One of my favorite makeup companies is Urban Decay because I love their colors and that they have an extensive line of Vegan products. I’m not vegan but I have vegan friends and I like to think that they can have fun applying brightly colored makeup without sacrificing their principals.
Today I’d like to tell you about their Afterglow Blush in the color Fetish.

Here’s how I use it:
– After applying my foundation, I apply the slightest bit – just enough to give me a fresh faced glow – to my cheekbones using the Being True Powder Blush Brush.

– I like to use this particular brush to apply this particular blush because it allows you to put the blush on in thin coats. If you want a more intense color application, just apply a thin coat multiple times. I wouldn’t recommend trying to put it on all in one pass because you could easily end up with too much on because the pigment is quite strong. The fact that it’s easy to put it on lightly without too much effort is why I like this brush so much.

The upsides:
The Color
– I am fair with an olive/neutral undertone and this color looks really natural on me. It’s not too pink, even if it looks so in the compact (the above pic is not the color Fetish).

The Application
– As I mentioned above, it layers well – the pigment is rich but not overly so.

The not-so-upsides:
The Ingredients
– The first ingredient is talc. Talc is comedogenic and just generally not good for your skin. If you want to use this blush, you are REQUIRED (by me) to put your foundation on first, at least on the areas you’re going to put the blush. Otherwise, you may end up getting little milia or breakouts wherever you put it.
– There are FIVE parabens in the blush. This may seem like a lot of parabens, but according to this post by the FDA:

Typically, more than one paraben is used in a product, and they are often used in combination with other types of preservatives to provide preservation against a broad range of microorganisms. The use of mixtures of parabens allows the use of lower levels while increasing preservative activity.

So, if we want to trust the FDA, and in this article it seems they are being pretty transparent, then there is even less of a chance of toxicity from this product than something with less parabens. However, that’s not what I learned from someone who works for a large product development company in Texas. I think it depends on where you get your information ie. the natural publications cry out about breast cancer tissue having parabens and the product chemists say that it’s such a minor amount that it can’t have an effect.
In the case of this blush, I offer the following thought. Typically, when one wears blush, it’s over foundation which acts as a barrier between your skin and those parabens. Some people wear a thick layer of blush, while many others apply only enough to give a “blush” of color to the cheeks. In the case of the latter, such a small amount of product is used and that small amount has less than 1% of parabens in it that it seems that it shouldn’t cause a problem.
Now, if you’re using face cleanser, face moisturizer, body lotion, sunscreen, eye cream, body wash & toothpaste that has parabens in it, perhaps you’re getting to a saturation point. To me, anything that actually gets entered into the blood stream ie. supplements and toothpaste, has more of a chance of getting someplace we don’t want it to get.

PHEW! That’s a lot about parabens!

Next time you’re looking at makeup and you’re thinking about getting blush from Urban Decay, do it. The colors are simple enough not to be confusing and they look really natural without lots of sparkles or shimmer – just great blushed looking cheeks.