Milani Baked Blush in Luminoso [Save or Splurge?]

rubinasarte Haziran 02, 2021

They say Luminoso is the all-time best dupe for NARS blush in Orgasm. How close is Luminoso to Orgasm? Is it worth it to save and get Milani? Or splurge and go for Orgasm?

Find your answers here!

Milani Baked Blush in Luminoso
I bought this a very long time ago from John Little in Singapore, at SGD 22.00. They no longer carry Milani due to low demand.

However, you can always get Milani off eBay.

Packaging
Milani Baked Blushes all come in round bulky plastic packaging with gold rim on the cover, and a see-through window.

The packaging is bulky because it houses a small brush beneath the product. The brush is not bad; usable, but I do not use it.

I'd rather Milani just cut the brush altogether and give me a more compact packaging.

Colour
Luminoso is a peachy orange blush. I do not usually buy orange blushes because I have learned that orange blushes make my yellow skin look dirtier. My skin tone goes well with peachy pinks though.

Below, you see the Luminoso blush being compared to a VDL nail polish (that is a close dupe for NARS Orgasm nail polish). The Luminoso blush is a lot more orange, with much less red tone.

Swatch
In the photo below, you see NARS blush in Deep Throat on your left, and Milani Luminoso on your right.

Blended swatch: NARS Deep Throat (Left), Milani Luminoso (Right).

Milani Luminoso (right) is definitely much more orange than Deep Throat (which is a true peach pink).

PS: I am comparing Luminoso to Deep Throat because I find it resembles Deep Throat much much more than it resembles Orgasm!

More Swatches
In the photo below, from left to right, you see NARS Deep Throat, Milani Luminoso, and NARS Orgasm.

Heavy swatch: NARS Deep Throat (Left), Milani Luminoso (Center), NARS Orgasm (Right).

NARS Deep Throat is a true peachy rose with micro gold specks.

Milani Luminoso is a true peach orange with micro gold specks.

NARS Orgasm is a red rose with larger gold specks.

Is Milani Luminoso a good enough dupe for NARS Orgasm?
I would say, definitely not. Even on the face, Milani Luminoso shows straight up orange, whereas Deep Throat and Orgasm are definitely more rose (Deep Throat having more peach tones and Orgasm more red).

Orgasm has so much more red in it that Luminoso cannot come close.

Milani Luminoso On My Face
That said, Luminoso is still a sweet and beautiful blush to own, especially if you are into oranges. I find that it looks pretty good on me, but I really still prefer NARS Deep Throat much more that I will not wear Luminoso every day. So the $22 is still a waste for me.

Milani Baked Blush in Luminoso.

Thought I would show the photo with NARS Orgasm too (below).

NARS Orgasm blush.

And photo with NARS Deep Throat (below).

Milani Baked Blush in Luminoso looks a lot more like e.l.f Blush in Candid Coral (that was of such poor quality I could not apply on my face). [Click on the words for review!]

Dupe (or not) aside, let's get into whether the Luminoso blush actually works or not.

Quality of Milani Baked Blush in Luminoso
1. Not very long-lasting at all. I have to spritz Urban Decay All-Nighter Spray to keep it there for about 5 hours.
2. Average in pigmentation. I have to go back second or third time with my brush to get enough colour.
3. Too much gold specks. My brush picks up more gold than blush colour, so if not careful, I can look like a gold disco ball faster than looking like I have a good blood flush in the cheeks.

Cost
I would rather save and buy one NARS blush at $45 than two Milani blushes at $22 each. Splurge on NARS is the way to go.

Rating: 3.5/5.
Average in quality.
But the colour Luminoso is pretty and makes up for the lack of quality.
It is not a close enough dupe for NARS Orgasm.

As such, it is probably not worth to ship in from eBay because there are many other orange blushes in the drugstore in Singapore (Japanese brand, Korean, Taiwan…).

If you have the Milani sold in your country and you like orange blushes, then Luminoso is definitely one to buy and add to your collection.