Clarins Eclat Minute Blush - Instant Light Blush

Eclat Minute Blush ($28) is a new product recently launched by Clarins. It is currently available in three shades, 01 Vitamin Pink, 02 Coral Tonic, and 03 Brown Fizz.  I was intrigued by this after a sales associate demonstrated it to me in Nordstrom, but at first wasn't sold. After viewing a tutorial by Lisa Eldridge in which she used the shade Coral Tonic I decided to give it a try. 

The product has a thick liquid consistency and is packaged in a clear plastic container with a gold twist-off cap, and is about the height of a typical small nail polish bottle. It has a pleasant, non-offensive floral (rose?) scent. The color can be dabbed directly onto the cheeks with the over-sized doe-foot sponge applicator and then blended out with fingertips or with a blending brush, if preferred. Quite a bit of product is loaded onto the applicator so there is enough for both cheeks without dipping back into the container. It can get a little messy around the top due to the creamy liquid texture, but it's not a big issue. I'm accustomed to powder and cream blushes, so for me this texture is kind of different and fun to work with. I do think this product, like most liquid products, is something I'll try to use up right away, unlike my powder blushes, which I feel are safe to use over several years.  

Of the two shades featured here, Vitamin Pink is my absolute favorite. It looks bright in the container, but blends out nicely to a pretty, healthy-looking carnation pink with a bit of a shimmery glow, and lasts well throughout the day. Highly recommended! 

Coral Tonic is a sheer, soft peach shade with subtle pink iridescence and gives a nice dewy look to the skin, but doesn't show up well on my skin tone, even with multiple layers. I don't know if it's because I did not wear foundation underneath when I tried it. I will need to experiment a little more with this one! This shade might work as a highlighting blush on dark skins and also would be suitable for those who like more subdued cheek color. See it in action in makeup artist Lisa Eldridge's video below (at the 4:12 mark). It does show up nicely on her.

The photo below shows Coral Tonic on the left and Vitamin Pink on the right, both blended out and then applied straight from the tube. The photo above was taken at the end, when I blended the two swatches for each shade together into one large heavy swatch of each.

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