Sephora Collection Double Contouring Blush Review - Apricot Sheen and Golden Spice

My skin has been getting noticeably drier this winter (go figure...it's the mildest one I've ever seen), so I've decided to hop over to cream blushes for awhile since my powder blushes have been leaving me looking a bit cakey and, well... powdery. Sephora Collection has some new cream blushes up on the site, for only $14 each, so I didn't even hesitate to add to cart when I saw 01 Apricot Sheen (tawny nude with gold shimmer) and 04 Golden Spice (antique rose with golden shimmer). Both of those color descriptions are truly right up my alley. These blushes are cream-to-powder, and claim to be REVOLUTIONARY! Really. From the Sephora site: "this revolutionary blush sculpts in two ways: its Portulaca Complex smooths, while the cream-to-powder finish contours cheekbones for a young, beautiful look." Micronized pigments promise to be budge-proof for eight hours. That's a lot of hype to live up to!

When these babies were dropped off on my doorstep, the first thing that took me by surprise was how off Sephora's color descriptions were. WTH! Apricot Sheen is a coral-peach with shimmer - NOT a tawny nude. Of course, the word "nude" in terms of color is always misleading... one woman's nude is another's band-aid... or bronze... or cocoa... or ghost white. But still... just who among us has orange skin?? (BESIDES Snooki from Jersey Shore ;) Golden Spice is a cool plummy pink; not anything like an antique rose at all. And I don't see any "spice" in it. The shimmer in these are noticeable; moreso in Golden Spice, where it's actually a fine glitter (think NARS powder blushes such as Orgasm), especially when blended. The pigmentation is good if you are fairer, but sadly these barely showed up on my medium/ tan skin. I had to apply a couple of layers to get a pretty, flushed "J.Crew model cheek". The finish is very natural looking, and these lasted quite a long time on my skin for a cream blush.

L-R: Apricot Sheen (this is nude??) and Golden Spice

I don't understand how these are marketed as "contouring" blushes, since these two shades have prominent shimmer and all of the available colors are definately NOT what you'd ever use to contour.  Meh... I'll stick with my MAC Shadester and Lightsweep Pro Pans for that. And the packaging is just ok. The rubberized bottom of the compact has grooves for your fingers on either side. Sephora claims it pops open with just a squeeze of one hand. Well, yeah, it does, but only if you squeeze really hard in my case. Then the lid either flips open completely or does this half-assed slight pop, but you still have to use your other hand to flip it open entirely. Honestly, trying to use the packaging as a selling point was a fail. The last time I checked, opening a blush compact was not that difficult xD