Sephora + Pantone Universe Rush Luster Cheek Sweep & Venus Lure Lip Balm Review + Swatches

Just a quick word before my review, I want to thank EVERY one of you who is currently following me right now. I’m really hoping to make this blog work and to help bring some input into the beauty blogging community. I don’t know how likely that is with the thousands of us that are already out there, but I want to at least give it a shot and I really, REALLY appreciate your support! I’ve changed my blog name just because I feel if this ever does jump off (knock on wood), I don’t know that I would’ve been completely satisfied with my previous title or not. I’m an extremely (can’t stress that enough) indecisive person, so I HOPE this will be the last time, because I feel content with the title I’ve chosen now. Anyway, thank you all again & I really do hope you’ll stay with me throughout my journey! 🙂

So as I’m sure most of you know, Radiant Orchid is Pantone’s color of the year. I, for one, am absolutely loving it but I didn’t realize just how much until Sephora released their Radiant Orchid collection this week! This whole collection is, for lack of a better word, radiant! You can check it out here, at sephora.com. I wasn’t completely obsessed with makeup when last year’s color, Emerald, was announced, so that collection didn’t appeal to me as much. If you check Sephora’s website in the sale section (which I stalk several times a day) they still have some of last year’s Emerald products available. I was tempted to buy later on in the year as my makeup obsession grew, but I resisted because there were too many other things that I wanted way more and I don’t think I would ever wear green or blue eyeshadows in public. I’m just not at that level yet.

This year’s Radiant Orchid is vibrant, bright and beautiful – perfect for spring time and not just because of the name. I’d love to get my hands on The Eye: Radiant Femme Artistry Set and The Face: Radiant Femme Artistry Set but those things will just have to wait until my budget allows (sad face). I did manage to get my hands on the Rush Luster Cheek Sweep, which is a gorgeous and extremely (I mean it, use caution!) pigmented Radiant Orchid blush with two luminizers, one in what they have listed on their site as Rose Gold (on the palette, it’s named Spanish Villa) and one listed on the site as Iridescent Pink (Bridal Rose). Both the luminizers are on the shimmery/borderline sparkly side, so if you don’t want to look like a disco queen, you’ll want to use a light hand. The blush has a shimmer too it as well just so you are aware, but it’s not disco queen-y like the luminizers. Everything in this palette picks up VERY easily, so again, proceed with caution and use a light hand! I learned this the hard way, so the photo below shows me wearing way more blush than I personally would feel comfortable wearing in public, but at least you’ll get an idea of how the color appears on skin. Overall, I’m very happy I bought this, as I don’t have any blushes that are this color! Definitely a keeper!

Now the Venus Lure Lip Balm on the other hand, didn’t really tickle my fancy as much. I had my mind made up to get this because I knew it wouldn’t be as bold as the Radiant Rush Matte Lipstick from the collection, which I felt would probably be too bright for my liking. I did swatch the lipstick at the store today and I loved the color, but just don’t know if I would’ve had the guts to wear it. Well, I’m kind of wishing I would’ve gone with that instead of the balm. The balm has a nice peppermint scent to it and is VERY sheer – a little more sheer than I’d like. It’s hard to tell how these things are going to turn out on you until you actually try them on your lips. The swatch below I think was about 12 swipes total (not back and forth), so you can see it really takes a lot to build up. I was hoping it would be a little more pigmented on my lips because of my pigmentation and discoloration. I can’t remember how many times I had to swipe it to get it to build up to the color it was on my lips in the picture below, but it was quite a few. If your lips aren’t as pigmented as mine, I’m sure this would work a LOT better for you! I also don’t like the moisturizing feeling of this. Now I have severe issues when it comes to lip balm/chapstick. I’ve been addicted to it pretty much since the womb (thanks, mom & Bonne Bell) so I have certain kinds that I KNOW will work for me and certain kinds that drive me INSANE and I feel like they’re kind of just there to make my lips slip & slide around or that they’re actually drying out my lips rather than keeping them moist. The feeling of this balm to me is like that of Palmer’s Cocoa Butter – the actual cocoa butter, not the chapstick. For me, this just doesn’t work at all and the feeling of it on my lips literally drives me insane, so I think this will be going back. The color does last longer than the moisturization, but for me, that doesn’t really matter. I’m sad it didn’t work out for me but if I had known it was going to be that texture, I could’ve avoided that altogether.

Sephora + Pantone Radiant Orchid Rush Luster Cheek Sweep and Venus Lure Lip Balm

Sephora + Pantone Radiant Orchid Rush Luster Cheek Sweep

Sephora + Pantone Radiant Orchid Rush Luster Cheek Sweep – From bottom to top: Radiant Orchid blush, Bridal Rose Luminizer, Spanish Villa Luminizer

Sephora + Pantone Radiant Orchid Rush Luster Cheek Sweep (a weee bit too heavy)

Sephora + Pantone Radiant Orchid Venus Lure Lip Balm

Have you tried any of the Radiant Orchid collection? Is there anything on your wishlist?