Etude Smile Cheek pearls

The rarest things in the world, next to a spirit of discernment, are diamonds and
pearls.

~Jean de la Bruyere, translated from French

He he, today I felt the urge to start my blog post with some pearls...ehm...words of wisdom. Don't worry, I will do a normal review about the latest Etude House Smile Cheek pearls I arrived in my latest gmarket-haul.

One of my recent hauls was one of the covet-worthy items of the new Etude House collection: the Etude Smile Cheek pearls from their "I can't Stop Smiling" winter collection. Indeed, the item is very smile-worthy.

It starts with the cute white box that is adorned with a pink heart, multi-colored cartoon faces and the in-love-worthy text that says: "I can't stop smiling".

It is a cardbox type very similar to Benefit's larger blushers, such as Dandelion, Georgia, Thrrrob and Dallas.

I love the "I can't stop smiling"-words: it reminds me of the first feeling of being in love, when you cannot wipe the smile of your face. As Etude target market is aimed at teenagers and younger women, I certainly find this to be good marketing strategy (I remember being in love constantly as a teenager..LOL).

So, my first hunch about the pearls is that it would try to recreate the glow that you would have when a. being in love or b. having a giggling fit with your buddies.

On the side of the box is some information about the pearls. The product claims to create "cheeks that smile"...So, was it a product for cheeks only (aka a blush)???


Let's open the box... The powder puff is extremely girly in baby pink. It has a pink ribbon on top and lots of feathers that spread to the side. It looks utterly cute, but would it be handy for applying the powder?

The back of the fluffy brush looks more handy for applying makeup. It reminds me of a teddy bear type of fur. I really wanted to capture the colours of the pearls on the puff, but the only thing that is showed on the next picture is a bit of a cast on the pink puff.

Overall, the puff looks cute, but it is not really handy for picking up pigment and applying it on your face in a precise manner.

Let's take a look at the pearls: The pearls consist of a mix of peach, white, pink, purple and the occasional greenish-blue pearl. They have a slight glow when you look at them.

I find them to be really gorgeous to look at...

However, looks are not everything. Will they actually be able to create the "smiling cheeks" that Etude claims they would make?

When you look at the separate pearls, it does not seem to be much of a blush colour. I think it would be better for highlighting of brightening purposes.

I swatched each colour separately. I really rubbed them several times on my dry hands, so they might look more chalky than they actually are.

I find them to be a bit scary looking when you swatch them separately. However, together they create a wonderful brightening powder.

Unfortunately, my camera could not pick up the subtile difference it could make on my skin, so I cannot provide any good pictures of this. But, as I mentioned before, it is more a brightening product that you can layer over your base makeup.

I do not find it to be very glowy or shimmery at all, so it might dissapoint everyone that was looking for a blush-type of colour or a product that functions as a shimmery/glowy/pearly highlighter. I think it is best to compare this to Guerlain Meteorites, only more matte. However, I have no Meteorites at home so I cannot really compare.

I really like this "smiling" product for adding brightness to my face. I am not too fond of everything overtly shimmering on the entire face, so that would explain my enthousiasm. The cuteness factor is really important as well. It is so nice to look at.

I bought this baby on gmarket for approximately $10 (exclusive shipping),unfortunately, etudehouse is not represented on gmarket anymore, Poooh!

Edited: Kathi commented that Etude House is available as seller etudegmark . That is such a relief...he he. Thanks Kathi for the update!!!!