I tried these Rare Beauty blush dupes in all the viral shades—here's how they hold up to the OG

If you're an avid TikTok scroller or Selena Gomez fan, you'll have no doubt seen her Rare Beauty makeup products all over your For You page—particularly her Soft Pinch Blush, which is now top of the list of viral TikTok products. But with holy grail makeup status also comes selling-out, which the Rare blushes seem to do on the daily. So, to save you months of waiting for your go-to shade to be restocked, I've tried the internet's favorite Rare Beauty blush dupes—the Revolution Blush Bombs—and I have some thoughts...

No 'clean girl's makeup bag is complete without at least one of Selena's Soft Pinch blushes. They are renowned for being seriously pigmented (which many beauty lovers found out the hard way) and giving the ultimate, naturally flushed look. In fact, it's fair to say that Rare's liquid blush played a major role in the popularity of the sun-kissed blush trend itself.

Alas though, like with the best eyeshadow palettes and best eyeliners, often when great products hit the market, they become like liquid gold and are very hard to get your hands on. Case and point—pretty much every shade of the Rare blushes.

But while TikTok is solely responsible for selling out all the best products, the app does often repay us with some bargain dupers—like the e.l.f halo glow filter for example—and now the Revolution Blush Bombs dubbed the ultimate Rare blush swaps.

So, as a blush lover myself, who has been trying to get my hands on the Soft Pinch Blush for months (it's a touchy subject)—I've tested out the Revolution Blush Bombs in four shades, to see if they're really worth the hype!

My verdict on the Revolution's Blush Bombs

As a lover of natural-looking makeup—like Hailey Bieber's 'glazed' foundation look, the only cheek product I really use, after my foundation, concealer and powder, is blush. It is by far my favorite makeup product and step in my makeup routine. 

This does mean though, that when it comes to blush, I don't mess around and am very particular about how I like my blush to look and feel. So, be assured, I've put these Blush Bombs through their paces...

My skin tone and texture

When it comes to sussing out new makeup products, especially when it comes to cream or liquid ones—knowing what they look like on different skin textures/tones can be helpful!

I have very pale and cool-toned skin—I am number one in pretty much every foundation shade. I am also lucky to have quite clear skin around my cheek area, I do not have much texture—except for some visible pores and some redness.

I do however have combination skin that can get quite oily in the T-zone area, while also being dry around my nose and also on my cheeks—which can be accentuated under some cream products.

How I applied the Revolution Blush bombs

I tend to go for the classic cheek and nose blush look, so I blend my blush from the center of my cheeks up and out to my temples—and then apply it over the bridge of my nose. You can also do the tip if you like that crying-girl or cold-girl makeup aesthetic.

For these liquid blushes, I used my normal placement—putting a dot on my cheeks and nose bridge—and then blended them out with a beauty blender, for a diffused and dewy look. You can also use a fluffy brush or your fingers—though I found this made them look patchy.

Which Revolution Blush Bombs are dupes for Rare Beauty?

While the Soft Pinch liquid blush is available 11 shades, Revolution offers just five, though they appear to be very similar to the bestselling Rare Blush colors; Happy, Joy, Grace, Love and Grateful.

I have tested out shades Dolly Rose, which is supposedly a dupe for 'Happy'—which is a cold-toned pink, Glam Orange, an orangey hue similar to 'Love.' As well as Rose Lust (a mauve tone, close to Grace)  and Peach Filter—a peachy, light orange shade—an alternative to 'Grateful.'

So, now they've we've discussed my skin type, the shade range and how to apply the blush, let's dive into my overall thoughts on the Revolution Blush Bombs...

Revolution Blush Bomb Cream Blusher

RRP: £6 (UK only)

These vegan cream blushers work to give you an instant flush, with an easy doe-foot application. The five shades: Peach Filter, Dolly Rose, Savage Coral, Glam Orange and Rose Lust are formulated with vitamin E to give you a natural, super dewy sunkissed look.

• View at Boots in the UK (UK only)

Are the Revolution Blush Bombs a good swap for Rare Beauty?

The Rare Beauty blushes are known to pack quite a punch, and pigment wise and the same can certainly be said for the Revolution Blush Bombs—however, they're not quite up there with Rare's. Personally, I don't think the shades are as vibrant and they look sheerer on the skin.

That being said, they are buildable and slightly more forgiving if you apply too much—but even still, too much of these Blush Bombs can leave you looking like you are either boiling hot, or very embarrassed.

I started off by testing the shade Dolly Rose as I've been trying to snag Rare's 'Happy' shade for some time and this one appeared to be a good alternative. I applied it with the doe-foot (which sometimes means you apply too much) and blended it with my beauty blender, starting with a dot on each cheek and one on my nose bridge.

This shade I think most suited my skin tone and I really liked the natural flush it gave my cheeks. Its formula reminded me a bit of the Glossier Cloud Paints but the packaging is definitely not as cute (sorry Revolution.)  They are formulated with vitamin E though, which gives them a dewy and hydrating finish.

While it started off strong for this shade, sadly the color did not last and  I found just a few hours after application it was barely visible.

I then tried one of the darker, more mauve shade, hoping this would have more staying power and since the purple blush trend is so popular, I was curious to see how it would look on my skin tone.

While it initially looked a bit scary on my skin, I was pleasantly surprised to see how easily this one blended out. It left me with a very pretty, purply flush—which was more buildable than I expected.

The two orangey tones were another story though, these I found very pigmented and way too bright for my skin. After just one dot, the pay off looked very extreme and did not blend out as well as the others. They also seemed to cling to all my dry patches and hairline.

Overall, I would say that for just £6, these are definitely worth trying out, especially if you want to experiment with which shade of blush works for you, before investing in a more pricey brand. 

The main issue for me was blending them, after just one blob, they would saturate my whole cheek. Though, if you're someone with experience with liquid blushes, you'll also likely get on better with these than I did. 

After some practice, I did find that I could make these blushes look more natural and they really do have a pretty dewy finish—though they don't seem to have the same staying power as the Rare Beauty blushes.