Meet The Most Vibrant Blush I've Ever Come Across...

I was immediately drawn to this amazingly bright shade and who could blame me? It was practically begging me to pick it up! This baby is Maybelline's Clear Smooth Shine Free Blush in Fresh Berry. The Clear Smooth line is not available anywhere outside of Asia, unfortunately; and that's a shame, because this blush is gorgeous and fantastic quality!

Here's some info from Maybelline regarding their Clear Smooth Shine Free Blushes:

1. Velvety, matte colour:
Pure colour pigments blend into skin for a naturally shine-free flush.

2. Lasting oil control:
Micro-fine oil-absorbing powders remove shine for a clean, shine-free look that lasts for hours and hours.

3. Silky smooth texture:
Ultra-blendable powders glide like silk and melts smoothly only skin.


Shades specifically developed for Asian skintones
Dermatologist-tested, Non-comedogenic, Fragrance free & Oil-free

Because of the high temperatures and humidity, the majority of Asian beauty products cater to oily skin*.  This oil-free blush is perfect for such weather and also for those with oily skin to begin with. The texture is amazingly smooth and feels really soft. It blends wonderfully as well; a plus, considering how crazy pigmented this blush is. For reals, I only tap my brush to the pan once and I still need to tap off the excess on the back of my hand, it's that bright!

*Asians are also obsessed with whitening products. Practically every skin care or makeup base product involves "whitening properties." I can't even count how many times an SA looked at me like I had two heads when I said I wasn't interested in anything that would whiten my skin (it was their number one selling point).

Holy Moly! :o

That said, there's absolutely no need to be frightened. Because when applied properly, it looks very, very pretty! Fresh Berry is a bright fuchsia shade with red undertones, definitely not something I have in my humble stash. Even if you are a bit heavy handed (as I sometimes most of the time am), it's also easy to blend with either your fingers or a brush, to make the colour less intense.

But the best part is that it's long wearing. Again, with products marketed for Asia, it's important to have matte finishes and also long wearability. Because, and I kid you not, once you step outside, it takes less than 5 minutes for your skin to get a bit oily due to the humidity. Now that I'm back in Canada and the weather's cold, that's not much of a problem for me. However, my skin still gets a bit oily near the end of my day. Still, I find that the Clear Smooth blush sticks around on even my longer days. The vibrancy diminishes a tiiiny bit, but I can still tell I'm wearing blush, which is the most important part. These chubby cheeks need some definition, yo!

I am so impressed with this product and it seriously needs to make an appearance on North American shores; I'm sure oily-skinned ladies would absolutely love it. And even if you have normal to dry skin (which I do), this would still be suitable for you, because it doesn't accentuate any dry areas at all...

...Now I wish I had gotten all the other shades!

Are you a fan of BRIGHT blushes?