Guerlain Rose aux Joues Blush Duos - New and Intriguing

There are six new Blush Duos (Rose aux Joues, $50) on the bottom row of Guerlain's new Autumn 2012 Color Collection shown below - six warm duos that appear to fall into the peach-coral family and three pink-rose duos. They are intended to be permanent additions to the line. When I first saw them, I wanted all six. Instead, I had a moment of sanity and purchased "only" the three pink-rose tones. I'm still trying to decide whether I "need" one of the peach-coral duos.

The three I purchased are shown on the right side of the display photo above.

• 02 Chic Pink
• 03 Over Rose
• 04 Pink Punk

Now that I've had a few days to play with them, I don't know how I would have chosen only one. All three are gorgeous, ranging from the delicate hues of Chic Pink to the more intense hues in Pink Punk.

Here's a photo of all three, with Chic Pink shown at left, Over Rose in the middle, and Pink Punk (isn't that a strange name?) at the right. I was intrigued by the duo shades, knowing that they were intended to have different uses, but wondering how after I swatched them in the store.

The top shade in each duo is intended to be the blush color, and the bottom shade is intended to be a highlighter or contour shade. Of the three I purchased, only 04 offers a color I could and would use to contour my cheekbones. The other shades are like matte highlighters, which seems like an oxymoron.

My swatch photos were taken in a few moments of late afternoon sunshine that had popped through the never-ending clouds. By the time I got to Pink Punk, I had lost that direct sun. For all three swatch photos, I swatched the blush shade at the top of my arm, the highlighter/contour in the middle - both using a sponge-tipped applicator - and a blend of both shades applied heavily with a brush below.

Chic Pink (02) is shown above. It's the warmest of the three pink duos. The blush has a slight shimmer and is a gorgeous warm pink. The highlighter/contour shade is matte and very light, perfect for alabaster complexions. The blended shade is a pretty warm pink, but I prefer the blush shade all by itself.

As you can see, Over Rose (03) is a little more colorful. Again, the blush shade at the top of my arm is stunning. The slight shimmer gives it life and makes it drop-dead gorgeous on the skin. The highlighter/contour shade in the middle of my arm, like the others, is matte. It's a pretty light blush used on its own. The blended shade, shown at the bottom of my arm is a rose pink. This duo is great for fair-skinned gals or those with medium tones who love pinks.

Unfortunately, I had lost my full sun by the time I ran outside with Pink Punk (04) on my arm. Nevertheless, you can see that the shades are more intense. The blush shade is a rose pink. The more mauve/brown-toned pink is definitely a contour shade, not a highlighter. The blended shade is a gorgeous rose pink with just a slight touch of brown, brought to the party by the contour shade. While my swatches were applied heavily for this photo, I can use these shades when I apply them with a light hand. I'm sorry I couldn't get a great photo of Pink Punk because it's an extremely nice duo.

You absolutely have to get to a Guerlain counter to see these new Rose aux Joues Blush Duos. Don't concentrate on what you should do with the "bottom-deck" shade that may be a strange highlighter or contour shade. It gives you options to blend or apply over or under the cheekbones. As the duos get darker in the color range, you get two blush shades in one compact - or a blush shade and a multipurpose shade. The option is yours. Go play!

I purchased mine at Neiman Marcus. The Rose aux Joues Blush Duos are featured on the fall display, which is currently arriving in stores. In my area, only Neiman Marcus had the colors this past weekend. I'm sure that will change soon. I checked Bloomies, often one of the earliest to feature new Guerlain colors, and they had not arrived.

Photo at top courtesy of Guerlain; other photos by Best Things in Beauty