Gransenbon blushes

Japanese drugstore brands often impress me with their excellent quality which can easily rival and sometimes surpass more expensive department store brands. The outstanding product by Gransenbon is their Gran Brush (a misspelling of 'blush') series which currently has 8 shades and cost 1890yen each, which is quite affordable compared to Nars blushes which cost 3150yen in Japan. The quality and smooth, soft and extremely silky texture is amazingly similar to Nars' shimmery blushes such as Lovejoy and Outlaw. One even has to be careful not to press the brush too hard against the surface or it will pick up too much product that has to be tapped off.

There is a nice range of shades from pale beige to peach to rosy pinks and light apricot. Even the orange-toned shade, #9 Apricot Ginger, is quite wearable as it is not garish or loud at all. My favourites are #6 Doll Pink, #7 Blossom Pink, #8 Pretty Orange and #1 Lady Rose but I'll probably get the whole series eventually as these are just too lovely to pass up. There is a mirror under the lid as well as a separate compartment under the blush pan for the brush, which is quite soft.

The Gran Brushes are rated quite highly on Cosme.net with an average 5.1 star rating with many raves for the excellent colour payoff, fine shimmer, longlasting ability and the nice brush. Going by the reviews, the most popular shades among Japanese ladies are #2 Candy Pink and #6 Doll Pink.