REVIEW: Aritaum Sugarball Cushion/Velvet Blushers + Swatches

I’ve been trying a variety of Korean blushers recently and I find these Aritaum blushers are the ones I frequently reach for and enjoy the most. These come in two types: Sugarball Cushion Blusher (cream) and Sugarball Velvet Blusher (powder). I’ll be reviewing both separately and then doing a quick comparison.

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Aritaum Sugarball Cushion Blusher

These cream blushers come in 4 shades – 1 pink, 1 coral and 2 types of peachy pinks. I own 3 of the 4. I bought these when they were on sale from IBBI for about £6 each.

Their features include:

• Soft creamy texture
• Softly melting high-pigmentation is coated, which gives glowing and vivd colour tone all day long.
• Long-lasting colour – contains aloe vera extract and its powder is coated with coconut oil, which enhances colour persistency
• Mini puff applicator included

What makes this blusher different is its application. It utilises the cushion puff concept but with a cream blusher. (This is not the same as the Iope Cushion Blusher where the product is a liquid soaked in cushion and you use a puff to press the product onto it). So it’s not quite a cushion blusher, although the concept is similar – use the puff to pick up the colour and then pat it onto your cheeks.

6g of product is contained within the small plastic case which snaps shut tightly. Inside is a mirror with the air puff sitting atop a plastic divider that opens out to reveal the cream blusher.

No.1 Posy Pink:

My favourite shade of the 3. Since I have cool-neutral undertones, I always gravitate towards pink shades of blusher because they look the most flattering on me. This is the perfect kind of soft pink I would usually wear on a daily basis for a nice flush of colour on my pale skin.

No.3 Daisy Coral:

I don’t usually wear coral colours but this one looked so pretty in swatches that I had to try it. It’s has a hint of pink so I think its very wearable for all skin tones. This one has the most obvious chunks of glitter compared to the other 2 (which aren’t noticeable), but it’s still very subtle on the cheeks unless you look right up close.

No.4 Juicy Peach:

This one is very similar to Daisy Coral but with a darker reddish-peachy undertone. I can just about pull it off but I have to use a very light hand to apply to make sure I don’t overdo it. This colour looks best when it’s very subtle on the cheeks.

Overall:

I love these cushion blushers mainly for the way you apply and the high-pigmentation. The air puff gives a great even application so you aren’t having to blend out for ages like you would with a typical cream blusher. It’s so easy to take on the go and touch-up too because I don’t like having to carry around brushes with me.

They also give a great pop of colour. I don’t like my blushers to be sheer. When you first use these blushers you kind of have to ‘break into’ them, as the colour doesn’t really transfer onto the puff. Once the blusher has warmed up it becomes a very creamy consistency (I swirled a finger in there for swatches), and the colour payoff transfers really nicely from the puff to your cheeks. It does have a super smooth and glowing sheen once applied and I love how it makes your skin look so vibrant and healthy. It’s gives you that dewy glow rather than setting matte. It sets into your skin really well and doesn’t become streaky or patchy even when I run my fingers across it.

The slight downside is that the vivid colour payoff you get when you first apply doesn’t last all day. This can be a good thing if you’ve initially applied heavy handed because the colour does fade and become softer and more subtle after a couple hours. By the end of the day however, its very sheer and barely there although not completely gone.

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Aritaum Sugarball Velvet Blusher

The powder blushers also come in 4 shades like the cushion blushers (1 pink, 1 coral and 2 coral/pink shades), for the same price available on IBBI.

Their features include:

• Velvet finish for natural look
• Soft pigmentation
• Contains ‘Soft-Tinted Powder’ to give crease-free formula and maintains a lovely colour all day long
• Sebum control powder to prevent smudging caused by excessive sebum
• Applicator brush is included

This contains 8g of product and comes with a mini soft bristled brush since it’s a powder blusher. The packaging is otherwise identical to the cushion blushers – mirror, plastic divider to separate the product and brush, and has a tight clasp that snaps shut so even if you dropped it the powder would still be secure in the case.

No.1 Pink Laser:

Love love love. It initially applies quite sheer so you have to build up the colour but the subtle shimmers in it give it such a beautiful pearly glow it can also double up as a highlighter on the cheeks. It’s a very similar shade to the Cushion blusher No.1 Posy Pink but this pink is slightly darker and more iridescent.

No.4 Peach Crush:

This is almost identical to the Cushion blusher No.4 Juicy Peach but I prefer this shade slightly more since it has a tiny bit more of a pink undertone to it. It is a really wearable shade which works better for me as a powder than cream because it is more buildable. I also love that this has golden specks of glitter which are very fine so you don’t notice it on your cheeks but helps create that pearly finish that I love.

Overall:

I’ve always used powder type blushers way before I ventured into creams and other types so these are much more comfortable and familiar for me to use and they don’t disappoint. They have really good colour pigmentation that is buildable from light and subtle to more intense. I’m in loove with the pearly sheen finish too. The shimmer is very fine so you won’t be a shining disco ball. It just gives your face a nice healthy glow when it catches the light. Its so beautiful seriously.

It also sets to a lovely soft finish which doesn’t smudge or crease but adheres well to the skin and lasts all day.

It’s nice that it comes with a brush but I don’t use it for this because its too soft, thin and not dense enough for picking up colour. (Although if you prefer a really sheer blush look, this brush might come in handy). I use my E.L.F powder brush instead which works really well with it and doesn’t have me constantly dipping my brush back in to get more colour.

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Comparison: Cushion Blusher VS Velvet Blusher 

Here are swatches of all 5 colours side by side under different natural lighting.

Left to right: Velvet Blushers: No.1 Pink Laser, No.4 Peach Crush. Cushion Blushers: No.1 Posy Pink, No.3 Daisy Coral, No.4 Juicy Peach

In terms of the cushion blushers, they initially give a brighter, more vivid colour when you apply, although it fades gradually and quicker than the velvet blusher. It’s also slightly trickier if you want a more sheer colour since it is so highly pigmented and the puff can pick up a lot of product. It’s less buildable and also less forgiving if you accidentally apply too much because it’s harder to blend out and soften the colour with the puff. Also, if you pat or blend too much, it can end up removing/fading the base makeup you’re wearing underneath it.

The velvet blusher isn’t as ‘vivid’ upon application but it’s still highly pigmented and that initial colour lasts for longer without fading away. It holds up slightly better too in terms of being smudge proof and less transferable. It is much more buildable than the cushion blusher, which better suits those who don’t like their blush to look too obvious. It provides a very natural finish and if you over-apply, you can easily blend and fix it up with a brush.

The velvet blushers give a more shimmery, pearly glow compared to the cushion’s dewy glow so even though they both contain fine glitter particles, I’d recommend the cushion ones more for people that prefer matte colours.

Although I don’t own all the shades, it’s pretty obvious that each one has a corresponding colour in the other line. They’re not identical but they are very similar dupes to each other: No.1 Posy Pink and No.1 Pink Laser/ No.4 Juicy Peach and No.4 Peach Crush.

In conclusion, I love both types of blushers for their high colour payoff and I wouldn’t really pick one over the other. I like to switch between them depending on how much time I have to get ready, what look I’m going for on the day, how long I’ll be out for etc.