So… I made a boo boo last week. I came across the Nudestix blush on youtube and I was instantly attracted to it. On an impulse I purchased a few blushes because they were on sale. Usually, just before I purchase or create a blogpost, I head to reddit and temptalia.com for what is in these internet days called “research”. Since I purchased it on an impulse, I didn’t have the time to read up about the product… which was a big mistake. It could also be that I was never interested in the brand, so I probably tuned out any information about it.
And then I discovered the drama. Mountains of it. I’m going to use the term “allegedly” quite often here so that I don’t get face any legal trouble. The long and short of it is that the brand owners are allegedly Trump supporters, allegedly do not pay content creators for sponsored content and allegedly changed ingredients in their products without letting consumers know.
I will continue this post with my review, but I will also provide options that you can purchase instead of Nudestix.
Nudestix Blushes (CA$ 37 each)
This review is heartbreaking. This brand was great — Canadian company and great products that perform well. (Note: like most other brands, they manufacture their products in China). And on an impulse, during a sale, I purchased four Nudestix Nudies Lux matte blushes.
I purchased the blush sticks in Dolce Darlin, Rosy Posy, Nude Buff, and Juicy Melons.
Ordering & Shipping
I purchased the blush sticks directly from their website. It was an easy process and I had no issues in placing and order. The order took 3 – 5 days to deliver.
Packaging
I like the stick formula in matte black packaging. I also like that they are packed in a tin container. I’m a fan of tin containers, but I wish they’d give us an option of choosing if we wanted it or not. While I like one tin container, I’m not sure what I’m going to do with four! I understand that you can use it for storing the stick in your purse or while travelling, because the lids definitely have a tendency to fall off, but it adds to clutter.
And as many people on Reddit have pointed out, it’s not very sustainable. Despite tin being recyclable, I’m sure there are better uses for it. If given a choice, I probably would’ve purchased one with a tin and the rest without (even if the price was the same).
Formula and Colors
I love the formula of this blush because it works great on dry skin. It doesn’t look crusty on my dry skin like some of the liquid or balm formulas like Honest Beauty or Glossier. Lately, I’ve observed that these formulas look weird on my skin — like it’s dried out by the wind.
It’s such an idiot proof formula that you can never over apply. But here’s the problem: on my warm leaning neutral with yellow undertone skin, all the blushes look the same! Also, since I have a medium complexion, you can build up the blush only up to a certain level, and after that it starts disappearing.
The best way to apply these blushes is with your fingers or the brush that is provided with the stick. I tried applying the blush with a sponge and it just disappeared.
Should you buy it?
The answer to this question depends on what your principles are. Apart from the obvious extreme right leaning beliefs of the owners of the brand, their alleged attempts at not paying content creators does not sit well with me.
But, many people believe that all brands are troublesome, and if this does not matter to you, go ahead and purchase.
Is it Brown girl friendly? Not exactly. The inability to build color doesn’t make it very Brown girl friendly.
Alternatives to Nudestix
Here are some stick blush alternatives to consider. I haven’t tried any of them, but I did find them by watching YT videos and reading reviews about them.
- Merit Flush Blush Balm: This is an expensive alternative to Nudestix. It seems to be popular on Tik Tok.
- Persona DreamStick cream blush: This blush seems to be popular across the board. This may be a good product to try especially if you have dry skin.
- Colourpop Blush Stix: While Colourpop is an affordable brand, their products tend to be hit or miss. I would suggest reading up about the shade you plan on buying because of the inconsistencies within the line. I’ve read decent reviews about this product.
- Ilia Multi-stick cream blush: This blush has mixed reviews. Some love it, some don’t. This may not be suitable for dry skin. Based on the reviews online, it sounds like the formula is similar to Fenty’s Matchstix — dry and needs warming up.
- Milk Lip + Cream Blush Stick: An expensive blush stick. I like that it is sold in minis, but I’m not sure it’s worth the price (CA$ 29 for 6 gm)
Gucci Luminous Matt Beauty Blush (CA $65) in 03 Radiant Pink
Now that we’re done with that boo boo let’s talk about CA$ 65 mistake called Gucci blush. This was (and is) a popular blush on the internets. Everybody was raving about it and so I gave in and purchased it ahead of the VIB sale, in the fear of missing out. And I regret it.
I have very dry skin. Which means that not every type of blush works on my skin. Even some of the balmiest blushes (like the Honest Beauty blush) sometimes looks dry on me. But I had the highest hopes for this blush. I’ll say this — I’m baffled by the hype around this blush.
Note: I’m going to skip the ordering & shipping section for this review because I purchased the product from Sephora.
Packaging
Let me begin with the positives: the packaging is super cute. A bit Ciate-ish, but cute nonetheless. Love everything about it — the gold stars, the cream packaging, the gold on the outside. I also like that you can just pop out the blush and reuse the packaging for another color of the blush or even a single shadow if you’d like.
Now what I don’t like is the weird little buttons on the side. For the longest time, I thought you had to push the button to open the blush. But you just need to pull the top from the bottom. The buttons look really cheap and the packaging is not accessible for the disabled especially if you have medical conditions like arthritis.
Formula and Color
I have a Turing test (of sorts), a litmus test even if you will, for blushes. If it can make my very dry skin look great then it has passed the test.
Unfortunately, this blush didn’t. I’ll say this, it showed up on my skin and it was easy to build up the pigmentation. But it did not look great on my skin. There wasn’t the glow I expected. It clung to the dry patches on my skin and was a bit patchy. It performed much better when my skin was well moisturized under the foundation.
Should you buy it?
I would not recommend this blush — I just don’t find it worth the price. I don’t find it any better than a Tarte, Missha or Milani blush. But, if you wanted a fancy blush in fancy packaging with the Gucci branding, then this is a decent blush. Just don’t expect much from it.