Since its conception in 1999, the Nars blush has been smashed and smeared across magazine pages, endured the chaos backstage at Fashion Week, and traveled across the globe in the handbags of beauty lovers. It has earned its share of accolades, including seven Allure Best of Beauty Awards (no easy feat) and Hall of Fame status.
After 25 years, Nars decided it was time for a change. The brand has relaunched its blush collection with a new formula, feel, and compact. Allure editors dove deep into how it compares to the blush we know and love.
In this story:
Overview: Nars blush
The reformulation of the blush started in 2018, says Nars vice president of global product development, Lucrecia Jovel. “We originally went into this process to obtain clinical testing data,” she says, explaining that the Nars team was looking to back up claims of “how long-lasting the blush was.” From there, the brand decided to make some changes. You’ll still find 12 of the collection’s best sellers (like Taj Mahal, Dolce Vita, and Orgasm), but Nars has introduced eight new shades that the team “felt were missing pieces from the original blush collection,” says Jovel.
You’ll also see brand-new iterations of Orgasm: Orgasm Edge (a matte peach-pink shade) and Orgasm Rush (a deep warm red with gold shimmer). “The Orgasm shade wasn’t always the best fit for every skin tone and we wanted to reassess this,” says Jovel. “With that, we had our eyes set on creating an Orgasm collection that allows for all to wear the beloved hue, but in a way that’s suitable to their personal skin tone. Not every shade is for everyone, but we wanted to make sure that Orgasm could be.”
The powders are now encased in sturdier, rectangular compacts that allow you to replace the tin once you’ve emptied it. (You might need a safety pin to pop it out of the magnetic base.) Jovel continues, “It was imperative that with any changes, we took into consideration added value and did the formula justice.” Which brings us to…
About the ingredients
The Nars blush contains new pigments meant to enhance its “blendability, seamlessness, and blurring effects on skin,” says Jovel. Cosmetic chemist Kelly Dobos attributes the blendability to octyldodecyl stearoyl stearate, an emollient that helps pigments spread easily on the skin. She adds that its “ultrafine pigments can have some blurring properties and bismuth oxychloride has a very soft, pearlescent effect.”
