Let's continue our foray into naming conventions for blush, blusher, or rouge.
I delved into 3 brands blush products today and did a few hours of research on how many types, the names, descriptions they provide, and if the information was provided on their packaging.
The first company I looked into was Urban Decay. Their Naked products are so popular I assumed they would have a few "Naked" blushes. They didn't. They had one contour combo with a description but not on the packaging, online only. That's really all there is to say...next.
The second company I delved into was NYX. This was the most interesting research of the day. NYX not only had the cutesy names they had in-depth descriptions of each color, on each of their 7 types of blushers and 1 palette; these included tone, undertone, and shimmer or sheen, if any. The only problem is they do not include this on their packaging and some of the names were extremely misleading. Their HD Studio Photogenic blush has a "Georgia Peach" that is a light soft pink, not a peach. I thought maybe peach is technically a "light soft pink," it definitely isn't a primary color but they don't use "light soft pink" as the description for their truly peach blushes.
NYX Truly Peach Blushes: PB= Powder Blush, HDGB= HD Grinder Blush, BBL= Baked Blush, and SB= Stick Blush.
- AMERICAN GIRL (HDGB05)- Soft peach
- SUGAR MAMA (BBL12)- Soft peach
- WANDERLUST (BBL06)- Iridescent peach
- PEACHY (MPB04)- Golden peach
- Orchid- Peachy-pink with gold sheen
- Tickled- Shimmery peach pink
- APRICOT (PB32)- Pink peach with gold shimmer
NYX Misleading Named Blushers (a few, not all):
- PEACH (PB06)- Matte baby pink
- TERRA COTTA (PB12)- Shimmery rosegold
- MOCHA (PB01)- Matte mid-tone pink
- GEORGIA PEACH (HDGB01)- Soft light pink
- APRICOT (HDGB02)- Plum-pink
- HIBISCUS (SB03)- deep beige pink
PB32
"APRICOT"
HDGB02
"Apricot" is used both correctly and incorrectly. When I think of Apricots I think of peachy-pink like the first image. Since the second one is called "Apricot" and it comes in a different format I would assume that when I applied it it would appear as Apricot, on my skin, that the powder consistency just makes it look pinker. So I would buy it and be disappointed, highly disappointed and left feeling mislead. NYX's powder blush in this color is a correct representation, on the other hand, their HDG blush in plum-pink, is not. The description provided on the full website, only, makes that clear. If you have an iPhone/Smartphone you have to go to NYXCosmetics.com, in the store as your browsing, and click on Full Site, to get color descriptions. The mobile site does not provide any description of color and if you don't know that you need to look you'll most likely end up with a different color than you thought most times (I'll list NYX's colors and descriptions, by type, in a separate post for your convenience.)
Last but not least I took a look at Maybelline's line of blushes. They list 5 types, one is a very soft peach almost beige skin-toned highlighter, in stick, cream, powder, and mosaic form. All of their blushes, no matter what form, come in the same 5 color schemes; nude, rose, pink, mauve, and coral. The only exception to this is their Dream Bouncy blush this comes in a combo gel/powder texture in 10 colors all named with a color or indication of color. The packaging, again, does not list the description but they don't really need to; the name and look say it all. Maybelline is true to their conventions. The only thing about this that I found disheartening was that I have never, not ever, seen their full line of blushes in stores, any store. Their Fit Me blush comes in the 5 based colors mentioned but in light, medium, and deep; making 15 Fit Me blushes, altogether. Have you ever seen all 15 in any store? I haven't. Their Dream Bouncy brand is the only blush I've seen their full line, in stores. Disappointing considering that after all my research I would buy Maybelline over NYX if I didn't have my iPhone on me and I wanted to trust the name and color listed or just not have to go through the trouble of going to the full website to get the information I need as a consumer.
Our winner for the day, by a landslide, is Maybelline and their 4 blush types in 5 base colors!!!!!! MAYBELLINE PUT THE FULL LINE IN STORES, PLEASE!
Mini Post-
Let me explain what mini-posts are, according to me, they are the ideas I think of for my next study. My way of keeping you in the loop on what will be a long process for me and a plethora of great information, in some time, for you.
OK. Now that, that's cleared up let's get into it. Naming conventions. One of the most annoying and cute things about cosmetics. You may all know this and you may not. Our skin has undertones; yellow, pink, green, blue, purple. Bobbi Brown believes that most women have a bit of a yellow undertone which according to other companies would make you "warm." Now, most of the cosmetics whether they are drugstore or more high-end have a base or high color and an undertone or many undertones. If you didn't know this you'll definitely know the next bit... all brands pick cutesy names for their products; Milani Coralista, MAC Peachykeen, Maybelline Buff'n'Tuff. These are just a few and most of these give you an idea of the base color that is being provided. That is not always the case such as NYX Pinched, Milani Luminoso, NYX Full-on Femme, and Tarte Blissful to name a few. They don't give you any idea of what color they're going for or what undertones they present. Most drugstore brands tend to have the cutesy names for their products, no description of the color tone or undertone on the packaging, and no description online. Higher end cosmetic brands 1) allow you to test in stores, 2) give you a description of the base color and 3) allow you to return the product or take a liquid sample for free.
My question is... Do the brands that pick the cutesy names, don't give you any indication of color, and don't give you any indication of undertone do that for a reason? Do drugstore brands do that to get you to buy it, try it, and not be able to return it. Sale completed. Do high end brands not describe the undertone hoping that once you get it home you'll like it or be too lazy to drive out to the Nords to return it?
Should we not be given at least the most basic information on the products we're buying? One of the companies I admire the most, and it is my only example at the moment because this is not a fully formed study- its a mini post- is Makeup Geek. They list the color of the eye shadow and its undertones. It's an online only company so there is no way for me to test it before purchase or even look at it in physical form but knowing the color and undertone give me the confidence to buy. We all know that even if I could look at it in physical form it would not help much. Many cosmetics look like one color under the fluorescent store lights and a totally different one in natural and home lighting, definitely on your skin. Sometimes we just go in looking for a new blush and sometimes we go in looking for a blush in a particular base color. Like me, I went out looking for a coral blush today. I could have gotten Milani Coralista but I didn't like the silver flecks. Revlon had a coral-named press blush but I didn't like the color. The rest of the companies had cutesy names and no description. I had no idea if they would present as coral on my skin or if they were technically peaches, apricots, oranges, pinks with yellow undertones and the lot.
So moving forward I am going to;
1. Contact the Mega Drugstore Moguls about naming conventions and full discretion.
2. Contact Makeup Geek and check other online only cosmetic sites for their descriptive qualities.
3. Find out if the companies that give you the info upfront tend to have a better product. Do they know their product is good enough that they don't have to trick their customers into buying with ambiguity and cutesy names?
4. Do as much research on this "ploy" I think has been cooked for a long time amongst the drugstore brands and some high end brands under the drugstore umbrella.
Please leave your comments on whether or not it drives you crazy when your looking for a particular color, you think you've found it, but there is no indication of whether or not your correct and nowhere to go to find out?
I think mini post is a bad name for my hypothesis entries. Ill have to think of something else.
