For reasons that elude me, we've recently wound up with a lot of blush in the bathroom. Nearly all of 
them have been brought in by my daughter Tafv (now I know where her money goes), including Clinique Touch Blush in Sweet Clover, a moussey blush that's a breeze to apply and looks quite natural, and Revlon Cream Blush in what may be First Blush, though it's hard to tell, now that the plastic cover has fallen off and the blush itself is full of both divots and some iridescence with which I don't think it began its life. This blush is of an unforgiving nature, a clay-like consistency that reminds me of the tubes of spent lipstick my grandmother would give me to play with. My recent contribution to the blush collection was a tiny tube of Almay smart shade blush, in Natural. Since I don't read magazines that feature a lot of cosmetic ads, I was unaware that this blush doesn't actually have any color when it comes out of the tube. From the copy on Almay's site:
With smart shade® blush, there’s no more guessing about how to find your perfect blush shade. This revolutionary blush contains microscopic shade-sensing color beads that are activated when you smooth it on—transforming into a shade that perfectly complements your skin tone.
I was not under the impression that a) choosing a shade of blush had heretofore proved such a conundrum to so many, and b) that the point was to complement one's skin tone. I intend no irony or disrespect when I say, unless her eyesight is severely impaired, I don't know a woman who doesn't like to have some input into what her blush looks like, though such opinion is moot, as the smart shade blush, isn't. It's just boring.
A long preamble to the blush I really want to write about and actually get excited about applying, Chanel Joues Contraste, which we have in two shades, Nude and (be still my heart) Horizon, the latter a rosy-fingers-of-dawn hue that, brushed on once, gives a nubile glow; brushed on twice, makes you look like a haute couture doll, at once playful and dramatic. The brushes that come with the blush are weeny and have in any case been misplaced, and really it's much more fun to poof on the Horizon with a Lancome All-Over Powder Brush, though I don't think we have the #20, but an equivalent that came in a with-purchase Lancome goodie bag. These bags arrive on our doorstep every couple of months, courtesy of my mother-in-law, who I guess must use a lot of Lancome. Why the most recent booty also included the two full-size Joues Contraste, I've yet to ask.
