Kevyn Aucoin- Helena Pure Powder Glow Blush

This is my favorite blush until further notice ("further notice" might come tomorrow or next week, but still). The Kevyn Aucoin brand has been revamping, reformulating, and refining the products. I was fond of Kevyn Aucoin products before, but after my first forays into the renewed line with this Pure Powder Glow blush in Helena I'm fully sold.

The new products come in a gold box, so it's easy to tell them apart from the old stock in the burgundy boxes that matched the compacts and tubes (beware of discounters). The blush came in a little velveteen pouch, which I think they started doing a couple of years ago (my oldest Kevyn Aucoin products didn't). Unnecessary, of course, but it tells you that the brand is aiming higher. The compact has a mirror but no silly little brush.

The texture of the Pure Powder Glow is fine and silky to the extreme. It gave me a wow moment he first time I touched it. It's as finely-milled as they come, yet doesn't create a cloud of debris around the compact when you dip your brush. The feel is almost creamy, and application is a luxurious pleasure. Helena is a medium pink with some warmth yet leans plum. It has an inner brightness (no shimmer or shine, just the promised glow) that enlivens the face even on the most sallow of days, and pulls a look together no matter what else I've been using.

I can pull off a relatively wide variety of blush colors (no orange, salmon, or deep peaches, and nothing even close to lilac or lavender), but I suspect that this is one of the most flattering colors I own right now. The exquisite formula (lasts from morning to night) is also a big incentive to wear it. Pigment intensity is among the highest around. I've been using duo-fiber brushes to keep the color manageable, otherwise I'd have to spend some serious blending time. A touch of the fluffy brush to the surface is all that it takes.  The swatch photo shows a completely unblended one swipe of Helena. In reality I wear about one third of this amount. It's really that good.

Bottom Line: can you blame me for coveting the ones in Neolita and Natura?

Kevyn Aucoin- Helena Pure Powder Glow Blush ($37, made in USA) is available from select department stores, Beauty.com. dermstore.com, and Beautylish.