Holy Pigmented Blush! Cargo Key Largo Blush Swatches and Review

My blush obsession has moved on from a short fling to a full-fledged love affair. I seem to be on a mission to purchase every color of blush that exists or could be remotely flattering on me.  Which led me to this one. I have never tried anything from Cargo, but this blush sang it's siren song to me all the way across my local Sephora store and like any good blush fiend I was powerless to its charms. AKA I bought that beeyatch.

Cargo Key Largo Blush

Apparently Cargo is only sold at Sephoras inside JCPenney stores, not stand alone Sephoras or ones inside malls, etc.  The blush retails for $26, which is pretty much the max I will pay for a blush and it has to be REALLY special. Not that I will ever use up a full blush from any brand, but this one is .314 oz, almost twice the weight of NARS blushes.

Cargo Key Largo Blush

The brushed metal tin embossed with the Cargo logo that houses the blush pan is cute, but rather impractical for traveling or pretty much anything but sitting in a drawer or on your vanity. The top part of the tin has nothing to keep it "stuck" to the bottom half and will slide off fairly easily if you hold it upside down. I don't mind this as I always do my makeup at home anyway.

Cargo Key Largo Blush

On Cargo's website this blush is described as "fruit punch" and I think that is a pretty accurate description. It is even bolder and more saturated than it looks in the pan. It is a matte powder blush with no shimmer or sheen.

Cargo Key Largo Blush

Ho-lee cow. That first swatch looks crazy intimidating doesn't it? But look how nicely it blends out to the side. This is one of the better textured matte blushes I have tried as they tend to be less soft and pigmented than their shimmery counterparts. It does kick up a lot of dust and I have to be VERY careful to not look feverish when applying this blush, but it doesn't look powdery at all.  I am extremely pale and it just goes to show that pasty gals like me can wear super bright blushes, albeit with a very light hand.

The ingredients

I'm not too thrilled to see talc as the first ingredient, but it's pretty hard to escape in even fairly expensive blushes.

Cargo Key Largo blush on the cheeks

See? I told you I could pull it off! I really love this blush and I think Cargo's blushes are quite underrated. I need to try more from Cargo now!

Available:

• Retails for $26 and can be found at Ulta, Sephora inside JCPenney, and Cargo's website.

Thank you for reading and have a great day/night/whatever!