BOURJOIS Little Round Pot Blusher 34 Rose D’or

As old and well-known as these are (they been on the market since 1863), I’ve long had an aversion to these because one of my first blushes was a  Bourjois’ Little Round Pot. Reviews at the time praised it and there weren’t that many drugstore blushes sold here, so I picked a shade that didn’t even remotely suit me called Ambre d’Or (an apricot shade) and my experience with it was simply terrible. Now I know why that was, it’s because I didn’t have any brushes yet and the mini one that’s added to the blush is utterly useless, especially with this baked formula which is quite hard compared to others. I remember trying to scrape off the top layer in an attempt to get to a softer, more pigmented formula and I failed. I decided to give them another chance because I wanted to explore what drugstores have to offer now and these are often on “best of” lists.

These swatch simply gorgeous with a finger, especially this shade and Rose Frisson because they have that shimmery glow I adore. However, once I tried it with a brush at home, I was again disappointed by its pigmentation – initially. It definitely needs a lot of building up and a dense brush, but once you layer it enough, the result is beautiful. This shade creates as pink flush for that “English rose look”. It’s the pinkest blush that was on the stand, though we don’t have all the shades here, but I think this one is the least warm in the selection in general. Glow actually isn’t as strong as at for example Alverde’s Swivel blush, but it is there in a more subtle way, creating a good level of radiance – glow at this shade is gold . These blushes are heavily scented with a gorgeous scent of (I’m guessing) violets. It’s a great sweet powdery scent and I wish a perfume with such a scent existed, but despite the fact Bourjois has several fragrances, they haven’t come round making one like this.

This is one of most long lasting formulas on the cheeks – probably not surprisingly considering it has to be heavily layered. 

These come in small pots that include a mirror and an utterly useless mini brush. If you plan to get one of these, make sure you have a dense brush among your tools. I use a small contour brush from Real Techniques that has been discontinued.

I bought in in DM for 13,49 €. I only got it there because I had points, as these are half the price online. 

My mind has been changed about these. While they are fussy because pigmentation is not outstanding (they swatch intense with a finger, but brushes have a problem picking it up), they look great on the cheeks and have a good staying power. I’ll likely pick that Rose Frisson shade at one point.