Despite the frenzy around the hugely successful Naked palettes, Urban Decay is a relatively new brand for me. After investigating animal friendly beauty products, Urban Decay confirmed that they are cruelty free and offered to send me some products for review.
I’ll be reviewing three Urban Decay products over two posts; the first is the Afterglow 8-Hour Powder Blush. The description reads: “Wearable colour that won’t quit. Extremely blendable, our sheer, finely milled powder blush delivers 8 hours of wear in a lust-worthy array of shades in both shimmer and matte finishes.”
On first sight, the Urban Decay packaging is clearly premium but doesn’t scream high end; unlike the minimalistic logos and colours used by many other premium beauty brands, Urban Decay is clearly a creative brand – the metallic purple box printed with the logo and UD initials in an almost gothic font gives the impression of a cult brand, suggesting that Urban Decay is great for serious make up fans, beauty bloggers and professional MUAs. Afterglow 8-Hour Powder Blush comes in a mirrored case with the same gothic Urban Decay initials on the front and a caged effect on the inside; however, sadly there’s no mirror within this compact. That said, the product is sturdy without being bulky, and the magnetic closure feels really, really nice.
Above: Afterglow 8-Hour Powder Blush in Rapture
Above: Afterglow 8-Hour Powder Blush in Score
Above: Afterglow 8-Hour Powder Blush in Bittersweet
As the name suggests, this blusher claims to last for eight hours. I applied Afterglow in Rapture (a dusky pink) before work (so, roughly 7.30am) and when I left the office (around 5.30pm) 10 hours later, the blusher was looking great (it was actually the rest of my face that wasn’t so good!). Usually, I use a cream blusher and must admit that it fades significantly over the course of the day despite the high pigment in the product, which transfers well onto the skin but does need to be reapplied. Urban Decay’s Afterglow is a powder and a subtler hue, and yet it’s staying power is definitely stronger – this is probably due to the fact that powder blushers to tend to be more polished and usually provide a matte finish, which is good for oily skins and perfect for contouring, which adds structure to the face. A minimal amount of Afterglow is required – one sweep of the brush gives such good coverage that I really have to blend, blend, blend to avoid a Kate Middleton-esque stripe (less noticeable now that she’s a Duchess, I must admit). That’s the key to an ‘airbrushed’ face though, isn’t it? Blend as though your life depends on it.
I found the overall effect of Afterglow 8-Hour Powder Blush quite grown up; I’m used to a youthful touch of pink on the apples of my cheeks, but this blusher leaves my skin looking structured and less dewy. I think it’ll be a good product for the upcoming autumn/winter season (gah, why so soon?) and, just now, it’s my new favourite for work and evenings – my poor cream blusher has been relegated to weekends only!
Urban Decay kindly sent me three colours of Afterglow 8-Hour Powder Blush. To spread the love, I’m giving away two out of the three colours (Score and Bittersweet). To win, just follow me on Instagram (@the_daydreamer_) and share this post on one of your social media channels, tagging The Daydreamer so that I know you’ve entered. Competition closes Monday 31st August at midnight.
The Daydreamer reserves the right to retract the competition at any time and there is no alternative prize. The Daydreamer’s decision is final.
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