Canmake Cream Cheek (Picture Heavy!)

I've been collecting these Canmake Cream Cheek since they came out, skipping only 06 Nut Cream because it was too brown for my taste. Though now that I think about it, I should have bought it too and use it for contouring. Or not. I can't decide. It just looked so...brown. Oh well, may be I'll go back and check it out more carefully later!

I like cream blushes in general, but these Canmake ones go above and beyond your average ho-hum cream blush. They're really just as fantastic as everybody says they are. Smooth, creamy, and pigmented colors that can be sheered out or layered. In short, they're awesome and very buildable, suitable for the chicken-shit me and the braver others. And they're cheap too, only 580yen (~$7.50) a piece. Given that you really only need a tiny dab for each cheek, these will probably last for a loooong time. What's not to love? 

Here are all the Canmake Cream Cheeks I have, from 01-05, 07-12, only missing 06 Nut Cream.

Because I bought some while back at home and some here in Japan, some pictures were taken indoor with flash and some in natural light without flash. I'll be sure to note which is which. These two were taken in natural light without flash.

Color wise, I love every single color I have! I find them all beautiful to look at and very flattering on. I do think these should work on most people, though with that said I should point out 2 things:

A. Some of the colors are rather similar, or at least they turn out looking similar after blending. I think I even found 2 pairs of identicals, at least almost-identicals, among these and I've taken comparison swatches for you to see and judge for yourself. 

B. Most of these colors are on the warm side. With the exception of 09 Pink Rose, which is definitely cool, and 03 Strawberry Whip and 08 Marshmallow Pink, both of which are in between cool and neutral, the rest are all warm colors!

- 01 Peach Dream: this looks peachy pink in the pan but turns a lot more pink on me with only a tiny hint of peach. It has shimmers, but the shimmers are fine and scattered and leave only a very subtle sheen.

The below 4 pictures were taken indoor with flash.

- 02 Cherry Pink: a juicy bright reddish pink with more visible shimmers. However, again the shimmers are so scattered only hints of them are left after blending. 

Top: 01 Peach Dream swatched and blended. See how pinky it is on me? You can sort of see a hint of peach but not much.

Bottom: 02 Cherry Pink swatched and blended. 

Picture taken in natural light without flash.

- 03 Strawberry Whip: appears a more neutral and muted bubblegum in the pan but turns a cooler carnation pink on me. This also has shimmers, but like 01 Peach Dream it only leaves a subtle sheen after blending.

The below 4 pictures were taken indoor with flash.

- 04 Vitamin Orange: if you're looking for a vibrant tropical orange blush, look no further! Damn, where was this color when I was going through my crazy orange blush phase? This color has more densely packed gold shimmers, but again after blending the bling factor is minimal. 

Top: 03 Strawberry Whip swatched and blended.
Bottom: 04 Vitamin Orange swatched and blended.
Picture taken in natural light without flash.

- 05 Sweet Apricot: a beautiful reddish coral with minimal shimmers that pretty much disappear after blending.

The below 4 pictures were taken indoor with flash.

- 07 Coral Orange: I don't see any orange at all, do you? At best this is pink with some coral sprinkled in, and even then it turns totally pinky on me! The shimmers in this are so fine it might as well be matte. Even my camera's flash couldn't pick them up!

Top: 05 Sweet Apricot swatched and blended.
Bottom: 07 Coral Orange swatched and blended. As you can see, it's neither coral or orange on me!
Picture taken in natural light without flash.

- 08 Marshmallow Pink: a milky pink that's pale enough to function as a highlighter. It's a tad opaque on me and has a fresh and brightening effect rather than giving me a blush. Again the shimmers are so fine it might as well be matte. The flash can barely pick them up!

The below 2 pictures were taken indoor with flash.

- 09 Pinky Rose: arguably the only cool pink in this entire lot, a muted milky fuchsia, again with shimmers so fine it's pretty much matte.

The rest of the pictures below were taken in natural light without flash.

Top: 08 Marshmallow Pink swatched and blended. Barely any color after blending, no?
Bottom: 09 Pinky Rose swatched and blended.

- 10 Sweet Orange: a bright orangey coral that turns more reddish coral on me and looks suspiciously similar to 05 Sweet Apricot after blending. See the comparison swatches below.  This one too has negligible shimmers.

- 11 Heavenly Heart: a coral-y pink that turns more peachy pink on me with the coral only visible in certain lighting and angles. Also, despite looking much more coral in the pan, after blending it looks rather similar to 01 Peach Dream. Check out the comparison swatches!

- 12 Milky Orange: I'd say this is definitely more milky peach than milky orange. Again, it has negligible shimmers.

Top: 10 Sweet Orange swatched and blended.

Middle: 11 Heavenly Heart swatched and blended.

Bottom: 12 Milky Orange swatched and blended.

- 04 Vitamin Orange, very warm, and 09 Pinky Rose, very cool. These 2 colors, and 06 Nut Cream which I don't have, are the most unique among the entire collection.
- 03 Strawberry Whip and 08 Marshmallow Pink are pinks and are mostly neutral, perhaps leaning towards cool.
- 01 Peach Dream and 11 Heavenly Heart appear similar in the pan, both are pinky with only hints of peach and are on the warm side.
- 02 Cherry Pink and 07 Coral Orange are both reddish pinky, leaning towards warm.
- 05 Sweet Apricot, 10 Sweet Orange, and 12 Milky Orange are along the red-orange-coral-peach spectrum and are warm.

03 Strawberry Whip vs. 08 Marshmallow Pink

Comparison swatches: 03 and 08 against 09 Pinky Rose. See how 03 and 08 are not too cool, but not warm either?

01 Peach Dream vs. 11 Heavenly Heart

02 Cherry Pink vs. 07 Coral Orange

05 Sweet Apricot vs. 10 Sweet Orange vs. 12 Milky Orange

Comparison swatches, with 04 Vitamin thrown in for good measure ^.^ See how warm 04 is?
- 01 and 11 are definitely peachy pinks. I'm noticing how 01 is looking strikingly similar to 07, and perhaps 11 and 12 also appear similar.
- 02 and 07 are reddish pinky. From looking at the pans I thought these were leaning towards warm, but now that I'm swatching them next to the warms, they appear cooler. Hmm...
- 05 and 10 are definitely red-orange-coral and are very similar, with 05 having a tad more pink and 10 having a tad more orange. And 12 just doesn't belong ^.^ I really should have grouped it with 01 and 11 instead.

A re-group with 01 vs. 07, 05 vs. 10, and 11 vs. 12.

- 01 vs. 07: 01 is pinky and 07 is peachy, but oh, check out how similar 01 and 11 are!!!

- 05 vs. 10: I swatched these again just to make sure my eyes weren't tricking me, and yep, they were definitely similar with 05 having more pink and 10 having more orange. 

- 11 vs. 12: these aren't similar after all, but 01 and 11 definitely are!

I'm comparing 01 vs. 07 vs. 11 just to make sure it wasn't the lighting that resulted in 01 and 11 looking similar.

And nope, it wasn't the lighting. 01 and 11 are definitely very similar! 07 is more of a peachy coral.