Makeup by Mario Soft Coral Soft Pop Blush StickMakeup by Mario Soft Coral Soft Pop Blush Stick ($28.00 for 0.37 oz.) is a medium coral with moderate, warm undertones and fine, golden pearl throughout a dewy finish. While it appeared quite pigmented in an initial swipe, it was prone to sheering out, so it ended up being more in line with how it was marketed: sheer to semi-sheer and buildable.
The texture was lightweight, creamy, and more emollient–more balm-like in that respect–with good glide across bare skin and on top of base products, like foundation, as the formula wasn’t prone to lifting layers underneath. It applied evenly and blended out with almost no effort at all! It stayed on nicely for eight hours before showing signs of wear.
FURTHER READING:
Formula Overview
for details on general performance and characteristics (like the scent).
- Tom Ford Beauty Winter 2018 (Blush) (LE, $60.00) is less shimmery, darker, and cooler (90% similar).
- Make Up For Ever B316 (P, $23.00) is less shimmery, darker, and cooler (90% similar).
- ColourPop Picnic Time (LE, $8.00) is less shimmery and more excellent (90% similar).
- Chanel Tweed Coralline (LE, $45.00) is less shimmery, darker, and cooler (90% similar).
- Tom Ford Beauty Flush (Discontinued) (DC, $60.00) is less shimmery, darker, and cooler (90% similar).
- Fenty Beauty Strawberry Drip (P, $20.00) is darker and cooler (90% similar).
- Rare Beauty Nearly Mauve (P, $21.00) is darker, more relaxed, and less glossy (90% identical).
- MAC Sweet Sweet Fantasy (LE, $24.00) is less shimmery, darker, and cooler (90% similar).
- Salt New York Peach (P, $16.00) is less shimmery, muted, and more relaxed (90% similar).
- Natasha Denona Darya (P, $22.00) is less shimmery and more flexible (90% identical).
Formula Overview
$28.00/0.37 oz. – $75.68 Per Ounce
The formula is supposed to have “sheer, buildable coverage” with a “healthy and radiant” finish. If a genuinely dewy finish is something you love, the formula might be right up your alley; if dewy is your arch-nemesis, move along like this very much lived up to its “radiant” claim. There wasn’t a natural dry down, so it wasn’t all that transfer-resistant, though it didn’t slide off my face too readily either–most shades lasted between seven and eight hours on me.
All the shades were straightforward to apply as they went well over bare skin and foundation, as the formula did not lift base products. The coverage seemed quite pigmented when I swiped on or rubbed my finger against the development and did a single, unblended swatch. Still, in practice, it was more semi-sheer, buildable as the consistency was moderately emollient, like a gel-like cream, and spreadable, which made sheer out naturally.
There is a brush on the bottom of the side (so the tube is effectively double-ended), with small raised bumps that are designed to “centralize product pickup” for a “more even, fluid application.” It works for the purpose intended, though it may feel a little large depending on the size of one’s cheeks. I also found it challenging to put the brush back in the tube without some bristles splaying/catching as I did so.
The brush head is removable, which makes more sense for cleaning, but it is hard to hold in hand, so it wasn’t comfortable picking up the product (more so to blend out the product, leaving it attached to the bottom tom the tube).
