Comparing Rare Beauty's Soft Pinch Bouncy Blush To The OG Liquid

Selena Gomez has had plenty to celebrate lately. After getting engaged in late 2024, the 32-year-old got major nods during awards season, dropped a new makeup innovation, and released a No. 1 album — and, if her newest Rare Beauty drop is anything to go by, it doesn’t look like she plans to slow down anytime soon.

On Thursday, March 27, the cosmetics brand unveiled its latest addition to its popular Soft Pinch lineup. Named after the “subtle flush” you might get on your cheeks after a light pinch, the collection of blushes, contours, and lip oils launched Bouncy Blush, a matte-fied take on its standout Liquid Blush.

The OG dewy product has received accolades from celebs (e.g. Bella Hadid and Charli D'Amelio) and beauty influencers (e.g. Jackie Aina and Jeffree Star) since its conception in 2022, and constantly sells out on the official Rare Beauty site and Sephora.com. But it hasn’t been without its share of criticism either. Many users have taken issue with its pigmentation — rather than a soft pinch, it can look more like a sunburn.

As someone who has tested her fair share of Rare Beauty products — and uses the Rare Beauty Soft Pinch Liquid Blush pretty much daily — I tried the new Bouncy Blush around launch day to give you my best assessment. Below, you’ll find my honest reviews of each product, and which one reigns supreme.

Note: I have a light skin tone (cool/pink undertones). For that, Rare recommends the following shades: Happy (dewy cool pink), Hope (nude mauve), or Worth (true rose). So, for the sake of this experiment, I used Happy in both the liquid and pillowy blushes.

Rare Beauty’s Soft Pinch Liquid Blush Is That Girl

This has been my go-to blush for the last year or so. I love the way the color stains my cheeks just enough to give them that quick flush look; it’s super lightweight, so it doesn’t feel like I’m caking anything on; and it’s incredibly blendable, even for a makeup newbie.

That is, if you apply the proper amount.

I’ve seen TikToks of fellow Liquid Blush users applying multiple (3+) dots to their cheeks and have no issue blending it out to a sheer, lightly pigmented shade. I’ve tried the same and, let’s just say, if you’ve seen me on those days and thought I had blush blindness, no you didn’t.

Typically, I apply about a *half* a dot to each cheek and call it a day, making it very budget-friendly. At this rate, I could probably pass down this one tube as a family heirloom.

Rare Beauty’s Soft Pinch Bouncy Blush Is Coming For The Crown

According to Rare, the Bouncy Blush “blends like a cream, blurs like a powder” — two things I was very much looking forward to because, while I love the dewiness of the original formula, I figured maybe the powder-like quality might help with the (over)pigmentation.

I was very careful this time to watch Gomez apply the product to her own face. In one instance, she barely tapped the Soft Pinch Blush Brush to the pillowy blush before lightly dabbing it up and down her cheekbone. In another instance, she lightly tapped her finger to the blush twice before blending it into her skin. Since I try not to touch my face with my fingers, I opted for the former method.

Again, even after barely using the product, you can still get a lot of color.

TL;DR: You Can’t Go Wrong Either Way

Though it’s still too soon to call, I might lean a bit more toward the Bouncy Blush. Both options deliver similar results, but it’s a lot harder to screw up the amount of product. No longer do I have to hold my breath as I try not to apply a full dot to each of my cheekbones.

Regardless, Soft Pinch strikes gold again, so it looks like Selena has yet another reason to continue her celebrations.