M.A.C. infuriates me whenever they discontinue or reformulate their products. They tend to do this often and every time they bring something back after the reformulation/discontinuation, it always skews more orange and warm and that just grinds my gears. These blushes, while not discontinued entirely, have been reformulated and they’re just… not the same.
THE BACKSTORY: The Glow Play blush collection was first launched 6 years ago. I checked AlluraBeauty’s video on the blushes and they date back to February 12, 2020. So that’s 6 years ago, almost to the day. This is another blog post I found on the blushes and they feature other products in the collection, named ‘Loud & Clear’, for Spring 2020. I remember buying the two blushes I have early 2022, on a BOGO deal. The brand is also making somewhat of a comeback, if social media is to be believed, and is being touted as trendy again. That just makes me scoff because of how cyclical trends generally are.
THE PRODUCT: The main draw of this collection, I remember, was the clear packaging. The compacts for the blushes were the standard ones that M.A.C. already made, except they were clear this time. I thought it was a nice break from the usual generic black packaging that we were used to. I also like that the clear lids made it easier to distinguish between which shades you were picking up. The blush also came with these plastic covers, which are usually there to keep the product from drying out. That being said, I lost the plastic covers a long time ago and the blushes are still doing fine.
At the time, back in 2020, the formula seemed very innovative. Or, at the very least, different. There were a very few options of this putty-like texture, if at all. I was already familiar with this formula since I had tried out similar products from K-Beauty brands.
The putty texture was exciting, to a lot of people. I personally enjoyed how sensorial it was. You could take your finger, press it on the blush and then see how it left an indent behind.
The formula was a cream to powder one, which made it strike the perfect balance in terms of its wear as a blush.
It immediately meant that it would be more longer-wearing than plain cream or plain powder formulas. A setting spray meant they’d last even longer.
It was also so noob-friendly, it didn’t require a learning curve. You just needed your clean fingers to tap the product onto your cheeks. I used my fingers with these all the time but I must admit that I much preferred the finish a synthetic blush brush gave me.
While the blushes were pigmented, I liked how you could slowly layer the product on to build up the opacity. A single layer simply gave you a fresh, translucent flush of colour. You could build up the intensity with more and more layers of the product, like I mentioned, but I often stopped at two.
I liked the finish of these blushes a lot, too. They left a radiant and fresh finish behind. A few of the shades had the finest shimmer in them and M.A.C is one of those brands that does shimmer spectacularly. They weren’t chunky or too notice-able. They simply fused with your skin to give off that healthy, radiant finish.
I realise I’m speaking of these blushes in the past tense. Weirdly enough, I still have and use one of the shades (Blush Please) despite it probably being past its expiration date. I’ll stop using it when my skin tells me to. I gave away the other shade (Rosy Does It) to one of my aunts, if I remember correctly.
M.A.C. has reformulated these and they are still available for purchase. But a few of the original shades are no longer available. They now go by the name “M.A.C. Glow Play Cushiony Blush”.
MAC Glow Play Blush in “Blush, Please” (bottom) and “Rosy Does It” (top).
MAC Glow Play Blush in “Blush, Please” (bottom) and “Rosy Does It” (top).
MAC Glow Play Blush in “Blush, Please” (bottom) and “Rosy Does It” (top), both blended out.
SWATCHES AND SHADES AVAILABLE: There are 13 shades in the line-up, at the moment. There were 11 shades in the original formula. 
- Blush, Please – described as a “neutral, light mauve”, which is just so wrong. To me, at least. It’s not mauve. It’s a neutral beige nude with the finest micro shimmer. This shade is still available in the renewed formula.
- Rosy Does It – described as a “jewel-toned purple”, which I also don’t think is right. It’s just a gorgeous berry wine. Again, it has subtle shimmer pearls in it. This shade is unavailable for purchase.
PRICE: $34 (retails for 3800 INR locally, I bought mine for 2900 INR back in the day and it baffles me how the price has gone up by almost a thousand rupees in 3 years. Make it make sense. It’s just blush.)
QUANTITY: 7.3 gm
AVAILABILITY (For the reformulated ones): MAC Global, Nykaa, Tira, Sephora IN etc.
AM I SAD IT’S DISCONTINUED?
I think is a shame how M.A.C. constantly keeps on reformulating or discontinuing products. You can’t ever fall in love with a product from the brand and live in peace. You have to live in constant fear of it being discontinued or being reformulated and turning too warm and orange. For someone who lives in a country full of beautiful warm-toned people, being cool-toned feels like a headache. I still have my tiny victories every now and then when I find something that doesn’t pull orange on me. But I just truly miss M.A.C. being a brand that is lot more accommodating for different undertones and skin-tones. Not everything has to be orange and warm, you know.
So, yes. I am most definitely sad.
