As a broke woman, with money oozing into such luxuries as my health plan and electricity, sometimes it's hard to justify my love of make-up. Hourglass is one of those make-up moments.  It's recognized as being awesome, but at $35.00 a blush I have to look at that being a little over three hours of pay to afford.  Then they introduce the palette.  $58.00 for three blushes and on the Sephora Rouge discount?

I drooled.  I researched.  Should I give into the temptation? The research was varied.  So much love and then the hate.  I looked at people who knew the dish, such as Josh Collier, MUA.  From what I gathered from watching his videos on YouTube, people used it wrong.  It was a swirl in the delicious pan and then a delicate application (depending on skin tone) and that each pan contained the same amount of product but because it was hand baked it could swirl differently at the top.

I ordered it.  There was some trepidation. I mean, this was some change for my wanna be guru pocket book.  After I ordered, I poured over more reviews.  Did I waste my bucks? Was this worth the initial hype?  Was I ordering based on non-disclosed sponsored reviews? But I couldn't help the excitement, I love Hourglass.  I wanted this blush to add to my very limited collection of two blushes.  Those were Bobbi Brown.  Could they live up to those?

Holy Batman!



It arrived.  In elegant, fingerprint loving, gold packaging.  I wanted to snuggle the box.  I decided that was only acceptable when drunk.  I was stone cold sober.  Darn.  No snuggles.  I delved deeper.


The package was lovely.  It was slightly rose tinged gold.  Highly reflective.  It loved fingerprints more than the box!  But it made me want to know more. I asked permission to go further.  I held my breath, the moment of truth, how was the marble moment?


Pardon the bad lighting, but it was lovely. Three shades of gorgeous.  Pale faces need not fear the clown blush.  The first shade was Luminous Flush.  In the pan it is bright pink.  The second shade is a lovely peach that I never thought a neutral leaning cool toned me could carry, the shade that is exclusive to the palette, Incandescent Electra. And the third shade is a moody dusky rose, perfect for a cool toned person by pan perception, Mood Exposure.  Le sigh.

I have tried all three.  I feared the darkness of Mood, but it warms up on the skin and looks lovely.  I thought the other colors would be too warm.  Boy was I wrong.  I'd say that Luminous and Mood are perfect for this season.  Although, Electra makes for that pop of light that makes you feel as though the cold has not yet seized you.  All three are glorious for pale skin, but you have to be very careful.

They are very pigmented and can go Bozo the You Know What if you don't use careful hand. They apply beautifully and are richly pigmented.  They also just have an amazing glow that will help dissipate the winter dullness many tend to get.  Because of this I feel they can be used on medium skin tones.  I'm not sure how they would apply on very deep skin tones, but may work as ombre blush for those who do have deeper skin.

In the end, I would say this is Broke Woman Wallet Worthy.  Three blushes of this quality at the price are a thumbs up.  I would not say that if you don't own this your life will end end and the sky will fall.  It's very nice, I love it and have no regrets.  But you don't need to skimp feeding your puppy to get this.

* I bought this with my own empty wallet.  I was not sent a sample, scrap, or hint of this product.