Wonderskin has dropped its new pH-adjusting blusher that promises a unique, natural-looking flush that matches your skin tone perfectly, and I put it to the test
When it comes to makeup, a great blusher is usually one top of our lists of essentials. It’s perfect for creating a warm, rosy glow, gives you a flushed been-in-the-fresh-air look, and can help soften up your features.
However I know from personal experience that picking the right blusher shade can be tricky; what looks like a gorgeous colour can be too harsh or cool toned on my skin, or the pigment may be too much for my complexion. However there is one product that promises to avoid all those woes – a pH blusher . It promises to blend and adapt to your natural skin tone, giving you a completely unique shade that’s just right with no shade matching required.
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One pH blusher that’s recently launched is Wonderskin’s pHLush Stick, £20, which uses advanced pH-adjusting pigment technology to leave a sheer flush of colour on your skin with one swipe. The formula works by reacting to your skin’s natural chemistry, with the pigments adjusting to complement your skin’s natural colouring and undertones, giving you a flattering rosy glow.
A perfectly flattering shade with zero swatching or shade matching required?! It seemed too good to be true, so I put it to the test to see if it really did match up to expectations.
The formula
Wonderskin’s pHLush Stick comes in a stick formula, with a firm, jelly-like consistency, and is enriched with jojoba, sunflower seed and castor oils to make sure it’s ultra-hydrating and smooth to apply. It also contains niacinamide, shea butter, allantoin and aloe leaf juice which helps support your skin’s barrier health whilst nourishing and soothing.
I swiped it on the back of my hand first to get a feel for the formula and was pleasantly surprised by how hydrating it was. There was no pulling or patchiness, just a quick slick of colour that applied smoothly.
I will say it’s tricky to deduce how much of this you need to apply, especially as you can’t get a full picture of the colour payoff until it’s settled into your skin which makes it easy to apply too much at once. This is best applied by layering – add a little, let the colour appear, then blend it out. Rinse and repeat until you’ve got your desired look.
It also wasn’t the easiest to blend with a brush, so I used my fingers instead which was much easier as the heat helped it to move and soak in. A couple of swipes does get you a surprising amount of product, so a little trial and error is key to getting a feel for what works for you.
It has a sheer finish, which is ideal for giving a more natural-looking flush. If you want something bolder, you can easily layer it up or even pair it with another blush product for a more dense shade – just make sure you apply this first, otherwise your other blusher may throw off the colour matching.
The colour payoff
The initial look of the stick is a little alarming – it looks super dark and like it’ll be very overwhelming colourwise. However it was almost completely clear when I applied it, and after a few seconds the pigment started to settle, turning into a soft rosy pink.
I tested it out on both bare skin and over the top of my foundation to really get a sense of how it adapts to my complexion. On bare skin, it was a very subtle pink that was barely visible, and pulled out some of my skin’s natural redness, which looked super natural but didn’t have a huge impact.
However when applied over my foundation the pigment was much more noticeable, and I really did feel like it was the perfect shade of pink for my skin. It actually matched my natural lip colour almost exactly, and warmed up my face and skin tone without looking too obvious. You can also apply the Wonderskin pHLush Stick to your lips and lids too, if you want a cohesive look.
If you’d like a little more control over what colour you’re getting, Sephora’s Color Twister Color Changing Cheek & Lip Tint is a great alternative. Priced at £13.99 it’s budget friendly, and you can choose from three shades; yellow which becomes juicy coral, fuchsia which turns into fresh pink, and midnight blue which becomes soft berry.
Alternatively Fenty’s Match Stix Colour Adaptive Cheek + Lip Stick, which is usually £25 but currently on sale for £20, is similar to the Wonderskin version, with an adaptive formula which matches your skin tone. It also has a hydrating jelly formula that makes application easy.
However the Wonderskin pHLush Stick did check all the boxes for me in terms of affordability, formula and colour payoff, and it’s easy to apply on the go, making it perfect for travel. It’s unusual colour-matching pigments do make it a tricky product to get the hang of, but it’s worth persevering as the results are well worth it.