Urban Decay x Gwen Stefani Blush Palette

Cherry, Easy, Angel

Lo-fi, Hush, OC

I'm not quite sure what Urban Decay are doing with the launch of this collection - the eyeshadow palette has been available for a while now, but the blush palette, the lipsticks and the brow box have only just been released.   Still, the blush palette is definitely worth waiting for - as are the lipsticks, but we'll talk about those later.

The Gwen Stefani blush palette, £35, contains six shades of pigmented blush, all of which are extremely well suited to pale, cool toned skin.  Packaging wise, it follows a similar white-and-gold theme to the eyeshadow palette, although the little coin shaped accents in the lid are white, not black.  It's heavy, made of sturdy plastic, with a hinged lid and a good large mirror - I like the 'Magic's in the Makeup' accent in the corner of the lid, which is the same on the eyeshadow palette, and references an old No Doubt song.

Urban Decay say the palette contains everything you need for Gwen-like bronzing, blush and highlighting, and indeed, there's a matte bronzer, Lo-Fi, in there - it's pretty light, and on deeper skintones wouldn't really provide much bronzing action.  Highlighter wise, though, I'm less convinced - Hush is a peachy, coppery blush which has enough shimmer to be a bit of a highligher, and Angel could definitely qualify if you like your highlighters to be very golden, but both are pigmented blushers more than they are highlighters, which usually bring just a bit of glow.

Cherry brings a pop of clean, Barbie pink with shimmer, and Easy, which is easily my favourite, has a glorious berry rose tone combined has a good shot of sparkle.  OC is a bit unusual - it's a sunny peach blush with a slight pink duochrome to it, although you really need to pack on the colour to spot it on the skin.

Overall, then, this palette is lovely, particularly if you're pale and cool toned.  For my tastes, though, it's a little too sparkly, and a little too golden, but if you like your cheeks glowing, bronzed and sunny, this could well be a great blush palette for you.

Disclosure:  PR sample

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