Sally Hansen Natural Beauty Powder Blush

I have been wanting to try Sally Hansen Carmindy line powder blush for a long while after I have gotten the lipsticks, eyeshadow trio and the cream blush since their quality is quite impressive for a drugstore brand. I waited for a sale and finally it's here in ULTA!

Sally Hansen Natural Beauty Inspired by Carmindy Powder Blush (what a mouthful...) is packaged like a bigger version of their fast fix eyeshadow base. I really like the packaging because they not only look quite long wearing and visually pleasing (I think they look more well-made/substantial than those $18 too faced blushes) , the fact that there is no brush (most blush included in blushes are too flimsy anyway) or mirror makes it a nice one to stuff in my makeup bag (you know, I like to carry my own mirror and sometime carrying a NARS and my own mirror makes me feel stupid) or on a pretty tray to display.

The shade Ethereal, lightest shade in the range, is a neutral pink (sometime it looks warm while other time it looks cool) that's quite similar to the cream blush in Beaming from the same line (remember the blusher I hit pan from doing all the midnight clown makeup?) Actually, I picked it up extacly for the same reason as why I got that specific shade of cream blush: the color looks like it shouldn't be too difficult to work with (considered the rest are brick red, light brown...).
It turns out that Ethereal creates a very similar effect (and side-effect!) as the cream blush in Beaming: The soft pink (this powder blush has more noticeable silvery shimmer than the cream version but the shimmers are not too flaw-enhancing) gives a tad bit of soft sweet cheeks and a fresh look that's indeed difficult to go wrong. There is something I am not a big fan of: As I am building up the color by layering the blush (who knows, I want my face to look like a monkey's buttock), I am also building up a powdery/cloudy finish, which I have never experienced with high-end powder blush, those high end blushes seem to contain more see-through pigments in a silky base.

Actually, the caking issue after over-layering shouldn't be a big deal, since the "Natural Beauty" blush is not supposed to be layered to that intensity anyway. ( I still don't like it because it's pink and boring.)