Paula’s Choice Blush It On Palette and Flawless Finish Powder review

I love Paula’s Choice products, but I hadn’t used any of their makeup products until I tried the Blush It On Contour palette and the Resist Flawless Finish powder recently.

The Blush It On palette ($55 AUD/$36 USD from Paula’s Choice or Amazon) has a set of 4 blushes, a champagne highlighter and a taupe contour powder (all 3 g) in cardboard packaging. It includes a mirror that’s wide enough for both cheeks to be visible which is handy! The shades are (left to right):

• Pearl – a champagne highlighter with fine shimmer
• Bronze – a slightly warm taupe contouring shade
• Delicate Coral – a slightly pastel orange coral shade
• Dusty Rose – peachy pink
• Peony – warm pink
• Soft Mauve – a cool, deeper pink

I really liked the fine shimmer in the highlighter, which made it very easy to apply and blend. The contour shade is too warm to look natural on me though so I’ll be giving it a miss. The blushes are all matte – for a shimmery blush, you can apply the illuminator on top. I love blush, so I really like getting 4 in the one palette, and the powder is very finely milled so they’re easy to apply with a soft brush. Unfortunately, Delicate Coral and Dusty Rose look identical on my skin, although they both look very pretty. Peony and Soft Mauve are very flattering as well. With the exception of Soft Mauve, the shades are all quite sheer and buildable, but Soft Mauve should be used with a light hand if you’re pale.

Ingredients: Mica, Talc, Magnesium Stearate, Dimethicone, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Ethylhexyl Palmitate, Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate, Butyl Methoxydibenzoylmethane, Diethylhexyl Syringylidenemalonate, Tin Oxide, Ethylhexylglycerin, Phenoxyethanol, Titanium Dioxide, Red 6 Lake, Red 7 Lake, Iron Oxides

Resist Flawless Finish Pressed Powder ($28 AUD/$15 USD from Paula’s Choice) is a new launch. It comes in a round package with a rubberised lid (which really likes to stick to dust) with a mirror on the inside, and a brush included under the powder pan, which I always appreciate. The brush is quite wide – it’s the same shape and size as the palette – and although I originally found it unwieldy, it’s really grown on me. You can hold the brush flat against your skin to cover a large area quickly, or you can hold it sideways so the narrow side can get into areas like around your nose, which is handy for on-the-go touchups. The pan holds 11 g of product.

The formula of the powder is fantastic – it’s light and builds up without looking cakey or settling into lines. Unfortunately it only comes in 4 shades: Porcelain/Fair, Fair/Light, Light/Medium and Medium/Tan. Medium/Tan was the closest match for me (NC25-30), which is bad news if you have darker skin. The shades are also a little weird –  Porcelain/Fair and Light/Medium are quite yellow-toned, while Fair/Light and Medium/Tan are a bit pinkish, so unless your skin just happens to match one of the 4 colours, you can’t use it too heavily without looking strange. The powder also smells a bit like lemon-scented disinfectant, which is not something I’ve encountered in makeup before. I know Paula’s Choice are very anti-fragrance but in this case I think it would help. Luckily, it’s not very noticeable once it’s on your skin.

Ingredients: Talc, Mica, Titanium Dioxide, Nylon-12, Lauroyl Lysine, Polymethylsilsesquioxane, Zinc Stearate, Silica, Diisostearyl Malate, Pentaerythrityl Tetraisostearate, Ethylhexylglycerin, Phenoxyethanol, Iron Oxides.

Have you tried Paula’s Choice makeup? What did you think?

These products were provided for editorial consideration, which did not affect my opinion. This post also contains affiliate links – if you decide to click through and support Lab Muffin financially, thank you! For more information, see Disclosure Policy.