More Pigment and I Would Have Been Swept Away by T

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Interesting, but is it a gimmick or actually an imaginative innovation? Either way, I gotta give it up to L’Oreal for at least trying something new. The contoured brush that comes with each of the four One Sweep Sculpting Blush Duos ($12.95 each) is designed to define and brighten cheeks at the exact same time.

Wait — how’s that?

Well, the compacts for Poppy, Nectar, Flush and Posh come with both a cheek blush and a sculpting powder (to define the cheek bones), as well as a special U-shaped brush to pick up and deposit both products in the same sweep.

Running the concave brush across the pan parallel to the center line loads it up with both colors, one on each side. I was fairly sure I’d end up with striped cheeks (how ’80s!), but the doohickey surprisingly worked.

Sort of.

Nectar (left) and Posh Chic (right)

Swatches of Nectar (left) and Posh Chic (right)

Wearing Posh Chic on cheeks

The brush deposits a fair amount of both products where they appear to belong, but I think the process works in part because of how sheer the blush and sculpting powder are. I have a feeling that if they were more pigmented, I’d clearly see the edges between them on my cheeks.

I know it defeats the gimmicky purpose, but I’d probably choose to swap the U-shaped brush (or is that a tulip?), which seems fine for touch-ups, for a good ol’ fashioned blush brush offering better control instead. Applied with the U-shaped brush (or is that a horseshoe?), the already sheer blush looks almost too natural for me. When I wear blush, I want to see it on my cheeks, and even after four sweeps with the One Sweep brush, the color’s barely there.

I dig what L’Oreal tries to do here, even though we’ve seen things like this before. I like the price, but I think the products are a tad too sheer for me, especially when used with the included brush. If you happen to heart super sheer blushes, however, you might like One Sweep a lot.

PRICE: About $13 each
AVAILABILITY: Available now at drugstores and online
MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: B

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen