Ellis Faas Blush S304 Mulled Wine

I thought I made a big mistake when I clicked the pen of my new Ellis Faas Blush and the creamy S304 emerged from its sponge applicator. The color was intensely red and had an almost metallic finish. I can't even say it was pretty, just weird.  But I trust Ellis Faas- the artist and her products- and I know that it's always worth it to ride that learning curve. So I gave it a try.

The result was surprisingly pretty and much easier to apply and blend than I anticipated. You only need a drop of the blush for each cheek. The texture is soft and pleasant on skin, and it blends easily. I've tried fingers, a dampBeauty Blender and even a Hakuhodo 210 brush. It's all good. When blended on skin there's no trace of the scary finish. In fact, the blush looks healthy and natural. Ellis Faas Blush S304 Mulled Wine is definitely on the red side. Since red is a pigment that appears in the skin naturally when we blush, the final look is very fresh-- just remember to use very little product.

Now, here comes the big issue:  the applicator. The sponge head gets clogged with dried cream no matter how well I (try to) clean it. This means some waste of time and product, but even worse: with continued use the cream tends to change texture (probably because some air somehow gets in) and become almost rubbery. What I do is mix the blush with a drop of either my tinted moisturizer or the face cream I'm using that day. Doing this doesn't change the cream-to-powder finish of the blush but can affect the color (see swatches). It makes application a breeze despite the extra step, so it's mostly worth it. I hope Ellis Faas replaces the sponge with the plastic brush of the eye shadows which is easy to keep clean and preserves the integrity of the product.

Bottom Line: pretty  too high maintenance.

Ellis Faas Blush ($32) is available from Sephora online, Space NK and EllisFaas.com.