When I first saw images of the new NARS Foreplay Blush Palette, a Sephora exclusive, I wasn’t that interested – it contains Orgasm blush, which I’ve never been interested in since I generally prefer matte blushes, and I though the matte pink would be too cool-toned to work well on me. However, while in a Sephora store the other day, I swatched it, and was instantly smitten.

I’d never actually swatched Orgasm blush before, and I liked it more than I though I would – though I was still quite hesitant about the shimmer. However, I loved the other three shades; the matte pink seemed like it would work quite well, the matte coral peach/coral is exactly the type of shade I am drawn to, and the gold highlight shade is quite lovely.  So, I bought it, thinking that I could always return if it didn’t work at all for me.

The Foreplay blush palette is packaged in a standard black rubberized NARS compact.  Like just about everyone else, I love how sleek the NARS packaging is, but hate how dirty it gets.  The Foreplay palette is substantially larger than a normal NARS blush compact, and contains a total of .36 oz of product, while a single NARS blush contains .16 oz; so it’s more than twice as much product for less than twice the cost (single, $28, Foreplay, $49).  Of course, each color in the Foreplay palette is smaller than a single NARS blush – but I always prefer to get several smaller-sized colors than one larger color since I don’t finish color products.

Here are the Foreplay palette and a single NARS blush (Amour) side by side, for size comparison purposes:

Size comparison: NARS Foreplay blush palette, NARS single blush compact (Amour)

The textures of all four of the Foreplay blushes were excellent – soft and smooth.  The two shimmers are lightly pigmented, and the two mattes are very pigmented. The mattes in particular had a really excellent, even texture that is very impressive. Despite the pigmentation level of the mattes, the texture makes them easy to blend out and get a very natural look.  In the swatches below, the natural light photo is a touch overexposed and the flash photo is oversaturated; the actual colors are somewere in the middle.

NARS Foreplay swatches – natural light

NARS Foreplay swatches – flash

And finally, here I am wearing the peach / coral shade on my cheeks, and the gold shade on my cheekbones. I’ve applied the gold shade very heavily, as I find that highlighter usually doesn’t show up well in pictures. I would normally apply less to wear out of the house.

NARS Foreplay – applied

Overall, I’m really pleased with this purchase. I’m sure that the peach / coral shade will become a go-to; I’m actually wearing it right now – and I am pleased to have the variety in my stash from the other shades as well!