Physicians Formula Argan Wear Ultra-Nourishing Argan Oil Blush Swatches and Review

I saw some promo images for these a few weeks ago and knew I was going to have to have one of them once I found them in the drugstore.

Beautiful packaging and presentation sells stuff, my friends.

They showed up in my local CVS a couple of weeks ago -- much earlier than I expected them to.  I had only seen the picture of the "Rose" shade, so I thought there was only one blush color, and I had only planned on buying the one blush.  To my surprise, there are two shades, "Rose" and "Natural".  I stood in CVS for I don't know how long trying to decide which one to get, but I seriously couldn't decide.  So I bought them both.  Sheesh.  I had some Extra Bucks, and there was a deal where you get $10 Extra Bucks with the purchase of two Physicians Formula products, so that made it better, but still.

Anyhow, on to the pictures!

I took this photo in different light than the below pictures, which is why they look so different color-wise.
The colors below are more true to real life.  I thought I'd include it just to show you the boxes.

from left: Rose, Natural

They come with a little brush and mirror hidden in the bottom half of the compact.

The brush is pretty crummy, but it doesn't seem as scratchy as some of the little brushes like this in some other blushes.

from left: Rose, Natural

Rose

Natural

So pretty in the pan!

The gold shimmer is an overspray.  Actually, it's a glittery overspray, even though it looks like shimmer.  The first time I ran my brush over these, a bunch of gold glitter kicked up into the air and flew around the room.  It was kind of like fairy dust in the air!

Once the glitter overspray is removed, the blushes look like this:

The powder is embossed with a cool design, but eventually that will disappear, too.

These have a slightly creamy consistency when you swatch them with your finger.  They are nicely pigmented, but not overly so, so I find I rarely go overboard when using them.  They blend well into the skin, and wear well all day.

They both appear matte in the pan, but when swatched, they have a little sheen, and Rose definitely more so than Natural.  On the cheeks Natural looks basically matte, but Rose gives a satin finish.

Rose:

from left: the most outside color, the middle color, the center color, all shades together

All shades swirled together.  You can see the sheen.

Wearing Rose -- full look here

Natural:

from left: outer most color, middle color, center color

Rose is more pigmented and brighter than Natural.  Rose is cool-toned, and Natural is slightly warmer.  On my skin, Natural is quite, well, natural.  On deeper skin tones, this shade might not show up well.

from left: Natural, Rose
natural light

Wearing Natural

Now, here's the thing that might give you pause.

These are VERY heavily fragranced.  Seriously.  And not like a predictable floral perfume fragrance.  They have a heady, spicy scent that is kind of reminiscent of men's cologne, in my opinion.  The scent is noticeable when you open the compact.  It's noticeable when you are applying the blush and the powder is on your brush.  It's noticeable on the skin (like where I swatched it on my hand/arm).  I can even smell it a little on my blush brush the next day.  Eventually, the scent disappears, and I find it awfully hard to smell my own cheeks, so once the blush is on I don't notice it, but it is not a subtle fragrance.  I don't hate it, but if I smell it too much or for too long, I get a slight headache.  I do prefer floral scents and perfumes, though, so if you like spicy fragrances you might love the smell of these!

I do like these and have been using them frequently.  Even with the crazy fragrance.  They are awfully pretty in the pan and on the skin.

Physicians Formula Argan Wear Ultra-Nourishing Argan Oil Blush retail for around $12-$13 USD.

Note:  I'd seen a few reviews of these after I had already bought and used mine, and most of them said little about the scent.  Maybe I'm sensitive to it?  In any case, you might want to give the box a good sniff (I think you might be able to detect the scent of the blush through the box and compact) before you purchase.