There’s a new Chanel Joues Contraste Powder Blush called Crescendo ($45 for 4 g/0.14 oz, made in France, limited-edition). This is a soft luminous baby pink in the baked formula. For those new to Chanel blushes, in the powder form there are two formulas. Most US-sold blushes are pressed powders while all other countries have blushes in the same color/names but are baked. I almost always prefer the US version since I find the baked ones more sheer in color and quite a bit more powdery in texture. Crescendo seems to perform a bit more like the US versions even though it is baked and had quite a bit of powder kick-up when I dipped a brush into it.
Crescendo is a soft but buildable pink color. I would call it light to medium, leaning more towards medium in color. It looks bright in the compact but applies like a soft sheer pink. There is enough color in the blush that it shows up on my medium skin. It’s a neutral-cool color on me and gives a natural pink flush. It has an airy feel to it with the lightness and brightness the pink has. It’s not shimmery or matte, but rather has a soft luminous satiny finish.
Here it is swatched on the arm:
Comparisons to a few other blushes, note these were swatched with a light to medium hand, using an eyeshadow brush. The colors are all buildable for more pigment.
Chanel Narcisse (discontinued)
Hourglass Radiant Magenta (review here)
Chanel Angelique (new for spring, review here)
I found the closest dupe to Chanel Crescendo to be MAC Lovecloud in the pans and swatches, the MAC is slightly more pigmented and darker. I have a number of other older/discontinued Chanel and MAC blushes I suspect are similar that are unfortunately still boxed up (to be organized and put away in makeup drawers and shelves over the next week). Chanel Crescendo is a lovely soft pink but does seem to be something you can easily duplicate, if you own a lot of Chanel blushes I think you can safely skip and shop your stash. That being said, I do think it can be hard to find a good baby pink that has enough brightness in it to bring the skin to life, that isn’t too pale and that also doesn’t darken or look muddy after it warms up on the skin. Crescendo stays put on the skin without turning color and works as a good in between light and bright giving a luminous glow.
Due to the powdery texture, I do think this will look chalky or powdery on your face if you have super dry skin. It works well on mine right now, I always wear moisturizer + foundation + powder, but if you are slightly dry, I’d recommend adding a dewy cream blush or highlighter underneath to help the color adhere better to the skin (something like Edward Bess Sunlight works wonders).
I’m really happy with my purchase even though it is fairly similar to other pinks in how it wears on the face. I bought mine sight unseen from Chanel.com. It’s currently listed as limited-edition.
Did you check out anything from the Collection La Perle de Chanel? What did you end up getting?
While I like the lipstick, I might get the palette instead as I love lip palettes! I like having different options in my makeup bag in my purse and it looks like it will do nicely. Do love the lip color though. I just bought the Saxifrage Hydra Chic from Chantecaille and am loving it, plus I don't want to go overboard on fuchia lip colors as I don't know how long I'll be into them. Was originally going to get the blush, then Temptalia's review changed my mind, and now yours has me swinging back towards purchasing it. I have the worst time finding light/med baby pink blushes that work with my skin tone. I have blue undertones but slightly warm skin, so I can't wear any colors that are too cool or too warm. I love Chanel Rose Initiale but it does pull peach on me and I have two pink Bobbi Brown blushes that simply don't work. Also,while I like the eye pencil I prefer slightly darker shades for definition- I love Lancome Artliner in Ice Black.
It seems like a lighter and peachier version of Pink Explosion. The color doesn't seem quite unique enough to spring for unless you seriously have a love of Chanel and hole in your collection of shades.
I love how soft and precious this blush appears!
Connie | Sponsored by Coffee | Bloglovin’
I've been looking into pink blushes lately. And this post us very helpful! Thank you:)
Stephanie | http://www.dearstephiiie.com
I think that the formula for Chanel blushes is amazing and this colour is right up my alley, I guess this calls for another visit to the chanel counter
xx
http://diamondsandtulips.blogspot.com.au
Love this, looks so beautiful. I recently spoke about Jardin de Chanel on my blog… SO IN LOVE! Nice post 🙂 xx