Clinique | Cheek Pop | ommorphia beauty bar

With their feel-good mood-enhancing gerbera daisy motif and vibrant hues, the new Cheek Pop blushes from Clinique (CAN $24.00) will not only brighten your face, but your vanity tabletop as well. Available in 12 shades (although the Canadian website lists only 10), they are created using a patented new breakthrough technology that involves transforming pure liquid pigments into a super smooth silky powder through a process of slow baking – the result of which is an ultra-light, sheer yet buildable colour that gives your cheeks a luminous flush without any powdery trace whatsoever. To say that the formula is STELLAR, would not be a lie; pigmentation is excellent – regardless of whether they are applied sheerly or layered, blendability is ridiculous easy and these blushes seem to melt into the skin, leaving no absolutely NO demarcation lines, their complex shimmer is ground so fine as to impart a lit-from-within luminosity to the skin (and not the variety that just sits at surface level), and staying power is true until removed. Blush Perfection, I tell you.

After having played with these shades for a few weeks now, this blush fiend is beyond impressed and this gorgeous little bouquet has now earned itself a permanent spot in my beauty arsenal. Then there’s the added bonus of that floral pattern; is it possible to look at these Cheek Pops and NOT want to clutch them all protectively home?

NOTE: My rather tired laptop decided to spontaneously delete the original product photos I took of these Cheek Pop blushes (the HORROR), which explains my less than usually pristine pictures in this post. Believe me, there was much swearing involved when I found out what had occurred — and none of it suitable for printing here. Needless to say, I’m in the process of upgrading my system, as I’d probably explode if I had to go through this again.

Clinique | Cheek Pop

Clinique | Cheek Pop swatches (in sunlight)

Clinique | Cheek Pop swatches (in shaded light)

15 Pansy Pop | A vivid lavender hue that has a bit of a dual personality; seen in sunlight, the colour displays warmer undertones yet shaded light brings out a cooler vibe. Either way, I was surprised to find that Pansy Pop suited my complexion (which is light-medium with warm/yellowish undertones) and I have no doubt that this will be absolutely spectacular on those with fair skin tones.

Clinique | 15 Pansy Pop

Clinique | 15 Pansy Pop swatches

14 Heather Pop | The most ‘neutral’ of the four shades shown, Heather Pop is a good mix of both warm (red) and cool (mauve) undertones, that makes it perfect for a wide variety of complexions. An amazing shade to give that “I just came back from a jog by the beach” flush of colour (without any of the effort and/or accompanying sweat), this also makes a good layering colour over bronzer for the most believable sun-kissed glow.

Clinique | 14 Heather Pop

Clinique | 14 heather Pop swatches

13 Rosy Pop | With its vivid deep rose tint, Rosy Pop is nevertheless easy to wear – mainly due to its buildable formula. A sheer wash (using a loose blush brush or better yet, a fan brush) will give that perfect youthful flush, especially for very fair skin tones – but you do need to use a light hand to avoid over-intensifying the colour (and thus avoid the slapped cheeks effect), and a wonderful non-ashy-looking shade for those with darker complexions as well.

Clinique | 13 Rosy Pop

Clinique | 13 Rosy Pop swatches

02 Peach Pop | I have this insane obsession with peach and/or coral blushes, so I naturally gravitated to Peach Pop and its Popsicle-like yumminess. Think of NARS’ Orgasm (the blush shade, not the man!) without the accompanying shimmer, and you get an idea of this shade’s tone; pink-peachy undertones, warm, sunny, fresh-looking, and THE perfect hue to wear with sun-kissed skin (although it will be equally gorgeous during the cooler months as well, not to mention extending that Summery vibe).

Clinique | 02 Peach Pop

Clinique | 02 Peach Pop swatches

Jamie Lee Reardin | When I was sent these Cheek Pop blushes to test out, I was thrilled by the inclusion of a framed original Jamie Lee Reardin print, a Fashion Illustrator originally from Toronto, Canada and who now calls LA, California her home. Inspired by Disney and Tim Burton, Jamie Lee’s fashion figures started to take on ‘impossibly long silhouettes with uncomfortably long necks’ and have become her signature style seen today. You can see a snippet of the print in the photo below – which will definitely have a place of honour of the walls of my soon-to-be studio space!

Clinique | Cheek Pop with a framed original Jamie Lee Reardin illustration

I’m going to keep this short: if you love blush and want to invest in quality shades (all without breaking the budget) that are also 100% fragrance-free, along with allergy & ophthalmology tested, then you owe it to yourself to check out Clinique’s Cheek Pop range. All I know, is that I might just want to get them all now – whether they suit me, or not (but I know they will!).

Available through The Bay & thebay.com. Sephora & sephora.com as well as Holt Renfrew across Canada. You can find more information via clinique.ca