I was lucky enough to get my hands on a few of the much anticipated Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blushes, when they became available to VIB’s during Sephora’s online preview last week. These revolutionary blushes promise to be “a groundbreaking hybrid that combines the customized lighting effects of Ambient Lighting Powder with a spectrum of breathtakingly modern hues for seamless, soft-focus, and multidimensional color.”

I snatched up the two lighter shades, Ethereal Glow–whose review you can read here–and Dim Infusion on the first day of the preview. This review is for the Dim Infusion, the color I was most looking forward to trying!

Discover a new way to blush. Hourglass has fused Ambient Lighting Powder, the cutting-edge collection of finishing powders, with an array of vivid cheek colors, creating a hybrid product that is unique, contemporary, and revolutionary. Unlike traditional blush, which tends to be flat, Ambient Lighting Blush uses Photoluminescent Technology to exhibit depth and dimension. The airy, lightweight powders contain optically transparent particles that amplify the colors to a multidimensional level—effectively reinventing the way you view blush.

~ Sephora.com

Dim Infusion is “a subdued coral blush fused with Dim Light to add warmth.” (For reference, the Dim Light ambient lighting powder is a described as being a “neutral peach beige powder” or “a neutral soft beige that provides a perfect balance of warm and cool tones to blur imperfections. “) Sephora also tells us that “each hand-made blush is formulated using an advanced miscelare technique—which means “to mix” in Italian—creating the perfect balance of pigment and powder, and no two look alike. The six shades ranging from soft coral to cool pink are a wardrobe of captivating accent lights for cheeks. They deliver a radiant, natural finish and offer build-able color to imbue the entire complexion with an otherworldly glow.”

I love coral blushes. I think they are, typically, the most flattering shade of blush on me. Peachy tones suit my fair skin and do not highlight the natural flush of my cheeks that I am forever trying to mask.  This line of blushes has two coral tones, with the Dim Infusion promising to be the lighter of them. The other (called Diffused Heat) describes itself as a “a vibrant poppy blush combined with Diffused Light for a subtle halo effect.” Afraid that “poppy” would be far too bright and/or orange for my skin, I skipped that one and stuck to the former (though I must say, I was very intrigued by the redness reducing, halo effect promised by the Diffused Light in the latter shade). So, while I was still a little concerned that the “warmth” promised by Dim Infusion would add would appear too muddy on me (as most warmth inducing tones do), I took the plunge and ordered it anyway!

These blushes come housed in a very reflective bronze plastic casing, with a nice, large mirror on the inner lid. I have to say the case feels just a touch flimsy to me, especially for the $35.00 price tag, but, hey; what can you do? I was initially a little disappointed when I opened up the blush I received, as it was noticeable right off the bat that this particular one has a lot more of the ambient lighting powder than the blush color in the pan. It appears as a champagney-beige swirled with a peachy coral. Like the Ethereal Glow, is very finely milled and feels silky on the skin. It too is just a touch on the powdery side and, again, my brush kicked up a tiny bit of powder in the pan when I swirled it.

I was surprised how pigmented this color tuned out to be when I swatched it, considering the amount of the ambient lighting powder in the pan. On my skin, it comes off a lot warmer than I had expected as well, leaning more toward peach than coral. While it looks a bit orangey when swatched heavily on the hand, on the cheeks it imparted a warm glow that–to my surprise!-was quite flattering. It did not turn muddy on me, as feared, nor did it look I was wearing like bronzer. Instead, it gave me a warm (sorry to keep using that word!) flush across the cheeks that looked healthy with just a hint of “I’m wearing blush” color.

Dim Infusion definitely had more obvious color payoff than the Ethereal Glow, but the two colors had such a different effect that I wouldn’t say there is any comparison between the two.

Swatches

Verdict

My verdict stands, pretty much being verbatim from my Ethereal Glow review: I do not own any of the Ambient Lighting Powders, despite having lusted over them for awhile (and, yes, still crying big, fat baby tears over having missed out on their holiday palette last year). They are on the pricey side, I’m not sure I’d use them enough to justify the cost at this time, and I’m sort of just biding my time hoping for another nice palette.

This blush line continues to be a wonderful alternative to buying a stand-alone powder. It is still pricey but not so much more than my normal NARS blush and I really do think the extra effects from having that diffusing, softening powder blended in justifies the extra $5.00. These blushes were a wonderful idea and I applaud Hourglass for executing them so well.

I’ve heard tell that the darker shades of blush run on the warm side, and that does seem to be the case with the Dim Infusion. Its still a lovely, wearable color for me but, being so fair, I will likely skip the darker/brighter colors in this collection, considering. Maybe I’ll be brave enough to try out that Diffused Heat once I can sample it in a store, as the description makes it sound just lovely!

However, for now, I’m happy with the two shades I purchased and very much look forward to playing with them in the days to come!

These blushes will be available in stores starting 2/21/14.