theBalm Instain Blush in Toile

theBalm Instain blush in Toile with matching sleeve

Have you heard of these pretty additions to theBalm's makeup line? The Instain blushes promise "long-wearing, staining" colour in six different shades inspired by various fabric prints or patterns. Nail Polish Canada has added theBalm products (including Instain) to its ever-growing cosmetics section, because clearly carrying tons of amazing and/or hard-to-find-in-Canada nail polish brands wasn't enough! I got a chance to try one of the Instain blushes and chose Toile.

Each Instain blush comes in a coated paper case with a design that reminds me of a fashion or beauty magazine, complete with headlines in both English and French such as "Rosy cheeks all day & all night" and "Fall for this blush". The blush is held closed by a magnet in two corners; if you're the type to carry a blush in your blush, make sure to slide on the matching sleeve so it doesn't accidentally flip open and get blush bits everywhere. The blush pan is bordered with a design that matches the shade name (in this case, a toile print) and includes a mirror.

Although it seems to be part of the Fall set of blushes, Toile is a warm pinky-coral that I could wear any time of the year. It's brighter than its sister Argyle, but still very natural. I had a hard time capturing the colour correctly on my camera, and then trying to edit the photo to get the right colour--and I still don't think I got it quite right.

Ever since I started testing Toile, it's replaced my go-to everyday blush. The warmed-up pink is perfect taking me from walking corpse to healthy and flushed. I'm used to using blushes that need a couple sweeps across the pan to get enough product on the brush; I ended up doing the same for Toile the first time and had way too much on my cheeks! It is a very pigmented blush that only needs one or two sweeps of your brush and a light hand. Despite being so pigmented, it still blends easily. It wears very well on my dry to normal skin, lasting a full day at work plus the hour-long commute home. When you combine all those things with the pretty colour of Toile, you've basically got a foolproof blush in my book.

artifical light: theBalm Instain in Toile / Sally Hansen by Carmindy in Cherub / Hard Candy in Living Doll

I swatched it next to two other blushes that were former staples: the dethroned everyday blush Sally Hansen by Carmindy in Cherub and Hard Candy in Living Doll. It's just a bit brighter than Cherub and maybe a little pinker, but it's way more pigmented. Living Doll is much pinker and noticeably cooler-toned.

natural light: theBalm Instain in Toile / Sally Hansen by Carmindy in Cherub / Hard Candy in Living Doll

Instain blushes also come in Argyle, Lace, Houndstooth, Swiss Dot, and Pinstripe, with shades ranging from hot pink to maroon. Take a peek at Nail Polish Canada and tell me which one you'd try!

Ingredients: mica, lauroyl lysine, magnesium stearate, dimethicone, ethylhexyl methoxycinnamate, caprylic/capric triglyceride, diethylhexyl syringylidenemalonate, ascorbyl palmitate, tocopheryl, acetate, retinyl palmitate, sodium dehydroacetate. May contain titanium dioxide (CI 77891), iron oxides (CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499), Red 7 Lake (CI 73360), Red 6 (CI 15850), Yellow 5 Lake (CI 19140), Manganese Violet (CI 77742), Ultramarines (CI 77007), Orange 5 (CI 45370), Red 27 (CI 45410), Red 28 Lake (CI 45410)

Available at Nail Polish Canada, London Drugs: ~$22 CAD / 0.2oz (5.5g)

This post contains product samples received for consideration.