it broke me out-- I am sensitive to certain foundation formulas (I'm looking at you Mac studio fix fluid!) but this is the first blush that did this. Will definitely not repurchase.

Summary: This is a good blush if you would rather not shell put money for Mac or Benefit or NARS

Have you tried Avon Ideal Luminous Blush yet? Do you plan to? I'd love to hear from you!