Maybelline Master Matte Blush Stick Review and Swatches

Maybelline Master Matte Blush Sticks are a Limited Edition for Spring 2015 (boo...please make them permanent!). I spotted these at CVS and what's funny is, they were on the display with the new Spring Color Elixir shades and I just walked right by them thinking that they were the Master Glaze blushes from last year.  I did this during two visits and I don't know what made me look at them the next time I went, but I noticed that the word Glaze on the tube is replaced by the word Matte and I went "oh, wait a minute...these are new!".

They're $9.49 each and come in 4 shades.  I wasn't ready to spend $40 on blush, but I had printed a coupon out of the little Extra Care kiosk for $5 off a $15 Maybelline purchase, so I picked up three of them (I left behind a bright orange shade called Fiery Flora- you can see the color on my Instagram page).  When I got to the register, I found out that these were BOGO 50% off so between that and the $5 coupon, I picked up these three for just under $20. 

Golden Thorn, Flushed Up, Rosy Rush

These are identical packaging-wise to the Master Glaze...the only difference is the formula.  The originals leave a dewy sheen on the cheeks while the Mattes don't have any shimmer or pearly finish whatsoever. They have the same creamy, blendable feel and are actually much more pigmented than the Master Glazes.

I swatched all three shades and was really impressed by the amount of color these put down in one swipe.  The one thing to be careful of here is that it can be easy to overdo it and get clown cheeks.  I use them sparingly, blend, then go back and add more if I need to.  These also last longer than the Master Glazes...I got about 7 hours of wear on my dry skin, which is amazing.

Golden Thorn is a bronze shade and it actually makes a great contour color because of the matte finish!
Flushed up is a light pink that would be so pretty on fair skin.
Rosy Rush is a raspberry shade that can be easy to overdo if you're fair, but when used sparingly it's beautiful!

From Bottom: Golden Thorn, Flushed Up, Rosy Rush

Overall, these are a great find...if you can find them!  Just look for the Rebel Bloom displays in CVS and hopefully you'll see these.  Only one out of 7 or 8 CVS stores in my area had these so they're not very widespread yet.  Plus, each display only had 2 of each shade and since they're limited edition, once they're gone, they're gone! I'm hoping that Maybelline decides to make some permanent matte shades (maybe for summer?!) because it's long lasting and nicely pigmented...an improvement over the original formula in my opinion.

Have you seen or tried these yet?  I'd love to hear your thoughts!