Houndstooth Instain Blush by theBalm

I took advantage of a Birchbox discount code to pick up two more of theBalm Instain blushes recently - Houndstooth and Lace.  Today I have Houndstooth to show you.  As always, theBalm's packaging tickles my aesthetic funny bone with the retro print and efficient design.  Each blush has an outside cover that the cardboard compact slides into.  The compact itself has magnets to keep it closed and a small mirror for on the go application.

Houndstooth is described as a mauve, which is fairly accurate for how it looks in the pan.  Mauve is a rather unassuming color that I've never really been attracted to, yet it translates to a very natural rosy flush on.  I could see Houndstooth being the kind of color that I would turn to when I want a more neutral blush that is not going to compete with a bolder eye or lip look.

All six of the Instain blushes are mattes, but Houndstooth comes closest of the three that I've tried to having a bit of shimmer.  The pigmentation is quite good and I just need to lightly swipe my blush brush once to pick up enough color to apply.  The blush applied smoothly and wear time was 8 hours for me before I started to notice fading.  I've got oily skin and during the summer 8 hours is about as long as I can go before my makeup is noticeably dissolving.  Right now, you can almost swim on dry land here in Mobile due to the humidity!

While I've yet to see any true staining capabilities from the Instain blushes, I do find them to be nicely pigmented powder blushes that wear well.  I've seen some reviews that indicated they were difficult to apply, but I've not experienced that problem.  At $22, they fall in the mid-range price category, until you look at the size (.09 oz) and realize they are actually fairly expensive.  In comparison, an Estee Lauder Pure Color powder blush (my favorite powder blush formula) is $30, but you are getting almost 3x's the amount size wise (.25 oz vs. .09).   It's probably a moot point, however, as I've yet to make it through a pan of blush and probably won't in my lifetime:-)

Overall, I like theBalm Instain blushes and Houndstooth is a workhorse of a color that will see lots of use, especially once fall pushes summer aside.

Disclaimer:  I purchased this.