Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blush — Cheeky And Chic Cheek Color

Ladies, I have a new crush that makes me blush. It doesn’t send me flowers, and it’s not much of a cuddler, but it does have its own masterful wooing technique, managing to make me feel radiant and beautiful during every single encounter. This stud never disappoints me or stands me up. It doesn’t make promises it can’t keep. And boy, does it have stamina! The object of my affection: the Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blush ($25 at TarteCosmetics.com or Sephora.com), a highly pigmented, powdered cheek color formulated with clay harvested from the Amazon River’s banks and baked in the sun. Tarte’s paraben-free, sulfate-free, all-natural blush formula features antioxidant-rich, brightening vitamin C, as well as vitamins A and E, both of which condition skin and help to fend off free radical damage, thwarting the emergence of visible aging signs like wrinkles, fine lines, and dark spots.

Tarte’s Amazonian Clay Blushes are so richly pigmented that a single stroke of a brush will deposit a vivid layer of color onto your cheeks which can, in turn, be softened or intensified as desired. The color adheres incredibly well, giving it outstanding longevity — I’ve applied it at 10 a.m. on humid, 90-degree days where I’ve been hopping from one meeting to the next in the oven-like, New York City streets and had it stay in place for a full 8 hours.

Best of all, these blushes actually nourish, soften, and treat the skin thanks to the key ingredient: Amazonian clay. This near-magical substance manages to identify the consumer’s specific skin type (dry, oily, or combination) and then tailor its performance accordingly. Women with dry skin benefit from the clay’s hydrating and soothing properties, which make the skin appear more supple and plump, while those will oily skin benefit from its oil-fighting, antibacterial, pore-minimizing abilities. How can Amazonian clay accomplish all of these feats? Well, given its high concentration of vitamins and minerals (among them iron, aluminum, potassium, calcium, boron, and sulphur), Amazonian clay boasts the ability to restore skin to its optimal moisture balance.

This swoon-worthy blush is available in eight shades: Dollface, a light salmon pink; Amused, a punk-y hot pink; Blushing Bride, a soft, rose garden-worthy plum; Exposed, a terracotta-tinged nude shade; Blissful, a vivid peach; Flush, an açai berry shade; Natural Beauty, a baked, Betty Boop-ish red hue; and Tipsy, an exuberant coral orange. Personally, I love that these blushes have a sophisticated, dusky, semi-matte texture that’s demure without falling flat. Instead of being saturated with pearl particles that might lend the shades too much of a disco feel, these powder blushes seem to practically penetrate the skin, delivering a naturally flushed effect.

I tried out the Amused, Exposed and Blushing Bride colors, and they’re all exceptional. I’m particularly smitten with the Amused shade — in fact, this may be the most excited I’ve been about a blush since I first tried the Nars Orgasm blush. Check out swatches and makeup looks after the jump — you, too, might just wind up with a new blush crush!

Below, you’ll find swatches of the Amused, Blushing Bride and Exposed shades. As you can see, the Amused color is an electrifying hot pink that flirts and teases like a Marilyn Monroe impersonator. The Blushing Bride shade is a rose color with robust sugar plum tones that make it reminiscent of the bouquet of roses shown at the end of the Guns ‘N’ Roses “November Rain” video. And last, we have Exposed, an earthy tone that perks up your natural tones in the most natural of ways, steering clear of the golden shimmer and deep bronze tones in many summertime makeup offerings.

Next, check out a look I created using the Exposed color. As you can see, I focused on highlighting my cheekbones in these two looks, using angular strokes when brushing the color onto my face.

And last but not least, you’ll find an image of me wearing both the Exposed and Blushing Bride hues. In this case, I wanted to add a little pop of color to the apples of cheeks, but I wanted to steer clear of any traditional pink, red, or coral tones, opting for something in the mauve family. Blushing Bride was the perfect pick! The color seemed a bit dark for me when I first brushed it on but, once I blended it in, I felt way more comfortable. To contour my face and further diffuse the plum rose color, I then took the Exposed color and swept it along the cheekbones, extending the line from the outer region of my face all the way down to the apples of cheeks in a slanted angle that would slim my face and highlight my bone structure.