I finally decided to try it out by taking advantage of one of their very generous rebate offers, a $9 mail-in-rebate off of the Happy Booster. Already on sale from $15.99 to $11.99 with $9 was a small price to pay to try out this cute product. Plus, it came with great reviews on various beauty blogs and Makeupalley.com
Plus, I'm just a sucker for adorable packaging!
The Happy Booster™ Glow & Mood Boosting Blush contains multi-reflective pearls providing soft iridescence and radiance to highlight and contour the cheeks. It also contains their "Happy Boost Blend" featuring Happ Skin and Euphoryl, a natural plant extract that is purported to promote a feeling of happiness by mimicking the effects of Endorphins and protecting the skin from environmental stress. The blush is violet scented and gives a feeling of joy upon each application.*
The square packaging is quite of deceiving. I was expecting a MAC sized blush but it's actually smaller and thicker (with the added brush holder side) and fits perfectly into the palm of my hand.
It's just so cute! If nothing else, the packaging alone puts a smile on my face!
The brush is just as adorable as the rest of the packaging, coming in a duo pink/red. It is wide and soft enough to use in a pinch, (unlike the ones in the Covergirl Cheekers compacts) although I still find it a tad scratchy. You're better off using an actual blush brush instead of this flat style.
Since I've never tried this product, I chose the universally flattering Warm, which contains various shades of pinkish brown. This blush is also available in Rose, Pink, and Natural.
The color applies more pink than brown on my medium tan (MAC NC35 / Revlon Golden Beige) skintone and has medium shimmer. The color payoff is average and it is sheer. I imagine as the blush flattens out you'll pick up more product. However, I would say it is the same as most drugstore brands while the 3d affect is still in place and it's certainly nothing to write home about.
I apply with a round blush brush, swirling it on the blush a few times to blend the various shades together, then lighting tapping on the lip before application. Since the hearts are various colors, a heavy hand without swirling can cause unevenness when applied to the cheeks.
I've used this blush a few times now and I like it but I don't love it. There's nothing really negative to say about it because it's a flattering blush with just enough shimmer. And because it's kind of sheer, it is dummy proof and easily layered.
But on that note, I wouldn't buy it again even on sale, unless there was another amazing $9 rebate offer. There are other drugstore blushes that work better. Rimmel with their excellent color payoff, lasting power, and compact packaging at a fraction of the Happy Booster's retail price comes to mind. At $15.99 retail, that to me is just too much to pay for a drugstore blush. And even at the sale price of $10-12? I'd rather pay a little more for a single buttery soft, extremely pigmented blush from Nars or two well pigmented, easy to use Rimmel blushes.
I guess at the end of the day, I was expecting a product that WOW'd me as much as the packaging did and it just fell a little short.
*Taken from www.physiciansformula.com product description
Too bad the blush does not work out for you. It looks quite nice in the package. I just got the sexy boost blush. The packaging is to die for, like a book. I think that one is qualified for the mail in rebate this year.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the heads up! At full or even sale price, I'm hesitate to try this brand out again as it's still on the higher end of drugstore brands but with a MIR, I'm game! And I remember seeing that one, it's super cute!
DeleteI think the reason I never buy Physician's Formula is because of the price vs. quality. Also because their products never really seem to catch my eye... Like, what is that one MUST-HAVE from Physician's Formula? No one ever really raves about their stuff, you know? Maybe this is just my attitude towards the brand because no one ever bought their stuff when I was a cosmetician at SDM. :P
ReplyDeleteOn that note... the hearts are effing cute. If you wanna splurge $35... there are two heart-print Pearlmatte Powders coming out with MAC's Archie's Girls collection. ;)
Yeah, they have really cute packaging but I never really see their advertisements aside from their stands in shoppers/rexall. And come to think of it, I wonder why they have such great rebates. Like seriously, $9?! I'm not sure it's a great business model vs. just lowering their prices to be on par with the other drugstore brands.
DeleteI took a look at Archie's Girls but I think I might buy a few items from YOTS instead! It's calling to the Chinese me. Lol.
I had the illuminating hearts or whatever and they didn't do anything for me. Now I have the hearts blush in rose and while the effects are subtle, it's just so darn cute and happifying as you noted. I think I'll hang on to it just to stare at and pretend it's one of the new MAC Archie's Girls beauty powders. :)
ReplyDeleteThose Archie powders are so similar - at least the innards! I'm kind of on the fence about beauty powders though....I guess I'm a square. I need my highlighters to be highlighters, blush to be blush, bronzer to be bronzers...otherwise, my brain cannot compute.
Delete