Surratt Beauty Artistique Blush in La Vie en Rose, Ponceau, and Parfait

Over the past year or so, Surratt Beauty has been getting quite a bit of attention, especially since they got picked up by Sephora last year which meant much wider distribution for the brand. Surratt Beauty is only carried at select Sephora locations, but it is available online at Sephora's website, as well as Barneys in the US (you can check Surratt's website for a full list of where to buy their products). The brand itself was started by New York City-based makeup artist Troy Surratt, who had "devoted nearly a decade to develop and realize his eponymous line" by "utilizing mesmeric colours and sumptuous formulas inspired by the classic chic of Paris, the pulse and energy of New York City, and the futuristic spirit of Tokyo." Of course, what got me interested in Surratt Beauty was the Artistique Blushes, of which there are currently ten shades (I bought three of them to start with). Each Artistique Blush comes in a thin plastic sliding case (it is a refill design meant to be used in the Custom Palette Case), contains 6 grams of product, and retails for $35. 
La Vie en Rose, Ponceau, and Parfait
La Vie en Rose, Ponceau, and Parfait

La Vie en Rose is a medium warm rosy plum in a satin finish. This is a permanent shade. It has a soft and finely-milled texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is more plum and less matte than MAC Blushbaby, more muted and less shimmery than NARS Lovejoy, cooler than Hourglass Mood Exposure, and lighter than Urban Decay Fetish.

Ponceau is a medium warm brightened pink-coral in a satin finish. This is a permanent shade. It has a soft and finely-milled texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is brighter than MAC Fleeting Romance, more coral than Too Faced How Deep is Your Love?, brighter and darker than NARS Torrid, and more muted than TheBalm Toile.

Parfait is a light-medium warm orange-peach in a satin finish. This is a permanent shade. It has a soft and finely-milled texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is more muted than MAC Peaches, brighter and more orange than MAC Melba, more muted than Too Faced I Will Always Love You, and more orange than Hourglass Diffused Heat.

What's great about these blushes is their consistency in formula; all three shades here are silky smooth that have great colour pay-off, and build up and blend out really well. They have a really nice satin finish with a soft, luminous sheen that doesn't emphasize skin texture but keeps the skin from looking flat which makes these excellent for all skin types and all ages. They also wear well for a full eight hours without fading, so they're great for people who don't like to touch up their make-up or have full-time work/school days. My only complaint about these, actually, is not in the formula itself but in the packaging. If you don't get the custom palette, which is overpriced at $24 and only holds up to three blushes, the blush container itself is very thin and flimsy, and I found the sliding lids to be quite loose so they never feel like they're tightly closed. These blushes are designed to be refills more than single blush compacts, and as a result, I feel like the $35 price tag is really steep, even with 6 grams of product. What's worse is that they are not magnetic, so if you get a custom palette that is magnetic (e.g. Z Palette), you'll be forced to cover the back of the blush with a magnet stripe. So, yes, the blush formula is truly wonderful, but at $35 a pop, you'll have to decide whether the packaging is a deal breaker or not.