Face Stockholm is a brand I remember fondly from my teens, when they had a few shops strewn around London; I used to pop into the Covent Garden branch for a bit of colour therapy on my way back from dance classes every week, and can recall saving up for a sparkly red nail polish and eyeliner to match.
Then came the dark ages aka the Viking un-invasion, when Face turned its back to the UK. So I was very excited to become reacquainted with the line when they recently reentered the market with a shop in Manchester and a counter in the London Bond St. Fenwick, and at cultbeauty online.
This time round, my maturingskin er, tastes led me immediately to their Crème Blush range, and today I'll be focusing on New York and Rhinebeck, both shades my constant blushy companions over the last few months. As four other shades are currently winging their way to me thanks to an American buddy, you can safely assume that I love them. LOVE LOVE LOVE. For swatches of almost every shade, head over to Swatcharama!
(Also love? The fact that I can answer when someone asks me what blush I'm wearing without doing the *coughDeepThroatmumble* or *blankstare RD-38!56X2.35jruik#askty798€ trail off...*)
Packaging: Scandi-sleek mirrored silver compacts which close securely with a satisfying click, lightweight but not flimsy.
![Face Stockholm Creme Blush packaging]()
![Face Stockholm Creme Blush ingredients]()
![Face Stockholm Creme Blush Rhinebeck and New York]()
![Face Stockholm Creme Blush Rhinebeck and New York textures]()
![Face Stockholm Creme Blush Rhinebeck and New York swatches]()
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Then came the dark ages aka the Viking un-invasion, when Face turned its back to the UK. So I was very excited to become reacquainted with the line when they recently reentered the market with a shop in Manchester and a counter in the London Bond St. Fenwick, and at cultbeauty online.
This time round, my maturing
(Also love? The fact that I can answer when someone asks me what blush I'm wearing without doing the *coughDeepThroatmumble* or *blankstare RD-38!56X2.35jruik#askty798€ trail off...*)
Packaging: Scandi-sleek mirrored silver compacts which close securely with a satisfying click, lightweight but not flimsy.
Ingredients
Despite the, er, compactness of the compact, you get a reasonable 4g of blushy goodness i.e. the same pan amount as Illamasqua's unwieldily-packaged creams, more than the Canmake Clear creams (I suspect ~1.5g as I can use up these up in a few months) or Becca's discontinued cream blushes at 3g each, less than MAC or Nars' 5.5g creams -- i.e. enough that you won't be repurchasing constantly but but not so excessive a quantity that you have to worry about the product going bad before you can finish it, or restrain yourself from buying a whole wardrobe of shades *cough*
Note also that these are made in the USA, which may explain the more reasonable prices in the US vs the UK (just switch out the $ sign for a £ :P)
My initial shades are Rhinebeck (L), an offbeat soft red, and New York(R), a clear, cool pink:
Ingredients are the same for both but Rhinebeck is a more traditional dewycream (think Illamasqua and Becca creams), while New York is a much softerjelly (à la Canmake Clear blushes): textural differences visible even in the pan:
This cream/jelly difference also translates to the skin, swatched v. heavily/blended out:
Once blended out, the differences are less apparent to my camera, though on my cheeks New York retains more of a 'squishy' jelly glow while Rhinebeck sets to an almost textureless texture, like a stain on well-moisturised, happy skin. On oilier skins (pretty much 99.999% of the population) I think both will read dewier. In any case, all skintypes can layer these for more glow -- and it's very easy to do, with no risk of tugging, patchiness or balling-up, as these Face Stockholm creams are among the most blendable, most buildable -- most effortless -- textures I've ever encountered. I can't think of a blush analogue closer than those skate-across-the-skin-like-water Suqqu Creamy Glow lipsticks I so adore.
Did I mention these FS cream blushes work on lips too? Because they don't rely heavily on silicones for slip (dimethicone plays a minor backup role to other emollients and binders), they have a more controllable creaminess, which means less mess while lip-painting and absolutely no wayward migration during wear. Oh, and unlike the Illamasqua/Becca products, they're completely scent- and taste-free :D
In practice, applied to cheeks with a Sephora #56 brush and to lips with a Hakuhodo Misako portable:
Rhinebeck
New York
For the eyes, I pulled two facets from my very well-loved neutral KATE Deep Trap Eyes GY-1 quint -- discontinued, and which now looks like this, btw:
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| My camera's so much better at seeing fallout than my eyes -- I wonder why it fails at differentiating blush shades :P |
Pairing the cooler shades (2, 4, 5) with Rhinebeck, and the warmer ones (1, 2, 3) with New York. Base: Bobbi Brown Skin Foundation 00 Alabaster, Burberry Sheer Concealer 01 Brows: Shu Uemura H9 Seal Brown Lashes: Fasio Full Dynamic Volume BK001.
I thought I'd keep the looks simple/neutral for the purposes of review but you're going to be seeing a lot more of these blushes, paired with all kinds of things, such is their wearability and plain old prettiness. Of course that means not exactly without dupes in my stash, but the selling point of these Face Stockholm blushes is their divine texture/gorgeous finish, so here are some comparisons with the products they'll be ousting from my collection.
Rhinebeck is sister to Becca Watermelon beach tint.
Very similar colours worn as blush, though I think you can tell the matte Becca isn't as texturally prettifying on my dry skin as the FS cream, and tonally Rhinebeck is sliiightly cooler.
But it's on lips that the dewy superiority of the FS formula becomes much clearer -- Watermelon's matte finish makes it look almost chalky next to Rhinebeck, and even without a mirror it was impossible to forget which side was which -- Rhinebeck felt like a cushiony nothing on my lips, but I could sense Watermelon (which I would previously have also called 'lightweight' without something obvious to compare it to) pulling and puckering my skin.
The beach tints are a much-loved summer/warm weather staple for me, so to find a substitute for my favourite shade (I've used up two previous tubes of Watermelon) in a formula I can wear comfortably year-round? Face Stockholm, ILY *_*
New York is not just a sister but a flat-out twin to Addiction Damask Rose cheek stick, once blended out on the cheeks:
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| appalling lighting -- will substitute a better pic as soon as I get some sun |
Damask Rose is sheerer and has more of a (shimmer-free) sheen than my other Addiction cheek sticks in Amazing and Revenge but its base makes its tone pull lighter -- almost pastel-dusty -- in comparison to New York's jellied hot pink, worn on the lip:
There's less of an obvious visual textural winner here, though I personally prefer the juiciness of the FS side, but in terms of ease and pleasure of application, New York wins, hands down.
Yep, you heard me. I love these Face Stockholm Crème blushes even more than I love not only Becca Beach Tints but Addition Cheek Sticks too. (And since I own five of the former and three of the latter, trust that I love both of those ALOT.) Expect further reviews as my Face Stockholm delivery arrives, and further oustings too: these babies are going to form the core of my almost-completed cream blush wardrobe. Are you excite? I AM EXCITE.