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I have always been a MAC blush girl.

And when I say always, I mean always.

I’ve cheated on MAC plenty of times over the years. I’ve tried Clinique, Estée Lauder, Maybelline, Tarte—which is another favorite—and more drugstore and high-end blushes than I could possibly remember.

Cream. Liquid. Powder. Matte. Glowy.

I’ve experimented.

But somehow I always end up back at MAC.

Then everyone started talking about Dior Rosy Glow Blush.

And not just talking about it.

RAVING about it.

I had makeup artist friends telling me this was THE blush. I kept seeing gorgeous glowing cheeks online. People talked about it like Dior had somehow cracked the genetic code of the human cheek.

Naturally, I needed to know.

So I broke down and bought one.

Actually, that’s a lie.

I bought two.

I Had Very High Hopes for Dior Rosy Glow

I chose Rosewood for the days when I wanted a little more drama and Toffee for a softer, more natural glow.

When they arrived, I was thrilled.

And initially?

I got the hype.

The colors are beautiful.

Both work really well with my skin tone. They’re pigmented, glowy and give me exactly that fresh, expensive-looking cheek I was hoping for.

For the first couple of hours, my makeup looked fantastic.

Dewy.

Bold.

Glowy.

All the things.

Then I’d look at myself later in the day and think:

What happened to my cheeks?

The Dior Blush Kept Looking Patchy on Me

By the end of the day, the blush didn’t look anything like it had when I first applied it.

Instead of that smooth glow, I started noticing patchiness.

It looked like the product was separating in certain areas and settling into places I’d really rather not draw additional attention to at 45.

Fine lines?

We acknowledge their existence.

We do not need to highlight them.

At first, I didn’t blame the blush.

I blamed my foundation.

Maybe Dior Rosy Glow simply wasn’t playing nicely with whatever I had underneath it.

Fair enough.

So I started experimenting.

I Tried Changing Everything Underneath It

First I tried it with my Typology makeup.

Patchy.

Then I tried my Obagi tinted moisturizer with setting powder.

Patchy.

Surely Dior would cooperate with Dior, right?

I tried it with my Dior foundation.

Still patchy.

Then I thought maybe the problem was layering products at all.

So I tried the blush with basically nothing underneath it.

Still. Patchy.

At this point I was beginning to take it personally.

I even added setting spray into the experiment.

That helped.

But it didn’t completely solve the problem.

And I gave this blush a legitimate chance. I didn’t wear it twice and declare myself a beauty critic.

I wore both colors regularly for about four weeks because I really wanted to figure it out.

I paid Dior prices for TWO blushes.

I was emotionally and financially invested in this relationship.

The Annoying Part Is That I Still Like It

This would be much easier if I hated Dior Rosy Glow.

I don’t.

That’s the problem.

I love the colors.

I love how it looks when I first put it on.

I love the glow.

And I’ve seen it look absolutely gorgeous on other people.

So I’m not ready to declare that Dior Rosy Glow is a bad blush.

It clearly isn’t.

But something about the formula, my skin or the way I’m applying it isn’t working over the course of a full day.

And that’s an important distinction.

Makeup reviews sometimes make products sound universally amazing or universally terrible.

Skin doesn’t work that way.

Especially as we get older.

Something can look spectacular on someone else’s skin and behave completely differently on mine.

Meanwhile, I Went Crawling Back to MAC

While I was conducting what had apparently become a month-long Dior blush investigation, I picked up another MAC blush.

Because of course I did.

This time I decided to get outside my usual comfort zone and chose Pink Flamingo in MAC’s Skinfinish blush.

And…

There she was.

The reason I’ve been a MAC blush girl all these years.

The pigment is beautiful.

A little goes a LONG way, so I have to use a light hand.

But once it’s on?

It stays looking like blush.

No weird streaking.

No late-afternoon patchiness.

No looking into the mirror at 4 p.m. wondering where half my cheek went.

And Pink Flamingo surprised me.

It wasn’t necessarily a color I would normally have gravitated toward, but I’ve ended up loving it.

I Think I Like It Better Than My Old MAC Favorites

This surprised me almost as much as the Dior situation.

For years, I swore by MAC Mineralize blush.

I’ve also used MACs Glow Play Cushiony Blush.

I like both.

But lately?

I’m reaching for the Skinfinish blush more.

It gives me the pigmentation I want without looking streaky, and—most importantly for me—it continues to look good as the day goes on.

That’s become a much bigger consideration for me at 45.

I’m not interested in makeup that looks incredible for the 20 minutes immediately after I apply it.

I need makeup that can survive my actual life.

So Is MAC Better Than Dior?

For my skin?

Right now, yes.

And I did not expect to say that.

Dior Rosy Glow gives me a beautiful finish when I first apply it. I genuinely love Rosewood and Toffee, and I’m still experimenting because I would very much like to figure out how to make those expensive little compacts behave.

But would I choose Dior Rosy Glow for family pictures?

Probably not.

Would I wear it to an important event where I know there will be photos several hours later?

Also probably not.

Right now, I’d reach for my MAC Skinfinish blush in Flamingo because I trust what it’s going to look like later.

And sometimes that’s the difference between a product I love looking at and a product I actually rely on.

I’m Not Giving Up on Dior Yet

I still feel like there has to be a key I’m missing.

Maybe it’s my application technique.

Maybe it’s the brush.

Maybe there’s a skincare or primer combination that will finally make it stay smooth on my skin.

Or maybe Dior Rosy Glow and my 45-year-old cheeks have simply agreed to disagree.

I’m going to keep experimenting.

But after four weeks, multiple foundations, tinted moisturizer, setting powder, bare skin and setting spray, I feel pretty comfortable saying this:

If I have to choose between the expensive blush everyone told me I would love and the MAC blush that quietly does its job all day, I’m choosing MAC.

Apparently sometimes the holy grail is the thing that was sitting in your makeup drawer all along.