NARS Foreplay Blush Palette Review!

Say hello to my first NARS product ever, the NARS Foreplay Blush Palette! To say that I'm excited is a complete understatement. I've heard so many good things about NARS products, especially their blushes, so I was anxious to try this product out. I can't usually justify the prices of their individual blushes ($28... it's just so steep! Especially when MAC blushes are only $20, or $17 without packaging, and I haven't even made the jump for that yet). But three blushes and a highlighter for $49 when I have a Sephora gift card from my mom? Yes, please. 

To see my review of this product, click "read more" below!

What I did not realize before buying this palette is that the only named, re-purchasable blush in this palette is Orgasm, the one in the lower, right-hand corner. I didn't realize that the other two blushes and the highlighter are basically just Orgasm deconstructed. Meaning, that the three of those colors together should technically equal Orgasm. They are not normal NARS blush/highlighter colors. Which is fine, but I thought I was getting three of NARS' most popular blushes and highlighter. But they have blushes very similar to the unnamed ones in this palette, though, so if I need them, I can get dupes. But it's definitely something worth mentioning!

Here are the blushes swatched clockwise in the order they appear in the palette, Orgasm being the third swatch. They all are beautifully pigmented, though the first and last blushes are the most pigmented. 

Here is my face free of any blush:

And here is my face with the three different blushes:

 (Please click the image above to see the large comparison of the three blushes!)

And for reference, I would not recommend using these blushes quite this darkly most of the time, but I did so you could really see the color!

First Photo: This is the dark coral shade. It's very pigmented, but not in an obnoxious way as long as you don't use a heavy hand. I love it because it almost seems to double as a bronzer for me. Not because it's bronze-y at all, but because the deepness of it makes it feel like I don't need to use a bronzer. I also love a good matte blush, and I don't have anything this red!

Second Photo: This was the hot pink blush shade. It's also very pigmented, almost obnoxiously so, so a light hand when dipping into this blush is a must! But it's totally worth the hassle. The shade is a gorgeous, bright, cool-toned, matte bubblegum pink that I think would look gorgeous and flattering on most skin tones. I have a blush by E.l.f. that is a pretty close dupe for this (E.l.f. Studio Blush in Pink Passion), and it's one of my go-to blushes. When I'm tan, it just makes me look more tan, and when I'm pale, it gives my face some good color and makes me look so awake and healthy. The nice thing about this blush (vs. the E.l.f. one) is that it is much longer lasting, and a little less "highlighter pink" and a little more "bubblegum pink"

Third Photo: This is the infamous Orgasm blush. I guess I've just been hearing raves about this blush for so long that the hype was built too high for me to truly be amazed. After hearing about it from every beauty YouTuber and blogger around, I expected this blush to be able to do my laundry and perform miracles. Don't get me wrong: it's certainly beautiful. It's a lovely coral-peach color with just the right amount of golden shimmer to give your face a pretty glow. But I do own an E.l.f blush pretty similar to this (E.l.f. Studio Blush in Twinkle Pink) and the blush I got in my Birchbox last month by the Balm (the Balm's Hot Mama blush) seems very similar as well. So while I love this blush, I think there are too many cheaper alternatives to get me to re-purchase the only re-purchasable blush in this palette. It is still a very nice blush though!

Highlighter shade: This last photo had to be on it's own or else the highlighter color wouldn't have been too visible. I like it because it's quite long lasting and I definitely don't own any golden shimmer highlighters like this one. But I typically do like silver-y highlighters much better. Can't complain otherwise though!

My verdict: Definitely worth the money. Three high-quality, gorgeous blushes and a highlighter from NARS for $49 is amazing. I think it'd be especially great for the girl that travels a lot and would like to have a few blush options when she does. Maybe that sounds high maintenance, but I just love having blush options when I travel but hate carrying around all those compacts. So this is perfect for me! I actually am going to Atlanta next month, so I was more inclined to buy this product knowing I'd be to travel with it so soon. The biggest and really only drawback for me is that the three shades other than Orgasm are not re-purchasable, which slightly de-values them a little in my eyes as a NARS blush, but if I can get over silly things like names to enjoy a quality blush, I'm sure other ladies can, too. :)

So there you have it! I'm curious... do any of you use NARS blushes? Or do you typically just wear drugstore blushes? Let me know!