Spotlight: Josie Maran Cheek Gelee

I've always been slightly self conscious about blush. "I'm pale!" "Will I look like a clown?" "Brushes r hard 2 use, wah." etc etc. Needless to say, it took me long enough to even own more than one powder blush. I ease into things very slowly. I'm that person getting into the pool one step at a time over the course of 20 minutes because I'm trying to get used to the temperature. So powder blush -- first step. But I kinda stumbled on the cheek gelee blushes by chance just because I was curious about the texture. I swatched 'Berry Bliss', the darkest, scariest color of the bunch, just for kicks. Cut to a year later, and it's probably tied with Tarte's 'Exposed' as my # 1 favorite and most used blush. I washed my powder blush brush about a month ago, and it has not been used since. That's how often I use this blush. I think that warrants their own little moment of glory on the blog.


I own three colors in total, Berry Bliss, Honeymoon Honey and Poppy Paradise. In terms of favorites, I would list them in the same order. So why do I love them. Well let's see:

➤ Natural finish.
➤ Lasts all day.
➤ Totally buildable.
➤ Cruelty free.
➤ Hydrating, but not greasy looking.
➤ Will probably never run out, ever.


Like I mentioned, I've owned Berry Bliss for just about a year, and have used it a lot. And as you can see, there's still plenty left. It probably has to do with the fact that I apply it with the e.l.f. stippling brush, and a little goes a very long way. It says to apply with your fingers, but I prefer this much better.


You can find these for $22 at Sephora, but it's also worth it to check out for sales at the Josie Maran website directly, because they'll sometimes have a sale going on and it's free shipping on orders over $25. And lo and behold they're actually offering 20% off your order of $50+ with code JMCFRIEND. I think Pink Escape is next on my list...