Checked Off My Wishlist: Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush Palette

There's been a profusion of palette posts on here lately; what can I say, one thing I love about the Holiday Limited Edition make-up are the fantastic value for money sets and palettes. Now, I usually test products for quite a while before putting them on here for the whole world to see, but I couldn't resist showing off my new Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush Palette ($58 for 3 x 0.116 oz/ 3.3g), and given the upcoming beauty sales, I wanted to post this review with swatches as soon as possible to help anyone who may still be on the fence.

Isn't it gorgeous? It's hard to beat the visual impact of three marbleized blushes all in one compact. While the antique gold mirrored packaging is a finger print magnet, I like how sturdy it feels, and the palette shuts with a very satisfying click; in fact I need to wrestle it a bit to get it open. The compact also comes with a large mirror. The size of the blushes within is obviously smaller than the individually sold Ambient Lighting Blushes, but definitely large enough to swirl in a number of different blush brushes with ease.

The three blush shades within are Luminous Flush (a warm rosy pink, permanent), Incandescent Electra (a light peach, Limited Edition & exclusive to this palette) and Mood Exposure (a rusty neutral, permanent). Overall, I would say this palette leans warm but all three shades suit my cool-toned complexion, and I'd describe the finish of these blushes as glowy satin/ low-shimmer (meaning, my favorite). Mood Exposure is the least shimmery of the three and has a satin matte finish on the skin, while Incandescent Electra is the most shimmery but still on the lit-from-within rather than reflective end of the shimmer spectrum.

L-R: Luminous Flush swatched heavily and blended out, Incandescent Electra, Mood Exposure

While Limited Edition palettes from some brands often suffer from lower quality than permanent products, it is definitely NOT the case for the Ambient Lighting Blush Palette. All three shades are smooth, very pigmented (I recommend applying with a stippling/ duo-fiber blush brush) and last well on the skin. The formula of these kicks up a bit of powder due to its softness but it's nothing I can't deal with.

Luminous Flush, Incadescent Electra and Mood Exposure in full sunlight to show the level of shimmer.

One thing to remember, however, is that due to the Ambient Blushes' marbleized nature, the ratio of Ambient Lighting Powder to the blush pigment is going to vary slightly from palette to palette, so you may get less pigmented/ lighter in depth blushes in yours (case in point: my Incandescent Electra is quite deep and opaque, but Gaia's pan turned out to be more of a highlighter shade for her skintone).

L-R: Luminous Flush, Inglot blush no.86, Accessorize Merged Blusher in Diva, bareMinerals READY blush in The One

Now for individual shades comparisons and swatches. As you can see, Luminous Flush is the most similar to my bareMinerals READY Blush in The One, and swatched next to cooler pink blushes, leans quite warm and rosy. While for my personal tastes, I wouldn't mind a blue pink shade in the Hourglass palette, Luminous Flush is definitely a more universally flattering choice.

L-R: Incandescent Electra, Laura Mercier Second Skin Blush in Lush Nectarine, The Face Shop Pastel Cushion in Coral Cushion, NYX Powder Blush in Peach

If you already own both Luminous Flush and Mood Exposure, Incandescent Electra is definitely not unique enough to buy the whole palette just to get that Limited Edition shade. While it's beautifully smooth and a true peach, neither too warm or too cool, it seems pretty straighforward to me - but I'm still very happy to see it included in this palette because I love peach blushes. Laura Mercier Lush Nectarine is warmer, mostly due to the gold shimmer, and a lot less pigmented.

L-R: Mood Exposure, NARS Douceur, NYX Raisin, NYX Mauve

Mood Exposure is the chameleon shade of this palette: while in the pan it looks like a cool plum, as soon as you touch the powder it turns into a rusty red neutral, the warmest shade in the palette (you can see that warmer ring in the photo above after I have swatched the blush with my finger). It's the most similar to NARS Douceur but more orange than brown, and a lot warmer than both NYX Raisin and NYX Mauve.

Here's a little Face Of The Day using Hourglass Mood Exposure, just to show you than even this very warm shade works well on a fair, cool complexion. Hopefully you can see that on the cheeks, the blush does not have any visible shimmer, and blends beautifully without sitting on top of the skin. I'm also wearing theBalm Nude' Tude on my eyes and Lancome's Color Design lipstick in Wine Party on the lips.

So, do I recommend the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush Palette? Yes, yes I do. I find the quality to be stellar, the shade selection suits a variety of looks and skintones, and the value of the palette is great as well. I now know which blushes are going to accompany me on my Holiday travels. Have you tried the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blushes before? What are your favorite shades? Are you tempted to snag this palette?