Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Guerlain Rose aux Joues Blush Duo in SMILE for Spring 2016, Limited Edition

I mentioned Guerlain's limited-edition Rose aux Joues Blush Duo in SMILE for Spring 2016 when I reported on my session with Marcus Monson, Guerlain's Celebrity and National Makeup Artist. I promised to show you swatches, which I got today in bright sun with an air temperature of 25 and a wind chill of 9 degrees. I took my photos very quickly because I was not wearing a coat when I swatched the blush. My photos are not as good as they might have been had I not been shivering. When you rely on sunshine, you have to take it when you can get it.

Here is how Guerlain presents it [with slight edits]...
Discover spring limited-edition Rose aux Joues, a Blush Duo is offered two colors: a satiny red and an extremely delicate pink to express your joy in this new season. In its new shiny metallic red pack, the word SMILE appears in the powder: SMILE is an invitation to use this new Duo Blush to reveal your joyful face.

Its Pink Booster pigments capture natural light and enhance your complexion's natural pink hue in perfect affinity with your skin. Rosy cheeks with a delicate glow, as if you had just spent a day in the fresh air [I did], with a lightweight imperceptible finish. A feat made possible by the Duo Blush Rose aux Joues which brings a pink flush to your cheeks with a single sweep of the brush.

So true, with no exaggeration! It is a beautiful color to make your cheeks look naturally pretty. To apply, smile and apply Rose aux Joues with the little pink-bristled brush that comes with it or your own blush brush. Make sure to smile when you apply blush to know where to put it. Apply the blush evenly on the rounded part of your cheekbones, extending to the temples. When Marcus applied it on me, he blended the two shades together on his brush and applied them over my smile. Then he took a narrower brush and applied just the light pink shade over my smile along my cheekbones - where you would normally apply a highlighter. The result was glorious.

I was absolutely frozen when I took my swatch photo. I will apologize for my goose bumps. I should have come inside to apply the swatches to my arm. I did it as quickly as I could. The wind today is brutal. I used a sponge-tipped applicator and applied each color individually in strips at the top of my arm. Then I used another applicator and blended the two shades evenly. The resulting color is shown in the larger swatch at  the bottom in the picture.

It's a conservative blush - the way I like my blushes to be. However, you can layer on more color or use the darker shade more heavily it you want it to pop. This powder blush is all about the application.

I am thoroughly delighted with SMILE, and yes, it does make me smile. I think of winter as the season of death, and this winter has given us way too many deaths already: David Bowie, Glenn Frey of The Eagles, Alan Rickman, Celine Dion's husband René Angélil, Natalie Cole, Craig Strickland, and Lemmy Kilmister among them. I am sure that we will be hearing about the homeless dying outdoors soon. It's nice that one of our favorite cosmetics companies has given us a reason to smile and be positive. Spring will come.

Don't forget, this blush is a limited edition. If you want one, try to purchase it soon wherever Guerlain is carried. I bought mine at Neiman Marcus. You can also shop online at Guerlain's site or your favorite online source.

Photo at top courtesy of Guerlain; other photos by Best Things in Beauty

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is so beautiful. And I've always loved Guerlain packaging. That red compact itself is enough to make me smile!

Hope you thawed out quickly, CG :))

Denise at aeiokid at gmail dot com

Meredith said...

I bought this for my mom. It's perfect for her. She loves it.

Jill said...

Ahhhh... Sold!!

Anonymous said...

This is lovely. There are so many temptations in cosmetics this spring.
Tanja

Eileen said...

I've been using this as my daily go-to blush ever since purchasing it because of its versatility. Depending on the type of brush I use, I get more or less pigment and so the effect can be quite different. I typically swirl my brush through both colors, tap off any excess, and then lightly swirl it near my cheekbones. Because apples eventually fall from the tree, we older ladies no longer have "apples" where you younger gals do and so a slightly higher placement is much more flattering. Both colors combined produce a soft, glowing (thanks to pearl rather than glitter) warm rose that is similar to my natural flush and so "Smile" is perfect for me. Once applied, it lasts all day. I also tried using just the pink alone which produces a more luminous effect. As you recall, Charlestongirl said Marcus used it on her more like a highlighter and I can easily see why. It's soft, luminous pink creates a gentle lifted look to the face much as you'd expect from a highlighter applied to the cheekbones. As for the darker coral pink, I don't use that alone as it is too dark on me. That's OK because I didn't buy this as a "twofer". I bought it for the way the colors combined. That the lighter pink can also be worn alone is a bonus :-) I've read some comments on other blogs that the imprinted SMILE was kind of silly. While I don't think it enhances the product's appearance in the pan, it certainly doesn't impair the performance of the blush or detract from the beauty of the product when applied. And, smile is exactly what I do when I wear this cheerful new blush.

Evelyn said...

Aww I like that it has SMILE imprinted on it, it's cheerful and I do smile when I see it. Now I actually have to buy one because you and Eileen have convinced me.

Keep warm & safe during the coming storm! I need to find my shovels and be ready for this weekend.

Eileen said...

Hi Evelyn,

I think you'll really like Smile. It's one of those warm pinks that Guerlain does so well for spring. Luminous without being shimmery, it gives the proverbial (cringing as I type this) lit-from-within look. We've got to come up with another expression so we can consign l-f-w to the overworked cliché bin along with haul and curated. LOL It's a lovely blush, Evelyn, whether you like something delicate or mor vibrant, Smile can do it :-)

Charlestongirl said...

Meredith, how could you stand to give it away?

Charlestongirl said...

Tanja, I agree. I need to win the lottery!