Wicked Beauty by Phyllis Bourne: Product Review – Clinique Cheek Pop ™

You don't get to spend over 50-years on the planet without turning into a bit of a....well, a know it all. It's an obnoxious quality, but like wrinkles, hot flashes and errant hairs sprouting from your chin, it comes with the territory.

So when I head to Sephora, I know exactly what I want. My list is in one hand, and my cell phone, filled with screenshots of products spotted on Instagram, is in the other. I've been a beauty blogger for years, and frankly, don't want to be bothered with a sales associate. No matter how helpful.

Usually, I can shake 'em with a firm, but polite, "No, thanks" or "Just looking". But the friendly associate offering her assistance at a location I popped into during a recent trip to NYC wasn't deterred so easily. Not even my middle-aged lady stink-eye stopped her from sticking to me like glue, babbling away about the virtues of every product I placed in my hand cart.

Ugh.

My initial shopping list completed, I started checking out the products I'd taken screenshots of - helpful sales associate still in tow. First up was Clinique's Cheek Pop™ blush. Clinique was my go-to brand when I worked my first job after college. However, I haven't revisited it much in the last decade or two. I tested the shade in my screenshot as well as a few more colors on the back of my hand. They looked fabulous, but I wasn't sure. Clinique's Cheek Pop blush is a powder, when I was hoping to finally find the perfect cream blush.

"I love that blush," the yappy sales associate said.

My eyes rolled back in my head.

She continued. "It's a powder that basically turns into a cream on your face."

Now she had finally said something helpful! Next thing you know I was sitting in a chair while she tried several colors on my cheeks. This blush indeed turned powderless upon application. It also gave my cheeks a natural, youthful flush usually found on girls in their teens.

I ended up purchasing three shades. I also have a new favorite Sephora sales associate when I visit NYC!

A Harlequin romance author and former newspaper crime reporter, Phyllis Bourne writes to feed a growing lipstick addiction. When she's not at the computer, she can be found at a cosmetics counter or her favorite hair salon spending the grocery money. She lives in Nashville with an understanding husband, who in one kiss can discern the difference between department store and drug store lip gloss. Check her out online at www.phyllisbourne.com.