40 Days and 40 Nights of Beauty Cult Classics
Day 17, Pout's Apricot Totty by Patti aka Cavewoman

Just looking at this blush, sitting here open next to me on the desk, makes me happy. It's been three years since the buzz began on Makeupalley about Pout Apricot Totty pressed powder blush, and at the time, I was heavily into MAC and wasn't paying much attention to other lines. But I kept seeing the raves about this blush, kept seeing the "temporarily out of stock" listing on the Sephora website, and kept loving the members' photos of this pretty color when I would see them on the Alley. Everyone seemed to have a different way of describing the color, and there were variations in the photos, of course, but the raves kept me interested. Cult status was attained. People were buying Tottys for each other and swapping to obtain them. The moment they popped back in stock on the Sephora site, I ordered my Totty.

The Pout company has now gone out of business, which is very sad. Adorable, quality packaging, as pretty and girly as they come, house really fine products that I've come to appreciate. I'm sad that there won't be any more Pout, but I'm glad I have my Totty.

Open the soft turquoise compact with the hot pink mesh and flower print on the lid, and the first impression is "Wow! I could never pull off this cheek color!" It's a slightly shimmery combination of pink, peach, orange, coral, and apricot, and it's bright. Really bright. I wondered how in the world I would ever be able to apply this with a light hand. And for a year, I did not even try. I just kept the blush in a basket on my vanity table, opening it every so often and then closing it and choosing something more subtle for my cheek color. Then I started reading about a new makeup brush from MAC, the now legendary #187, a synthetic brush that's commonly referred to as The Skunk Brush. The promise was that any highly pigmented product could be tamed by using this brush, which has some bristles that extend further out from the main brush bristles, a very unusual design. The main bristles are black, and the extended ones are white, hence the nickname. I bought the Skunk, and took out the Totty. Perfection! Just the most perfect amount of blush is picked up by those extended bristles, and a soft application of Totty was not only possible, but easy and effortless!

I've used Apricot Totty blush with both warm and cool lip and eye colors. It's a chameleon. It is eager to please, and it becomes what you want it to become. It coordinates with just about every other color cosmetic product I have. It takes on the warm or cool effect, depending on what other color products I am using. I've never seen another color quite like Totty. I think maybe the elusive Bobbi Brown Coral might be close, and MAC's Delirious too, although that one is a bit more reddish than Totty. The color is exuberant and joyful and gives a healthy glow to the cheeks. It may even bring a smile to the lips! Cult-Status-Worthy, yes!

Disclosure: This product was purchased and reviewed by Cavewoman.