Review: Maybelline Dream Bouncy Blush in Plum Wine

So who's ready for a natural looking flush for fall? Even though it doesn't feel like fall yet here, I certainly am! Today I'm review Maybelline's Dream Bouncy Blush in the color Plum Wine. I'm in love with this shade I think its perfect for fall.

Left: Very blended out     Right: Full color

This is was a surprise favorite for me! At first I was worried it wouldn't be a good color for me. It looks too dark in the pan and too blue based when it swatched. But low and behold when its applied its the prettiest reddish flush. It looks very natural and its surprisingly neutral toned; you can see in the swatch it looks almost fuchsia. Its pretty pigmented and like any dark blusher you have to use a light hand and blend throughly.

This blush has a really unique almost play dough like texture, Maybelline calls this "Powder-Gel" technology. Now I don't know about all that, but I really like these blushes. I have this one as well as two others. They're all long-wearing and go on really nicely. A lot of people complain about the pigmentation of these blushes, and though I can't attest for all of the colors in this range I recommend getting the darker colors (Hot Tamale, Plum Wine, Pink Frosting, Coffee Cake) if you aren't pretty pale. I'm about a NC20 and I need to work a little bit to get my lighter color (Candy Coral) noticeable.

That being said I love the finish! It seems advertised as made to be used with your fingers but I've found that you can get beautiful results if you use a sponge or stippling brush. They last about six to eight hours on me which is pretty good for me. Most blushes wear off really fast on me. The only flaw with this one in my opinion is its sort of small, which lowers the value of drugstore pricing for me. But as I mentioned in my back to school cheap vs. steep post this is a good cheep alternative to more expensive cheek stains.

Maybelline Dream Bouncy Blush in Plum Wine is $7.99 at Ulta* for .19 oz
(*Prices may vary regionally and by location.)