Review: Sephora Collection Colorful Blush in Hey Jealousy

Purchased by Me 

Tomorrow we can drive around this town, and let the cops chase us around.

The past is gone but something might be found to take its place...

Hey Jealousy.

Hey Jealousy.

Hey jealousyyyyy! And now that we all have that Gin Blossoms song stuck in our heads for the rest of the day, let's get on with this review.

Sephora Collection Colorful Blush in Hey Jealousy

(retail: $15, 0.12 oz.)

Awesome shade name aside, I ordered one of the new Sephora Collection blushes when they first debuted on the Sephora site about a month or so ago. They were not yet in-store at my local Sephora at the time of my purchase, so I had to base my decision on some Instagram swatches and well, yeah. I'd by lying if I said the name of this blush didn't influence my choice (just a little). So let's take a look!

There are 18 shadees in the new Colorful Blush range, which you can view HERE.

I actually purchased this product just for me (with no intention of ever reviewing it), but some of you asked me if I had tried these new blushes, so I figured I'd share my thoughts. I realize that $15 for a single blush is a bit pricey for the types of things I review here, but then I thought about the fact that Physicians Formula products can run up to $14.99 these days. More and more, it seems that the gap between drugstore and mid-end products is getting smaller and smaller, right? Either way, I'll let you know at the end of this post whether or not I think this is actually worth $15, and I hope that will help in case you've been eyeing these.

Made in France

On certain monitors, this blush can probably look a bit bright (I looked at these pics on my phone and they looks REALLY bright) but on my computer monitor, the color looks very true-to-life. This is not a bright, neon-ish berry in person. It's more subdued than some of the super bright blushes you see these days, yet it's still saturated and doesn't have a "dusty" quality to it.

I would consider this color a neutral, deep berry. It really isn't too warm or too cool in person, although it can look more warm or cool depending on the lighting and your particular skintone of course. 

As far as I'm concerned, this is a matte blush. It wasn't until I took these close-up photos that I discovered that there are actually teeny-tiny flecks of glitter in this blush, but they are very sparse, very small, and they do not read as shimmer or glitter on my skin. This is definitely a matte blush on me, with not even a subtle sheen visible.

Swatched vs. blended out with a blush brush

For my swatches, I did these my "new way" that I discussed with you a while back. Since most of us will never wear our blush on bare skin, I decided a while back to start showing my blush swatches over foundation. I think that this gives a more realistic representation of what this blush might look like on your skin after you apply your foundation, so yeah, that's my logic with these new swatches. For the pic above, I swatched this blush after applying a thin layer of my Hard Candy Glamoflauge Foundation to my hand. I waited about five minutes for it to set before I applied the blush.

Without getting all philosophical on you, I'd like to take a sec to deconstruct the word "blush" as it pertains to makeup; specifically to cheek colors. One of the original functions of blush (known as "rouge" back in the day) was to mimic the color of cheeks during the act of blushing. Thus, the name (duh...I know). I think we've gotten away from that over the years (which is perfectly fine of course!) but sometimes I do find myself longing for a blush that really does capture that natural color that my cheeks produce, all on their own, when I'm blushing, exercising, etc. And guess what? This blush does just that for me. Every time I apply it, I marvel at the fact that this color, Hey Jealousy, truly mimics the natural flush of my cheeks.

This blush is VERY nicely pigmented, but it's not the type of blush that you have to use with extreme caution (I'm lookin' at you, Nyx High Definition Blush!). I can lightly swirl a traditional, fluffy blush brush in the pan and while yes, that will deposit a lot of color, it's also easy to blend out. So you have good control with this blush, despite it being extremely pigmented. I can see this color working very well for those of you with deeper skintones, and if you're on the fair end of the spectrum it could work as well (but you might have to "swirl with caution.").

I also love that there is very little fallout or dust that kicks up when you swirl with your brush. It's a very "clean" product to use, and I think that's because the texture of this blush is pretty firm. It's not dry or stiff, but it's also not one of those super creamy or soft powders. It's more along the lines of a baked blush, in terms of how it feels when you touch it with your brush.

As for how it applies, at first I thought it might be a bit patchy, but I only saw some patchiness during the first swipe to my cheek with my brush. When you start to blend, all of that patchiness goes away, and I find that this blush blends out very evenly. Staying power is good for my oily skin (I can get about 5-6 hours before I start to see some fading) and there is no odd fragrance to this blush. In fact, I can't really smell anything here, even when I hold the pan right up to my nose.

FINAL VERDICT: Is this blush worth $15? For me, the answer is yes. This particular shade, Hey Jealousy, truly mimics the natural color of my cheeks when I'm blushing, and that's something that's absolutely worth $15 to me. I love this color on my NC20 skintone, and I especially love that this blush is super pigmented, yet it's also easy to control the level of pigmentation while blending. The color looks natural and beautiful, the staying power is good and it blends well. What more can you really ask for when it comes to a dependable, day-to-day cheek color? This one's got it all, as far as I'm concerned, and I'm extremely happy with my purchase.

Do you own any of the new Sephora Colorful Blushes? If so, which shade(s) do own and how do you like them so far? 

The products featured in this post were purchased with personal funds. For more information, click here.