REVIEW: Colourpop Cheek Products

If you've read my review of the Colourpop lip products, then you probably already know that I think they're a "good" brand. Not stupendous, not horrible, not Holy Grail Worthy...just plain ol' "good." So I assumed I wouldn't be too tempted by what else they had to offer; after all, I'm not a huge eyeshadow person.

Then they came out with highlighters. And I think we all know how I feel about highlighters. Since I was already buying the highlighters, I figured I'd let a few blushes fall in to my bag as well.

All of these products are $8 per unit. Each unit weighs 4.2g/0.15oz and is housed in a simple plastic screw-top jars. Unlike Colourpop's Lippiestix (which are smaller than the standard lipstick), these are about par for the course: MAC Cream Colour Bases are 3.2g each and Kevyn Aucoin Creamy Moist Glows are 4.5g each, for example.

The formula is a cream-to-powder that's practically identical to the Colourpop eyeshadows. It has a moussey texture with a lot of slip. They're easy to apply with fingers or brushes, though I personally favored using my fingers because it makes them a bit easier to blend. This formula apparently dries out easily, so be sure to put the lids on tight.

Daylight on top, flash on the bottom.

On to the swatches! I decided to order 2 blushes (Holiday and Thumper) and three highlighters (Smoke n' Whistles, Hippo, and Lunch Money) for my testing purposes. I tried to pick shades that were different, but still workable with my skintone. Holiday is a bright coral and Thumper is a cool-toned pink; both shades have a matte finish. Smoke n' Whistles and Lunch Money have similar yellow undertones, though the former is slightly cooler and paler. Hippo is a pale lavender color.

In swatches, these look particularly impressive. The pigmentation is way high on both, and the blushes look smooth and beautiful while the highlighters look mega reflective. Of course, swatches can be deceptive--let's look at how they actually perform on my cheeks.

In the left photo, I'm wearing Holiday and Lunch Money. On the right, I'm wearing Thumper and Hippo. The blushes are probably jumping right off the picture at you, and they should. I found these an absolute dream to blend. Despite being a cream-to-powder product, they did not look dry or cakey on my cheeks. It was also easy to apply a small amount of color for my pale skin, but you could easily pack more on.

The only disappointment I have regarding the blushes is that the staying power is average. They lasted for about 4-6 hours on my cheeks, depending on what I was doing that day, how much I applied, and how warm and humid it was outside. My cheeks are dry, so this makes me wonder how they'd perform on oily skin. They're so easy to slap on, though, that I'd have no problem tossing the little plastic pot in to my purse.

The highlighters, however...they were a let-down.

To be fair, they aren't AWFUL. Hippo definitely gives me some glow, especially in photos. But for the most part, they just look like very visible shimmer on my face--click on the photos above and look at the picture on the right, and you can absolutely see Hippo's shimmer particles on my cheeks. Lunch Money looked like glitter smeared on my cheeks, but it didn't even have the decency to give me a megawatt glow in my photos.

As added proof, here's a close-up of Smoke n' Whistles on my cheek:

I'm fine with highlighters being glittery. I'm fine with them being very natural. But if you're going to look like straight-up shimmer on my face, the least you can do is give me some glow as well.

Overall, I think some people will enjoy the highlighters, and many people will enjoy the blushes. I might even buy more of the blushes if the mood strikes me...but for now, I'll pass on getting more of the highlighters. In fact, I'll probably sell mine off or swap them away. They're just too "meh" in a sea of better products.

RATING: 4 out of 5 for the blushes, 2 out of 5 for the highlighters.

Colourpop products are available at Colourpop.com.  This is an affiliate link that will give you $5 off of your first order and will reward me $5 in store credit.