Jane | Beauty and Fashion Tech

Best Affordable Makeup Series: Best Drugstore Blush

Readers often ask about the best drugstore makeup or affordable cosmetics, and a previous syndicated post on the best drugstore mascara has been rather popular here on the site. So,welcome to the first installment of series on drugstore makeup. Today, I take a look at some of the best drugstore blush items. Plus, I will tell you a few I thought were duds. Over the coming weeks I will write more on the best affordable makeup in other categories.

When it comes to finding the best drugstore blush, there area few key considerations. The best powder blush will have good pigment concentration for lasting color, be finely milled for good blending, and have a pleasing shade. The best cream blush will also have good pigment and will be soft and creamy. Where drugstore makeup brands often fail is in using little pigment and more fillers. When that happens, the product might look quite lovely in the package, but won’t actually wear well when applied. It will either be too light, wear off too fast, or both. Also, don’t get fooled by the name “mineral blush.” Some mineral makeup products are wonderful because they pack in mineral pigments with few fillers, but others will dilute the blend with fillers to the point that the product is not very well pigmented. Most mineral makeup items will also contain bismuth, which is an irritant for some people. That is true both at the drugstore and premium levels of cosmetics.

Below are a few drugstore blushes that do particularly well in terms of pigment and long wear. Although I have provided some affiliate links to the products, you should also be able to find them in drugstores or big box stores.

Best Powder Drugstore Blush

There is no need to spend extra for a good cheek color. Several companies make highly pigmented blush that rivals, or is even better than, many higher end and luxury cosmetics brands. I particularly like Milani Mineral Blush, despite that it includes bismuth as an ingredient.

Milani Mineral Blush is the best pigmented drugstore blush that I have found. It is also talc free—something rare for a drugstore blush. However, a word of warning, instead of being cut with talc, it uses bismuth, which some people are sensitive too. It is very well pigmented and comes in a variety of lovely shades. At just under $6, you can’t beat Milani for value. Milani’s Mineral Blush is honestly better than a number of high end items that I have tried. If you are a Nars Orgasm fan, look in stores for the shade Luminous (which I linked to). It is essentially the same as Nars Orgasm with perhaps slightly more shimmer, but much more affordable. By the way, also check out Milani eye shadows, they too are highly pigmented and are top on my list of best drugstore eye shadows.

Jane Blushing Cheeks is very affordable at $3.69 and has decent pigment, wears well, and comes in some nice shades. Jane also has a Nars Orgasm clone. Look for the shade Blushing Earth, which is almost a dead ringer for it. Jane cosmetics are pretty good all around, but their blush is my favorite item from them. For more see my previous review: Jane Cosmetics Blush.

Revlon ColorStay Cheek Color Mineral Blush is at the higher price range for a drugstore cheek color. At around $13, it comes in cheaper than higher end lines, but frankly, I recommend Milani and Jane before it because of their incredible prices. regardless, Revlon Mineral Blush is a darn nice blush. Although not talc free like Milani, it is still high in pigment and it blends and wears very nicely.

Best Cream Drugstore Blush

I have not fared as well at finding a quality affordable cream blush. Many seem to lack pigment or simply don’t wear as long as some of my favorite department store brands (Estee Lauder and Nars are a couple of favorites). I do, however, particularly recommend Maybelline Dream Mousse, which I prefer over many of the higher end brands. The entire Maybelline Dream Mousse line is rather nice. My other recommendations from Revlon and Sally Hansen Natural Beauty also fare pretty well

Maybelline Dream Mousse Blush is one of my all time favorites. Dream Mousse has a light texture (hence the mousse name) that makes it blend incredibly well. It is also seriously packed with pigment. If you want a good cream color, this it the way to go. At around $6 it is also an incredible value. For yet another Nars Orgasm look, check out the shade Peach Satin.

Sally Hansen Natural Beauty Blush (link is to previous review) has a good texture and decent pigment. It also comes in some particularly pretty shades. I like the Sally Hansen line as a whole and their powder version is also pretty good.

Revlon Cream Blush blends nicely and lasts pretty well. It is not as highly pigmented as some higher end brands that I have tried, but then again, I prefer my cream blush to be on the sheer side anyway. It builds fairly well for extra color and usually lasts all day. Revlon also leaves out the shimmer, which I appreciate. For more see my previous review: Revlon Cream Blush

A Few Duds

Just as there are some good drugstore makeup bargains, there are some items that just don’t cut it. A few that I didn’t care for were Neutrogena Mineral Sheers Blush (the one with loose powder and built in brush) which, although easy to use, took the word “sheer” to a whole new level by being barely visible on the face and wearing off quickly. Almay and Physician’s Formula blushes have also not fared as well with me for the same reason—there simply is not enough pigment.

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Jane Be Pure Cosmetics Liquid Mineral Foundation SPF 30

Jane Cosmetics has a new SPF 30 Jane be Pure Liquid Mineral Foundation at that I really love, although I think it is mislabeled a bit. Why mislabeled? Well, this one really seems like a tinted moisturizer to me. It is very sheer and high in moisture factor. So I wish they had just labeled it as such.

As far as tinted moisturizers go, this one is nice. It feels great and it provides just enough tint to even things out. It left me wishing that I didn’t have dark pigmented patches to cover, because then I would wear this all the time! As it is, I have been wearing it quite a bit with some concealer and touch of powder mineral makeup on the areas where I have melasma. The light shade is perfect for me and although it is a moisture product, it hasn’t left me looking greasy like some other tinted moisturizers do. Best of all, this item is only around $5!

The SPF 30 foundation is not yet on the Jane website and I can’t seem to find anyone selling it online yet. But you can find Jane Cosmetics at Walgreens stores.

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Jane Cosmetics: Blushing Earth Sheer

Jane cosmetics makes a really nice blush that for the life of me, I cannot find online. The shade is blushing earth sheer and it is almost a dead ringer for the famous NARS Orgasm Powder Blush. Pictured is a different, although also nice shade, Jane Blushing Cheeks Powder Blush, Blushing Petal.

The blush is a shimmery peach shade that has a good amount of pigment and stays on all day. It is a great way to duplicate the expensive stuff. Although I have found other shades of Jane’s blush online, I can’t seem to locate the blushing earth shade. Fortunately though, I have seen it in many different drugstores, particularly Walgreens. So, next time you are at a store that carries Jane Cosmetics, take a look at this blush. It really is a very nice shade!

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Review: Jane MaxLash 2 Mascara in Deep Ocean

Jane MaxLash 2 Mascara, Deep Ocean represents my first time trying out blue mascara. I was rather hesitant simply because I tend to be pretty darn conservative with my own makeup, but after reading on several occasions about how wearing blue mascara can brighten the eyes, I decided to give it a shot. Not only am I glad that I did, but I’m glad I chose to do so with Jane MaxLash 2.

Earlier this week, I wrote favorably about Jane Cosmetics eye shadows. I also find their mascara rather impressive. MaxLash 2 is pretty interesting as well. It comes packaged with two tubes, each with its own wand on each end. One side is a conditioning lengthener and the other is color. What I loved about this was that that the lengthening part was black. Had I had wanted, I could have just left off the color part and worn this as a black mascara. That made buying the product in blue sort of a two for one bonus!

The wand is pretty big. I’m not a huge fan of large mascara wands and tend to prefer the smaller wand products. But this one worked OK for me. First off, this product will clump if you don’t wipe the wand pretty carefully, but it is fine if you do so and are careful when applying the product. Second, I don’t think it lengthened as much as my general favorites, but it did a sufficient job. If I were just looking for an everyday mascara, I might choose something else, such as one of my favorites, CoverGirl Lash Exact. Jane’s mascara is several dollars cheaper though and I think a good value for the very low price. Also, since I picked up the Jane mascara in blue, it became a great value for me.

As I mentioned, the fact that the lengthener was black made this mascara instantly into one that could be used in either black or blue. I also am not sure, but I think the black under shade toned down the blue just enough to make me love the color. I loved the shade I got from this mascara. It was not a bright blue, or even so much a navy blue. Instead, it was like a deep blue with black peppered through because I did not tend to put the color portion on very thick. Also, I found it difficult to apply the color portion so that black did not show through, especially at the roots of the lashes. So people who want pure color throughout, might be better off exploring something like Benefit BADgal blue mascara.

The result for me was that I discovered that the people raving about blue mascara were right. It does brighten the eyes! I thought that my eyes looked noticeably better with that shade on, yet it didn’t look like I was wearing something unusual. BUT, I don’t know that I would love the shade if it were more blue. I think the key was that I applied the color portion rather lightly. Although the more I look at Benefit’s BADgal blue, the more I consider trying it, I also think the ability to apply with less blue showing became a big bonus to the product for me. Yet as I noted, that could be a downside for people looking for a more intense blue.

I tend to buy Jane cosmetics at Walgreens. It is also available online at Drugstore.com

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Jane Cosmetics Eye Shadows: One of the Better Drugstore Values!

Jane Cosmetics have been impressing the heck out me lately. Highly affordable and high in quality, I think this is hands down the most consistently good and best value drugstore line out there.

Jane cosmetics eye shadows are super cheap and yet have a pretty impressive quality to them. They blend well and have minimal creasing. I found that the lighter shades did not have the pigment payout as some other more expensive, yet excellent value shadows that I have covered such as those from Flirt! or Smart Skin. But they still seemed to be better pigmented than some more expensive drugstore brands and the darker shades seemed to be quite well pigmented. The only serious issue I have had with them is that they seem to wear off a bit quicker than some of the more expensive brands and I found that they are a bit too soft for use as a liner. However, at around $5 for a palette of several shades, it is hard to complain too much. I have Jane Eye Zing Carry Along Eye Shadow, Browns and love the shades. Dream Cream reminds me quite a bit of M.A.C vanilla, which I have always loved as a base shade.

One of the fun things about the Jane shadows is that you can get them in many different forms and all are very inexpensive. The stores have them in individual pots and then there are palettes of 4 and 6 easily found in the drugstores. Online, there is the Jane Eye Zing Eye Mixers Eye Shadow Compact (pictured) which comes in a variety of collections of 8 shades. In the one pictured, it’s A Girl, Hi Ho Silver, and White Lies are some of my favorite Jane Shades (it also has Dream Cream, referenced above). I have seen the 8 shade palettes in some, but not all, stores that carry Jane Cosmetics (Walgreen’s and Osco are where I see them the most).

Jane also has a fabulous blush that is directly comparable to NARS Orgasm Powder Blush, and an interesting mascara, Jane MaxLash 2 Mascara that I have in Deep Ocean. I will be posting about those soon. I also have reviewed Jane Be Pure Mineral Makeup.

Shop for other cosmetics at Shopzilla.com

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Jane Shimmer Blush

Yesterday, I reviewed Jane Be Pure Mineral Makeup. When I made that purchase, I also picked up a Jane Shimmer Blush in Natural. As with the mineral makeup, this too is a good value product. Bascially it provides a very light, sheer, neutral to pinkish shimmer that I find works quite well over matte cream blush. Or use it alone for just a bit of tinted highlight. Jane makes the same product in darker shades as well.

For those looking for a cheap sheer shimmer, it is worth checking out. Just keep in mind that it is quite sheer. Although labled as a blush, I view it more as a sheer shimmer powder that is best used to compliment another product.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Review: Jane Be Pure Minerals, a Good Value Mineral Makeup

I have really been nuts over mineral makeup lately. I keep seeing more and more of it in the stores and I keep buying it! Recently I tried another drugstore brand with pretty good results. Jane Mineral Be Pure Makeup is very reasonably priced. I believe I paid around $6 for mine at Osco. Further, unlike some of the other drugstore brands, this one is talc free. It is also oil free, wax free, and fragrance free. I could not verify though whether it contains bismuth. An ingredient list does not seem to be available online. [update: Based on search results that were not available when I first published this, apparently it does contain bismuth]

I purchased the fair shade and was quite happy with its coverage. Tapping it on with a kabuki brush, I found that it covered a couple of my light melasma spots better than the other drugstore brands I have tried. As with most mineral powder makeup, tapping it on helps it cover better, while brushing it on makes it work more like a regular powder. As for staying power, it was OK. It isn’t going to cover or last the way Jane Iredale or Bare Essentuals do, but I am finding that when it comes to mineral makeup, you often get what you pay for. With that in mind, Jane seems to be a very good value for the price.

Jane Be Pure Minerals are packaged in a jar with a sponge type applicator. I wasn’t crazy about the sponge and highly recommend the purchase of a kabuki brush for putting on mineral makeup. If you want a quality cheap one and live near a CVS pharmacy, take a look at the essence of beauty brush. That is a great line of inexpensive, good value brushes and I have been happy with their kabuki brush. Also, the jar is a bit small for dipping a brush in. I would prefer to see a design where the jar is a bit larger and there is a plastic shaker screen for rubbing a brush on. But aside from nit picking a few packaging decisions, I really like this mineral powder as an inexpensive, good value product.

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