Essence Vintage District It’s Popul-Art Blush review, photos, swatches | A gorgeously intricate blush for less than a fiver

June 20, 2013

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The product: essence cosmetics 01 It’s Popul-Art Blush (Vintage District collection)

Alright, so: I’m a little late with this. That, topped with the fact that that the Vintage District collection was hard to find in the first place, means that there’s a pretty slim chance that you’ll be able to get your hands on this beauty.

(Sorry about that.)

I don’t love posting about products you won’t be able to find, but for this one, I couldn’t help it.

Despite its limited North American availability and measly price tag, the pattern and overspray of It’s Popul-Art make it one of the most stunning blushes that I own–at least, in the pan,–and at a mere $3.49 CAD, it’s the cheapest one in my collection, too.

The intricate gold flower on the pan of It’s Popul-Art is an overspray, and comes off after a few uses*. As pretty as it is, I’m far from crushed by its loss: I’m not a fan of shimmer or sheen on the cheeks, and that is one dense gold.

Underneath the overspray lies a solid dusky red flower, large enough that you can easily get only this shade on your brush. Despite its potentially-intimidating colour, its soft texture makes it easy to sheer out, and I think it would work well on most fair to medium skintones.

*If by “a few uses,” you mean “once you manually and meticulously remove all of it with a small brush, in typical crazy-person style.”

Swatched heavily L-R: Gold overspray, gold overspray + red flower / red flower, peach background, red flower + peach background

Essence Vintage District “It’s Popul-Art” blush swatches (same order). Direct sunlight.

Surrounding the flower is a light peach background (again, large enough that you could get just this shade) which I think would make a lovely peach blush on lighter skintones. It’s a little chalky on its own, but not enough to be noticeable on anything lighter than a medium skintone.

Blended together, It’s Popul-Art (minus the gold overspray) is a lovely, pinky-peach blush with a soft matte finish. I can see it working on pretty much all fair to medium skintones, but it probably wouldn’t show up on anyone with deeper colouring (think NC35 and up).

The verdict?

If you can find it, It’s Popul-Art is absolutely worth its $3.49 CAD price tag. While the shade isn’t the most unique, and the formula is a little talc-heavy, the design of this product makes it worthwhile — reminds me of high-end holiday collection blushes (but at literally less than a tenth of the price!)

Whether you’re leaving the overspray intact for a serious sheen or removing it for a matte finish (this could theoretically transform from a blingy blush to the perfect early autumn “naked” cheek), this pinky-peach blush is something I would wholeheartedly recommend snapping up…

…if you can find it.