Seventeen Cheek Stamp Blush

A VERY long time ago, Australis made a product that had a buffing sponge on top of jar of loose blush powder.  Aside from the odd malfunction where the sponge came off and you wore half the tub (This never happened to me, but I saw it on 2 occasions) these were PERFECT.  OK not perfect, you couldn't really wash the applicator and as I say, wearing half a jar of blush in your cleavage? Not OK, but there were fab, they applied and blended the blush seamlessly and I loved them.

When I saw these cheek stamps, I was immediately drawn back to that little Australis pot of colour, and HAD TO try them.  They sounded almost identical.

I bought The Cheek of It and Stare Struck.  A peach and a plum.

Out of the box, they look like this:

 

So far so good, the walk down memory lane begins...

But on the inside, was not what I was expecting:

It's a solid blush and a sponge applicator, on top of the blush is a plastic cover to keep the sponge clean in transit, it is also a REAL pain to get out, I think I resorted to tweezers for one of them.

I'd like to point out there products didn't have testers, which isn't too uncommon in my local Boots store, not because they don't put them out, but because they 'walk' it had lead me to believe, on many occasion, there is a special place in hell for people who steal foundation testers.

The colour pay off of these if pretty awesome, and the colour selection- 5 colours in the range, from a pretty pink of a deep plum is also pretty cool.

Wearability is great, but then I've never had much of an issue with blush disappearing from my face.

The real issue, sadly, is what makes these different. The stamp.

Because the sponge is spring 'loaded' you have to push it to close it, and unless you kept that annoying piece of plastic, this forces colour onto the sponge.  Which mean picking up only a little, is near impossible.

You can lightly stamp the colour on to the cheeks and then blend, but really, if you're going to that trouble, why not just use a blush straight from the container.  Which is exactly what I do.  This has advantages too.  Because the pot has sides, you don't make little 'spills' of powder, and you can tap your brush if needed and waste virtually no product. 

As a blush, I love them, as a new and clever way of applying blush? Not so much, unless you are either a fan of thick stripey blush, or rag doll cheeks; in which case, they are PERFECT.

Seventeen is exclusively available at Boots.  Although Boots in a UK store, there are shops in other countries such as Thailand- if you or someone you know is on holiday there soon, sweet talk them.  You never know.