Battle of the Blushes: Tower 28 vs Rare Beauty

Cream blushes are bigger than ever and, after seeing them all over Instagram, I decided my makeup bag was seriously missing this summertime staple. So, I started searching for some cream blushes to add to my collection and found two in particular caught my eye: the Tower 28 BeachPlease Luminous Tinted Balm and the Rare Beauty Stay Vulnerable Melting Blush.

I’m a big fan of these brands anyway, so of course both of these went into my basket. I mean, how could I resist that packaging! I’ve been trying them out for a couple of weeks and I’m just about ready to give a full review/comparison.

The two shades I went for are Happy Hour (Tower 28) and Nearly Rose (Rare Beauty).

So, without further ado, this is battle of the blushes … cream blush edition!

The shade range

The Tower 28 BeachPlease Luminous Tinted Balm comes in six shades, which the brand says are inspired by the colours of the Santa Monica sunset. These are:

• Magic Hour – a pale pink balm which is described as ‘rosy nude’
• Golden Hour – a deep orange balm
• Happy Hour – this is described as a ‘coral pink’ balm but I’d say it’s more of a hot pink shade
• Rush Hour – a peachy-orange balm
• Power Hour – a terracotta-coloured balm
• After Hours – a deep red ‘berry’ balm

The Rare Beauty Stay Vulnerable Melting Blush comes in five shades:

• Nearly Neutral – a soft neutral pink blush
• Nearly Rose – a true pink blush
• Nearly Berry – a deep berry blush
• Nearly Mauve – a true mauve blush
• Nearly Apricot – a muted coral blush

The texture

While the Tower 28 and Rare Beauty blushes look pretty similar in colour, they’re nothing alike in terms of texture. The Tower 28 Tinted Balm is, as the name suggests, balm-like and almost sticky to the touch. It’s pretty creamy which means that you can pick up a lot of product, whether you’re using your fingers, a sponge or a brush. What’s especially nice about the Tower 28 blush is that it does have a hydrating quality about it, which means that it sits nicely on both your cheeks and lips. Products that are designed to have multiple uses often miss the mark and work well for one thing but not the other. I actually feel that this works equally well as a blush and a lip balm!

The Rare Beauty Melting Blush, on the other hand, has more of a silky, satin texture that makes it ideal for use on the cheeks, but not so much for the lips. Rare Beauty doesn’t claim that this is a dual-use product and I had no expectations that this would double as a lip balm, so I’m not disappointed! This is VERY light on the skin and almost feels as if you’re not wearing any makeup at all. If you’re someone who finds that blush – or makeup in general – feels uncomfortable or heavy on the skin, this is the product for you!

The pigment

Both of these blushes are REALLY pigmented. Looking at the picture below, it kind of seems like the Rare Beauty blush is lacking the intensity that the Tower 28 blush has. But that’s not the case at all! When applied to the cheeks these both offer an insane amount of colour.

I would say that the Rare Beauty Melting Blush sheers out a bit quicker than the Tower 28 one. But then it’s also a lot more blendable than the Tower 28 blush, so it really depends what you’re looking for. Both are going to give you instant colour, the Rare Beauty blush just blends into slightly more of a natural finish. This might depend on the shade though! 🤔 If you’ve had a different experience, do let me know in the comments!

The wear

I can’t really fault the staying power of either of these! I find that cream blushes tend to have a longer wear time than powder blushes anyway, so I don’t ever really need to touch up my blush during the day.

With both of these blushes, you might experience some slight fading if you’re wearing a mask. But apart from that both the Tower 28 and Rare Beauty blushes last me pretty much throughout the day.

The Tower 28 one is a bit more long-lasting (since the texture is tackier) but I wouldn’t say the Rare Beauty one fades significantly quicker. Applying a setting spray or powder over the top seems to help extend the wear time, so if you’re worried about transfer or fading I highly recommend doing this!

The price

The Tower 28 BeachPlease Tinted Balm and the Rare Beauty Stay Vulnerable Melting Blush are, at the time of writing, exactly the same price – which is what makes it even harder to choose between the two!

You can pick up the Tower 28 blush for £18 from Cult Beauty or the Tower 28 website. You can buy the Rare Beauty blush, again for £18, from Space NK or the Rare Beauty website.

With the Rare Beauty blush you get 5g (0.17oz) of product, and with the Tower 28 blush you get 4.5g (0.16oz). This makes the Rare Beauty blush slightly better value, but the difference is so small that I don’t really think it gives Rare Beauty a major edge. The fact that the Tower 28 blush has multiple uses more than makes up for that missing 0.5g!

Final thoughts

I really love both of these blushes so it’s hard to pick a favourite! I’d say if you’re looking for a multi-use product, Tower 28 is the best pick. It’s both a blush and a lip balm – you could probably even use it as a cream eyeshadow if you really wanted – so you’re really getting your money’s worth with this one.

If you want a product that has one use, but is really good at what it does, I’d go for the Rare Beauty blush. It might not be as versatile as the Tower 28 Tinted Balm but it’s still a really great product. I also think it’s an amazing option if your skin is sensitive or reactive, since it requires far less rubbing/blending than the Tower 28 one. You can literally pat/tap this into the skin and it’ll give a really even, natural finish.

If you like these, you’ll like…

Spectrum Pinch Pot: Spectrum’s Pinch Pots are another multitasking product that you can wear on the cheeks or lips. The formula itself is great, but the most exciting thing about this product is that it comes with its own mini buffing brush!

PIXI On-The-Glow Blush: Fancy something a bit more portable? The PIXI On-The-Glow Blush comes in stick form so you can throw this in your makeup bag and carry it around with you. This blends like a dream, and you also get 19g worth of product per stick, so you’re really getting your bang for your buck.

Fenty Beauty Cheeks Out Freestyle Cream Blush: This Fenty Cream Blush comes in a ton of shades so you’ll really be spoilt for choice. From burnt orange to deep purple, there’s a blush to suit whatever look you’re going for.