Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush in Diffused Heat – swatches and review

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Hourglass-Ambient-Light-Blush-diffused-heatpress sample affiliate links

I saw a very peculiar thing this week, my husband sitting at our desk staring deep into one of my compacts for what seemed close to a minute. He only stopped when I asked him what he was doing and he replied “I never looked at this stuff before so I wanted to see what was up.” Stuff meaning makeup, of course. And “what was up” meaning why I spend a majority of my waking hours dedicated to it. So, I asked him what he thought about it, to which he answered “Is it all this pretty?”

No sir, it is most certainly not…

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For the compact he was staring into was the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush in Diffused Heat ($35). And I’m afraid it has set a very high bar for all future blushes that both he and I see.

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I could write this whole post about the compact itself; the asymmetrical latch, the sleek updated logo, the muted gold shade, the perfect square shape and size. (In fact, Hourglass was the line that spawned a category on we heart this called “packaging inspiration!”)

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But it’s what lies within that’s really amazing.

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Within you will find the same “magically flattering light” we talked about in the Ambient Lighting Palette review. But this time, marbled with color.

Marbled is pretty accurate description, really. These powders are hand-made with what is called an advanced miscelare technique, meaning “to mix” in Italian. No two look alike, like a geode or some beautiful thing you’d expect to find in the earth.

Diffused Heat is described as “vibrant poppy.” Diffused refers to the Ambient Lighting shade; a pale warm yellow, and Heat refers to the poppy; a bright coral pink. Swirled you get an ethereal, subtly shimmering shade that looks like it’s lit from within. When light catches the lighting powder at different angles it almost twinkles.

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That’s right, I said twinkles!

The powder is all you’d expect from Hourglass; softly milled and velvety. And the pigment is amazing. One swirl of the brush and you pretty much have what you need (though feel free to build more color if you want, it does that well.) I wasn’t sure I’d get that much color with the large amount of highlighter in it, which is way more than what you’d call a “vein” (like I do with most products like these.)

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But that’s just the thing, Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush is really a class of its own. A breathtaking class of its own. And I’m {thisclose} to purchasing all six of them.

Hourglass-Ambient-Light-Blush-diffused-heat-swatchDiffused Heat in sunlight

Hourglass-Ambient-Light-Blush-diffused-heat-swatchesand indoors

So blush lovers, who’s meeting me at the Hourglass counter?

Author

  • Stef Andrews

    Stef is a plethora of things. Amongst them: co-founder of we heart this, photographer, condiment connoisseur, Philly girl in the California desert, borderline hoarder and a hardcore beauty junkie. She also has a touch of wanderlust and, arguably, the cutest dog in the whole world... skin tone: NC 25/30 skin type: oily with a fear of rosacea favorite beauty product: high end skincare and lip products

17 Comments

  1. I neeeeed this. I was debating between this and another shade but this is #1 for me I think :) It’s beautiful. I <3 Hourglass.

    1. It was Luminous Flush. Both looked a bit similar on my hand!

  2. I started panting as soon as I saw the first photo! I love the Ambient Lighting Palette more than any product I own, and the thought of that magic combined with this beautiful color… it’s almost too much happiness! I will race you to the Hourglass counter!

  3. Oooh, this is truly gorgeous! No wonder your hubs was entranced…

    1. Right? I normally only see that type of stare when it involves a motorcycle or a bottle of Belgian beer!

  4. Oh my, once I stop drooling I am going to put this at the top of my list of must haves. Hourglass, you have surely outdone yourself again! Love!

  5. Haha, I find some male grooming products, like fancy shaving brushes, equally mysterious and fascinating. But this one is particularly mesmerizing indeed!

  6. LOL @ your hubby @stef :)

    Mine looks at all of my makeup and is just half amazed/half horrified.

    I saw some of these blushes at my local Sephora, but I didn’t have the time or the budget to dedicate to these. I’m going to have to check them out the next time I go. I have the darndest time narrowing down my blush selections… :/

  7. This blush looks insanely gorgeous. I totally must have it! Hourglass is too ridiculously good!! It looks like they have done it again!!

  8. I loved this post, and I second the bit about their packaging :))) I only got Mood Exposure (for now), the formula is so amazing!

  9. I’m so jealous, mine looked nothing like that. It had very little colour, mostly the Diffused Lighting powder which made no unhappy. That was what a lot of the reviews on the Sephora site said as well, it’s kind of hit or miss depending on how much colour you get. My Mood Exposure was wonderfully pigmented though, so that makes me happy. I would advise people to get this in store if possible, and check it before you walk out to make sure it’s sufficiently coloured.

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