As much as I tried to stay away from the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale (still going on, btw!), one item kept calling my name...

The Chanel Joues Contraste 69 Fleur de Lotus Blush, previously was an Asia exclusive until the Nordstrom Anniversary sale. I'd read about it online but wanted to see it in person because the blush seemed to be a much stronger coral color than I ever thought would look good on me. Then I thought, hey...Asian exclusive...I'm Korean...perhaps it was made for me!! Ha ha :-)

I went. I swatched. I bought!!

I know you can't always tell a good thing from swatching a color on your arm or hand, but there was something about this one that said it needed to be in my collection. And boy I am so happy I succumbed!!

I love the color in the compact, and I love wearing it even more. I've had it a week now and it's been on my cheeks almost every day since.

The texture is probably the most finely milled blush I've ever owned, and you can feel the softness as soon as your brush hits. I used the brush that came with it to do the following swatches, and that brush with its too stiff bristles crumbled the blush very easily - I ended up with product all over the compact after only a few swipes.

For normal application to my cheeks I use my angled blush brush. I can still feel the softness when the bristles hit the Fleur de Lotus, but the much softer brush doesn't send product flying everywhere. Moral of the story: make sure to use a soft brush, otherwise you'll end up with a lot of wasted product!

Application is very silky and smooth. It doesn't take much to get a soft wash of color on my cheeks, and it is extremely buildable. It has a super subtle sheen/shimmer - more of a glow, but no crazy sparkles or glitter. Oh, and there's the very faint Chanel rose scent that I can smell only when first applied.

Chanel Fleur de Lotus Blush is one of the most obsessive-worthy blushes I've purchased in awhile!! If you are still skeptical, it's definitely worth a trip to Nordstrom to check it out for yourself. If nothing else you can check out the rest of the sale :-)

Chanel Fleur de Lotus Blush, $43 @ Nordstrom.

This was taken before I did the swatches so no mess! Ha ha!! You can see the slight marbling here. Sorry, I'm still playing with lighting and such, so sometimes I am not quite getting the shot I would like. But there's a better closeup of the marbling from Cafe Makeup here.