Becca Mineral Blush- Nightingale

I'm finally ready to forgive Becca for discontinuing their old range of cream blushes. Almost. I still miss Turkish Rose, but let's face it: there's so much good blush in the world these days that it's pointless to focus on a long-gone color, as great as it was. I moved on, Becca has moved on, and today it's a much bigger brand and it's considerably easier to find. That's a good thing, as is the blush we're looking at today.

Nightingale couldn't be further removed from Turkish Rose. Obviously it's a powder product, a mineral pressed blush. It's also the most intensely pigmented blush I own. I was quite shocked the first time I encountered it. Holy Batman Color! Applying it requires a small soft brush and a light hand. I don't use it with anything other than Hakuhodo small round "purple" Yachiyo (the pointed one can deposit too much color at one spot) or even the fluffier G5540. A harder brush kicks up a storm of product that clings to cats and their whiskers (there's nothing like chasing Lizzy around the house with makeup wipes).

All swatched with the same brush, Kevyn Aucoin contour, which is far too stiff for such a heavily pigmented brush but was a good size for the photographing

To show you how concentrated Becca Nightingale is I rounded up a bunch of its reddish plummish peers. Few products are more intense than a NARS blush, but you can see how Becca is is deeper, darker and more opaque than the Holiday 2014 Almería. Nightingale isn't completely matte, by the way, but the light shimmer you see in the pan barely translates on skin, and ends up as the lightest glow when the blush is well blended. The other two deep plum colors I have are left far behind (I didn't include Lancome Aplum because it's much lighter and more pink than the ones above) . Chanel Plum Attraction has a finer texture and less red tone, while Urban Decay Rupture is more mauve and has a lot more micro shimmer. Nightingale is an equal to all these blushes in terms of longevity. It's a terrific color, and just like the others will probably last you a lifetime because so little is needed.

Bottom Line: for the brave.

Becca Mineral Blush- Nightingale ($32, made in the USA) is available at Ulta, Sephora, and Beautylish.