Butter London Glazen Blush Gelee in Glimmer

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I love my Butter London Glazen Eye Gloss in Oil Slick (swatched here), and so I was curious about how a similar formula would function as a blush. The eyeshadow has intense glitter and dries very quickly--neither of which are qualities I'm looking for in a cream blush. And Butter London's promotional photos weren't very inspiring. (My Instagram stories commentary on their ad below.)

Actually, yeah, that is a pretty accurate photo, I suspect, if you just smeared an opaque layer of this blush on your cheek in a circle. If you want to avoid that look, like I do, it's kind of a tricky product to use. I'll get to that later.

First, the texture. It really is unusual. It's gelatinous and jiggly. I made you a GIF!

Swatches! I chose the Butter London Glazen Blush Gelee in Glimmer, because it looked like it had the strongest duochrome, and I can't resist a duochrome shift. This blush has a warm reddish-pink base with a gorgeous golden shift. Here are far too many photos in different lighting to demonstrate it:

Because the blush dries incredibly quickly, and blush application is all about blending in my opinion, this shit is tricky. Usually I apply cream blush with my fingers, but doing that with this gelee means that (a) too much product gets picked up, and (b) it ends up blotchy. Like the eye gloss, it's quite pigmented, so you really only need a few specks of product for each cheek. That means a special technique and/or tool is required to get this stuff to work.

There are two methods with which I've had some success. The first is using a wet beauty blender type of sponge. The advantage of the sponge is that the water keeps the blush from drying quite as quickly, so you have a couple more seconds to blend it. The downside is that the damp sponge sometimes picks up some blush from my cheek, so it can end up a little blotchy anyway. I've had a bit of luck applying it with the sponge and then quickly blending with my fingers. A mini sponge works better than a full size.

The other method, which works a bit better, is to use a stippling brush. I have the small stippling brush from e.l.f. Stippling brushes work well for highly pigmented products that you want to sheer out, because only the longer bristles pick up product, but you can use all the bristles together to blend it out. This type of brush helps here, but work quickly! Normally with I use cream blush, I tap my finger in it, pat it on both cheeks, then go back and blend the first one and then the second. I can't do that here. I have to tap the brush in the pot and then immediately blend blend blend before the blush sets. Sometimes a little extra blending with my finger is useful.

(I've read some reviews that say this blush can mess up makeup that's underneath it, too. I haven't noticed that, but I don't use full coverage foundations.)

If you can get Glimmer to work, it can be really pretty, provided you can wear warm blushes. I have fairly neutral coloring, so I can wear most blushes whether they're warm or cool, but if this shade won't work for you, there are three other options. Glimmer will give a somewhat natural, yet glowy, flush. Because it has a lot of red in it, it gives a kind of fairytale effect on me that's emphasized by the red lipstick I'm wearing in the photos below. With less dramatic lipstick, it looks subtler.

Even though I really like how this blush looks on me, it's hard for me to recommend, exactly. It can provide a lovely effect, and there aren't many wearable duochrome blushes out there. Also, I've experienced really good wear time with it. Still, I hesitate to suggest a product that can only be used if you have the right tools or one that can go wrong so easily. If you're up for the challenge, now might be the time, because ULTA has the Butter London Glazen Blush Gelees on sale for $15, down from the usual $26, which in my opinion is a bit too much for something so fiddly.

Have you ever used a blush like this? I'm also curious about the other shades. If you've tried one, is it as tricky to use as Glimmer?