Review -- Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blushes

Last year, I fell in love with the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powders.

They're kind of a difficult product to describe -- I use them mainly as finishing powders, but depending on the shade that you use, they can also function as highlighters or even light bronzers.

My favorite Ambient Lighting Powder is the Ethereal. It is the perfect fit for my pale skin and just seems to create this amazing soft focus effect on my face that makes my skin look far better than just about any other powder in my collection.

It's a must-have for me now.

So when I heard that Hourglass was coming out with Ambient Lighting Blushes, I knew that I would have to give them a try.


I would have liked to purchase all of them, if I'm honest, but at $35 a pop, they're not exactly cheap so I settled for two (for the time being, anyway. I can totally see myself collecting all of them over time): Ethereal Glow and Mood Exposure.

Ethereal Glow is described as a cool pink, while Mood Exposure is a soft plum.

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blushes' packaging

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blushes in Ethereal Glow (l.) & Mood Exposure (r.)

These blushes are marbled products, which mean a blush shade is swirled with one of the Ambient Lighting Powder shades.  That means that like all marbled products, no two of the blushes in the same shade will be exactly alike -- and the more veining in the Ambient Lighting Powder shade in your blush, the lighter the blush will likely be.

That's why I suggest buying these in person if at all possible. That way, you can check the blush before you leave to make sure you're happy with the way it's marbled.

The formula of these blushes is just as lovely as the Ambient Lighting Powders. They are silky-smooth and have the same kind of soft-focus look as the powders. That means they look super natural on the skin and despite the fact that they don't have any shimmer or glitter, they give your cheeks a gorgeous radiant glow.

They have become some of my favorite blushes, for sure.

Ethereal Glow is a soft pink that's ideal for everyday. I don't know if it's mine in particular, which does have a lot of the Ethereal Light powder swirled through it, but the shade is very light so I don't know if it would work well on dark skin. It might make a nice highlighter, though.

Mood Exposure is my favorite of the the two. It is a lovely soft plum or mauve shade that really perks up my skin without looking too dark or clownish.

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blushes in Ethereal Glow (l.) & Mood Exposure (r.)

The blushes are easy to build, though, because they're so finely milled so I think they could work for a range of skin tones.

The Ambient Lighting Blushes come in the same bronze-y metallic compacts that the Ambient Lighting Powders do. I think they're quite nice, even though they do show fingerprints like nobody's business.  There is a mirror inside, but it's fairly small so I would probably only use it in a pinch.

If you're in the market for a blush and want to treat yourself, I definitely recommend giving one of these a try.

You can find them at Sephora, the Hourglass website, or anywhere else that you can buy Hourglass products.

Have you tried the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blushes? Which shade is your favorite?