My Favorite Drugstore Blush Formula - Milani Baked Blush

Milani Baked Blush is the classic drugstore tale of a great product hidden in unfortunate packaging. Milani's Baked Blush line contains an impressive 8 shades (plus a 9th - a medium bronzer) with a surprising amount of shade complexity. Of the 8, 6 are satin or shimmery and 2 are matte. These blushes cost $8.49 for .12 oz (3.5 grams) of product.

I have 3 shades: 07 Fantastico Mauve, 03 Berry Amore, and 05 Luminoso. (Separate swatch posts to come!)

• #7 Fantastico Mauve is a shimmery red leaning berry with golden and bronze veining
• #3 Berry Amore is a shimmery warm bronze rose with golden and bronze veining
• #5 Luminoso is a satin warm peach with a hint of pink that comes off with a sheen on the cheeks (note: Luminoso is not a NARS Orgasm blush dupe - the Milani blush that was similar to Orgasm was called Luminous and is discontinued)

Formula
Each of these shades contains more subtle shimmer on the cheeks than appears in the pan when applied with a fluffy brush. These three shades are unique offerings in the drugstore due to the complexity of the color payoff. Many drugstore blushes come off poorly pigmented, stiff, chalky, and have very flat color. For those who buy a Milani Baked Blush expecting the typical drugstore blush experience, they will melt your mind. Each shade is pigmented, easy to blend, interesting in the pan and on the cheeks, and wears well all day. I hope they come out with more matte and satin shades.

Packaging
Milani's line overall has some very unfortunate packaging. I find the warm brassy gold, especially when done in plastic, to look dated and cheap. The compact is quite thick and bulky, which makes it challenging for a makeup addict to store. Those of you with a reasonable sized blush collection *ahem not me* may not find this to be a negative.

See how chunky that compact is? It could easily be half the width without losing any functionality.

Aside from the thickness and lightweight plastic feel of the compact, it is functional. Milani has included a bottom compartment with a brush and mirror, which is nice in theory. The brush is scratchy and not very useful, but I don't mind the mirror. I really dislike when products come with useless little applicators in general, but it is forgivable at the price point.

Overall, I have nothing but praise for the Milani Baked Blush formula. The packaging lets the product down, but can be easily overlooked for the price and complex shades. I highly recommend these and use these as often as my favorite mid end blushes.

I swatched Milani Luminoso here, and  swatched Milani Fantastico Mauve here if you would like to see swatches of my two most used shades.