Givenchy Le Prisme Blush in Orange In Vogue

I've been very lax about getting around to reviewing the Givenchy products I picked up a few weeks ago.  That's because for the most part, I was really disappointed.  Of the four products I purchased from the Givenchy line (bronzer, eyeshadow quad, blush and lipstick), two of them went back (bronzer, which wasn't, post is here and lipstick, post coming soon).

I still haven't swatched the eye quad because I'm not sure if I'm going to take it back or not.

But the one item that I knew I was keeping is the blush.  Officially it is the Givenchy Le Prisme Blush in Orange in Vogue.

It is a beautiful blusher.  The texture of the powders are fantastic.  Each individual shade was buttery soft with good payoff and swirled together it has a lovely bronzy apricot glow.

(clockwise from top left)

(swirled together)

The only downside of this blush is the size.  I apologize for not taking a picture of me holding the blush, but it is tiny.  The packaging is a cute little square with a drawer for the (mostly useless) blush brush.  But again, it's tiny.

The amount of actual product contained in the packaging is fairly standard - 6.8 oz.  But the way it's packaged, it looks absolutely minuscule   And it's good that the colors swirled together work because despite seeming like you could use the shades individually, they're too small to really try that.

Of all the Givenchy items I picked up, this blush is definitely my favorite.  But I do feel like my reaction to it is colored by how disappointed I was overall with the Givenchy line.

The Givenchy Le Prisme powder blushes contain 6.8 oz of product and retail for $44 exclusively at Sephora.

Overall:  8/10

Givenchy Healthy Glow Powder in 1 Premiere Croisiere

I absolutely love bronzers and blush.  This is a known fact.  And lately I've been really curious about some higher end, harder to find brands, specifically Rouge Bunny Rouge (which I will talk about in a separate post) and Givenchy.

Givenchy is available exclusively through Sephora, but is not carried in my local Sephora, so there's pretty much no way to see before you buy.  So in a fit of impulse buying the other day, I decided to pick up the Givenchy Poudre Bonne Mine Healthy Glow Powder, which Sephora categorizes as a bronzer.

It's lovely, by the way.

And the description sounds lovely.  Sephora says:

 "Totally weightless and invisible on the skin, this creamy formula provides ultimate softness and a light-as-air natural finish. With a consistency that’s easy to blend, this bronzer can be applied alone with the Givenchy Kabuki brush or over Mister Radiant. Use it year-round to smooth pores, even the skin’s texture, and provide a healthy glow."

I will fully admit it's my own fault for not looking up swatches first.  (Here, go look - Karla Sugar has some fantastic swatches.)  I made an assumption based on the Sephora description that this was indeed a bronzer (it may be if you buy it in one of the darker shades, but it doesn't seem that the line as a whole is a bronzer line).

I think this is more of an illuminating finishing powder, much like the MAC Mineralize Natural line, Guerlain Meteorites, Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powders, etc, etc.  And like the Guerlain and Hourglass products, it is hella expensive.  $50 for 7 grams of product.

Don't get me wrong, it does look lovely.  I'm sure it looks nice on the skin.  I don't know.  Because I need another illuminating finishing powder like I need a hole in the head, so I returned it (without swatching, not that you would have been able to see anything even if I did swatch it.).  

I wanted a bronzer.

Even for my pasty pale skin, this shade is certainly not a bronzer.  I probably would have had to get the darkest shade if I wanted something approaching a bronzer, but that doesn't really seem to be what this powder is designed to do.

I'm not going to bother rating this product since it seems designed to do something vastly different than the purpose for which I purchased it.  I am thankful that Sephora did give me my refund without any hassle (though I did get a dirty look, which whatever.)

I was really curious about Givenchy.  I picked up several different products (reviews coming soon) and it was really hit or miss.  At this price point, I expect more.  The packaging is underwhelming and it is really irritating not to be able to see it in person before purchasing.