Today’s post continues my Pandora Autumn 2015 reviews, with a closer look at the new Fascinating Blush charm! Also known as the Rosy Facets charm in the UK and other regions, this charm was another one that featured heavily in Pandora’s campaign images for this collection.
The interesting thing about the Fascinating Blush is that, while it may look like a regular Pandora murano, it is actually faceted crystal and not glass! Rumour has it that there have been production issues with these crystal beads, however, and that Pandora will be discontinuing them. No official statement on that yet from Pandora, but do bear that in mind when planning your future purchases! :)
The charm
I am a big fan of Pandora murano glass, and so I was really intrigued to see how these new crystal versions would measure up. I absolutely love the blush/rosy colour; it’s a new shade of pink from Pandora, and has a rather gorgeous vintage aesthetic to it. The colour runs all the way through the bead, meaning you can see it from side on as well.
In addition to this blush shade, there is also an olive crystal out for Autumn. I haven’t got my paws on the Fascinating Olive yet, but rest assured it’s on my hit list! ;) They are made from what Pandora simply terms ‘crystal’, which means essentially that they are synthetic stones.
The use of crystal does have a different quality in comparison to the faceted murano glass beads, one that really has to be appreciated in person. It is not sparkly or glittery as such, but rather the colour is a little more consistent and clear in person, remaining pretty much the same regardless of what light it is in. The colour is a lot richer than the stock image suggests, and not so flat. It’s definitely on the rosier side.
I have heard that there is not much variation in colour and finish between these crystal murano-style beads, although I haven’t had the chance to see many examples in person myself. Victoria from Endangered Trolls pointed out in her review of the Fascinating Olive crystal that the faceting for the crystals is diamond-shaped, whereas the faceting on the murano glass is usually hexagonal, which is a detail I hadn’t noticed previously!
These crystal beads have the original thicker Pandora silver core, which is nice to see!
Styling
I’ve heard mixed reviews from collectors as to whether the blush pieces go well with the Pandora Rose collection – but, personally, I think they work very nicely together, especially with a little white enamel to offset the whole look. Ideally you’d have a couple more of the blush beads to complete this bracelet design!
If you’re not into the Pandora Rose collection, then a little yellow gold two-tone looks great as well with the Blush crystal. :D I went for more vintage charms such as the jewellery box charm, the LE Vintage Heart and the pink sapphire Double Heart clips.
However, I am going to be wearing it on my single brown leather bracelet. This was a recent Rue La La purchase, and I’m a little in love with it! The Fascinating Blush is warm and rosy in shade, so it goes really well with this leather. I’ve gone for another mini-Arabian styling, and I’m hoping to add the blush Radiant Hearts charm to finish this one off!
The other styling that works surprisingly well together is pairing the Fascinating Blush & Olive crystals together. I don’t have the Olive yet, but I’ve loved the designs that people have come up with – especially when combined with some of the new Autumn 2015 feather pieces. :)
Conclusion
The Fascinating Blush is a gorgeous warm colour, and the crystal gives it a beautiful, jewel-like finish that you don’t get with traditional muranos. It doesn’t offer a particularly dramatic difference when compared to the usual murano glass, but it’s very pretty nevertheless. I hadn’t originally intended to get this bead so soon, but the rumours of their possible discontinuation prompted me to bump it up my wish list. ;) It would be a shame if Pandora couldn’t make it work with these beads, as both the Blush and Olive offer rich shades that aren’t available in Pandora’s current range of murano glass.
The Fascinating Blush is $50 USD or £35. I usually recommend John Greed for shoppers in the UK but they never received their expected shipment of this charm – however, the rest of the Pandora Autumn collection is available as usual!
Have you bought this charm, or is it on your wish list? How do you think it compares to regular murano glass?
Lovely review. I agree that it looks pretty with the rose gold but it looks great on your new brown leather! I’ve seen some promotional pictures with it on the leathers and it makes it look elegant but relaxed. Nice colours for autumn too. I’m picturing it with a cosy jumper, skinny jeans and brown leather boots.
I think the crystal is worth buying if you want a definite colour, rather than being disappointed in getting different shades of murano glass. I think both crystal and murano have their place. Although I like it, it’s currently not on my list. Maybe one day if they don’t discontinue it but I will risk it. I couldn’t risk the olives though, had to have those!
Thanks again for recommending Pandora’s Angels, it’s a fantastic group!
Thanks Hazel! I really love the Pandora leathers; they are casual and easy to style, but so pretty at the same time. Haha, that’s exactly the kind of thing I love wearing in autumn and I quite look forward to it for that reason. :P I love my jumpers and skinny jeans!
It’s funny, because in the comments it seems like there may be some variation between the blush beads. Mine is quite different from the stock image, as it’s quite a deep blush colour, but others seem to have beads that are much paler/nuder like the stock image. I prefer the deeper pink, so perhaps it is worth choosing one in person – if you can. My store hasn’t had them in at all this season! I think I will have to get hold of an olive bead as well – I’d be gutted if I missed out!
You’re welcome, the Facebook pages are such a great resource! <3
Hi Ellie,
I have buy two Olive as soon as I read the rumour about it. My daughter have buy the Blush. She doesn’t know what to do with the Olive, and I don’t know what to do with the Blush ah ah ! For me actually I work on a bracelet two tone with fairies…But I should tell you that I think I am falling in love with your brown leather bracelet ;) Oh Oh I should take an appointment with my banker : you have a really good influence on my mood but not on my purse lol
Hi Isabelle! Aha, that’s nice – I think I may have to go for both :P I would quite like to wear a silver bracelet with the Olive and Blush beads together, but at the same time I’m really loving my bush bead on the brown leather! :D Your two-tone sounds gorgeous, is that what you put your olive beads on?
Aha, I’m sorry! I’m kind of in the same predicament – way too much Pandora spending this month, haha. I’m trying to be good this month until the Winter collection comes out… let’s see how that goes, lol.
I am not sure about my two tone, I don’t know if I make a fairies bracelet with olive to make a “forest bracelet” or a midnight bracelet with the next blue murano. I should wait october…But that’s why I love so much Pandora, it is that one can change with the liking of our moods and seasons ;)
P.S I have receive yesterday my crazy buy for this month : the gorgeous winiper with the help of the angel’s : my brain make some smoke I want something special for : winiper talk so specials things for me…
Both of those ideas are beautiful – and both midnight blue and forest green look great with a little yellow gold. Wait and see, and rest assured that whichever you go for, it’ll look lovely! ^^
Oh my gosh! You got the Winiper! That’s fantastic :D It’s about as rare as Pandora charms come, so congrats on getting hold of one of those! Are you going to wear it? :D
Ha for sure I am going to wear my winiper ! Why not ? I have buy for me not for speculate ;) For now I really have no idea what to do, the time will work for me… And you ? Do you have a winiper or it is not for you ?
I keep your idea blue, green and yellow, I haven’t make more than two colors, so why not.
Haha, some people like to buy the more expensive beads and then keep them to look at and treasure rather than wear. Personally I am like you and wear all my beads too – but then I don’t really have any super rare charms. I don’t have the Winiper as it is just too much for me on my budget, but it’s so exciting that you have managed to get hold of one though :D
Let me know what you decide on for your two-tone idea! ^^
You know Ellie the winiper is not so expensive, the seller published some prices but the deal is a little bit different in reality. Sure I will let you know for the two tone ;)
Ooh well thanks for that tip! Glad you got a good deal :D And yes, let me know!
I had my hands on around 25 olive greens and never noticed any difference in shades.
When talking about production issues, have you heard any rumours about problems with blue petit facets? They are sold out here for at least 2 months and no more on the way…
Jana, when you say blue petite facets do you mean the light blue petite facets from spring or the new richdark blue geometric facets? I hope not as I find the new rich blue and purple shades very pretty and I am most certainly going to be getting the white opal version when It comes out for the winter collection.
I mean the light blue petite facets from spring. I dont really like the new dark blue, it is too “sharp” for me. But I cant wait for the winter release of the white opal and the pink one :D
Oh, of course, you’re a very good person to ask about these. ^^ Perhaps there is more variation in the Blush beads than the Olive, as a few people have commented that their Blush beads are paler than mine.
Oh, that’s strange. No, I hadn’t heard that at all about the blue PF. I’ve had a mosey around online UK retailers and all seem to be showing stock of this charm. It’s odd that your store are not getting more, though, I will keep an eye out for news on that. :)
It is not just my store. It is all the stores in the Czech Republic, not even in other cities. Maybe it is because the Czech HQ generally keeps the stocks low (as I can watch first hand with the Arabian coffee pots) so they ran out of them faster than other countries …
I can’t decide whether to order the Blue petite facets from abroad or just give up for now and wait for the winter geometric facets :)
Oh right! It’s possible then that there are distribution problems that are yet to hit the UK then. I’ll keep an eye out and see if anything crops up here as well.
Mm, and they are quite different aren’t they? I guess it depends on how much you’d prefer the softer powder blue of the PF to the brighter frozen blue of the GF. Both are very pretty though!
Lovely review as per usual. I must say that until seeing your personal snap shots of this piece, I did not realize just how pink it is (I was in Pandora last week and did not even bother looking at it as I was not crazy at the light blush color in all the stock images), but I must say this Is a very pretty very feminine type of pink that would probably work well on most if not all the leathers and the silver bracelets too. (I would love to see the olive version as it is my fave but I doubt the US will be getting it) I too like it most on your brown leather and I luv the way it looks next to the little coffee pot!
Thank you Alex! Well, I ordered this one online from Beadazzle as my local store (and John Greed) did not have any of this one so I have not really had a chance to have a look at lots of different examples of this bead. Mine is quite deep and rosy and I absolutely love the colour. Perhaps there is some variation between the Blush beads after all! ^^
I would love to get hold of the Olive bead as well, and I’ll review it if I do. :) Thanks, I really like it on the brown leather as well. I’m hoping that the blush Radiant Hearts will go as nicely! It should be here soon :D
Ellie, your blush bead is very rosy pink! Mine is more of a pale nude/pink (stock image), with less red/pinkness in it =/. Ohhhhh yours is lovely! I’m suprised at how nicely it fits on your brown leather bracelet~ love the tone of pink of your bead =D
It’s funny, as I thought there wasn’t meant to be that much variation between these crystals haha. I had a little look online after reading the comments here and did find a couple of pictures of the Blush which look so much paler than mine! Mine has almost a slightly purpley tinge to it, so really quite different to the stock image/nude pink.
Thanks Suzy, I really like brown and pink togethr! :) I’m hoping that my blush Radiant Hearts will go nicely with it as well! <3
I think it looks lovely with your rose gold pieces. They go lovely together.
Thanks Sarah! <3
Hi Ellie I love your styling it looks beautiful with the rose gold. I managed to get the olive one the colour is so beautiful this one is definitely on my wish list I don’t want to wait to long in case they go.
Oh I forgot to ask on Facebook it was saying that the promo was October 1-4 is this true thank you.
Sorry Nicola, I was out all of yesterday – yes it is true! I have a post coming up on it in a few minutes :)
Thanks Nicola! <3 I really like this one with the Pandora Rose as well. Looking around online, it seems like it's available from quite a few UK retailers for now – The Jewel Hut are still showing 100+ in stock (seems like a lot!) so I don't think they'll be going completely out of stock too soon.
Thank you
Beautiful pictures and great review as always Ellie! You have captured the rosiness so well, I did see this charm in person but the one I saw was paler than yours, not as pretty. It looks lovely on your Arabian bracelet, I just love the camel and the new coffee pot looks great too :-D I like this blush charm with your Pandora Rose also. I have some faceted glass similar to this color that I often wear with my rose gold pieces and it blends really nicely. My problem with murano style beads is I usually want 2 of them so if it is pricey to begin with I have to really want it to justify the cost.
Thank you so much Natalie! Yes, it’s funny that – I thought the crystal beads were meant to be more consistent haha. I did have a little hunt for pics after reading these comments and saw a couple of pictures where the Blush looks so much paler than mine, almost yellowy in tone. Mine is a deep pink, a little purpley even. Thanks, the brown leather is my new favourite ;) I’m wanting to add the Radiant Hearts on the right hand side to finish it off, so hopefully it will go nicely with the leather as well!
I know what you mean about wanting two of murano beads. I try not to get doubles of most charms, but if I was wearing this bead on a full silver bracelet design, I think I’d want two to match with each other. As I’m just sticking it on a leather, I think I can get away with just the one ;)
Oh yes, it works great as a focal bead on your leather! I do that sometimes too, if I only have 1 of a glass I will make it the focal point. I love the brown single leather too, the only 2 Pandora leather I have are that and the single Champagne my other favorite, which looks so pretty with rose gold charms! I’m sure the Radiant Hearts blush charm will look beautiful on this!
My Radiant Hearts arrived today and I’m so happy as it goes beautifully with the other beads on the brown leather! :D It’s quite a cool pink in contrast with the Fascinating Blush but they go really nicely together nevertheless.
Yes I can imagine how nice the Rose charms look with the champagne leather – really contemporary too!
Oh good I’m glad it looked nice together! :-D It’s always so fun to get beads in the mail ;-)
Aha, it really is. I’m waiting for my latest Rue beads to come in the mail, and I’ve also tracked down a retired orange candy-stripe murano from Canada for my Halloween bracelet – so I still have some to look forward to! ^^
Hi Ellie!
What a wonderful choice! You always seem to pick things that most of us do not appreciate until your reviews! :-)
The Blush looks great next to Pandora Rose charms, but as everyone else, I think it belongs on your new leather bracelet! Its colour’s warmth seems to be enriched there, due to brown leather and to the idea of hot coffee next to it! :-)
I remain a fan of murano glass, though! The sense of non-identical designs and colours, is what I love most about them!
Thank you for this great review Ellie! It’s always a pleasure to read your thoughts and styling suggestions! ♥♥♥
Hi Chrysa! I’m really glad you like it on the brown leather too – I was unsure whether they would go before the Blush arrived, but I think the warm pink goes really with the brown. <3 Murano glass remains my favourite as well, but I really like these new crystal beads as an alternative. I hope that Pandora sorts out whatever issues they're having with these beads, as they don't offer equivalent shades of the Blush and Olive in the regular glass at the moment, and I think they're such pretty colours!
Thanks so much Chrysa – really glad you enjoyed it, and thank you as ever for your lovely comments! <3
How do you think it would work with the purple fizzle and Purple Hearts muranos? I’m looking for something to compliment them but don’t like the purple faceted one as I find it a bit too bluey in tone.
I hadn’t thought of putting those together, but now that you mention it, I think they’d probably look great! The purple hearts and purple fizzle are quite pinky-purples, whereas my Blush is pink with a hint of purple. I’ll take a picture for you when I get a chance, as I have both those purple muranos. :)
I am not into this crystal bead because just look like Swarovski jewelry.
It’s funny because they don’t look Swarovski to me at all in person. The fact they’re made from crystal gives them a different quality of finish – the colour is maybe a little more consistent, and shinier, perhaps – but my blush bead is not dramatically glittery, or too far off from the regular muranos.
I’d like to put in a request for you to be my personal Pandora stylist :)
Love your reviews and your styling is always spot on. Surprised by the colour of your charm. Looks lovely with the designs you have chosen.
Aha, thank you, I’d be very happy to take up that position! ^^ Yes, it does seem like there is some variation in the Blush bead, which I wasn’t expecting. I love the deeper pink colour of the one I was sent, particularly as it goes so well with the brown leather. Thanks for commenting Lozzie, I’m so pleased you enjoyed the review!
I’m a little more partial to the olive, but I like them both. The blush matches all the new other blush pieces and the olive only has spacers that are new. I’m really enamored by both the blush and olive though and am so glad I had these sent from Australia. I think the blush looks slightly better with yellow gold/silver, but I have rose and yellow/silver on mine.
The Olive is definitely on my wish list as well and I’d love to see it in person! I’m thinking about getting one sent over as well soon. I’m not sure at all what I’d do with it, but I don’t want to miss out and I’m sure at some point in the future I’d find a bracelet design with which it fitted. <3 Yes, blush and two-tone in general seems to be a winner – I like both Rose and yellow gold with it! Thought your bracelet looked lovely with the Blush and the Rose pieces, too.
I bought 2 olives and thought to pass on the blush, but you make them look different and so lovely here! I have to take another good look at them now! I love how you styled them with the rose charms.
Thanks, I really love my Blush bead (although I will definitely have to get an olive as well) and it’s well worth a look. It’s got such a deep beautiful rosy colour that Pandora don’t offer in their other glass. :D
I want a rosey/blush charm just like yours. It is such a pretty color. Where did you get yours?
Mine was from Beadazzle.co.uk, but they just sold out unfortunately! :(
Thanks anyway. I will keep looking. All the places around here don’t have the rosy crystal as pretty as yours.
Aw, maybe I got lucky! I’ve not really seen any other examples in store properly. Hope you find a rosier one soon! :)
Thanks for another great review. I was able to get the Blush charm and I love it. I paired it with the olive and my dragonfly charms. I kept it simple for now.
I’m looking forward to the Radient Hearts review if you decide to do one lol. It’s another one of my favorites.
Glad you enjoyed it Linda, thanks! :) That sounds like an absolutely perfect combination, I’d love to get an olive bead as well. The olive and the blush go surprisingly well together :D
The Radiant Blush is definitely on my list to do as well – it just arrived from Canada and I love it! :D It’s quite a different shade of pink from the Blush faceted bead, which is a little surprising, but they still go nicely together.
I love the hue of your Blush cystal Ellie! I originally dismissed it thinking it was a bit pale as with stock pics but yours is beautiful. It is true that they differ in tone as a lady shared hers on Purseforum’s Pandora thread and hers almost looks lke a purple, with no rosey tones nor blush tones. My mind is set on the Olive cystals but I have no idea how to pair them with. Most likely with Rose, after looking at some styling ideas on the web and now that you mentioned that Olive goes very well with this Blush crystal, I will be sure to pay special attention to it at the store. I love how you wear it with the single bracelet. It feels so cosy, especially with that Arabian coffee charm. I am a coffee drinker myself and I really like the intricacy of this charm, looks like it is another hunt for it as I don’t think Singapore has it at all.
Thanks Ariane! :D I think I got a good one – it’s much richer in tone than the stock image, which is what I was hoping for. :D I just got the Radiant Hearts as well from the Canadian charm promo and have added it to the brown leather and am very happy with the finished effect – I’ll be featuring it in a review soon!
Yes you should definitely take a look at putting the olive and blush together! I’ve seen a few photos along this line and I think it’s such a beautiful combination. :D I haven’t got my olive charm yet but it’s the only thing left on my list to get from Autumn 2015.
Thanks for commenting Ariane! <3
I am eyeing the Radiant Hearts charm too but can’t decide between the blush or royal purple. Both seems gorgeous! I should start googling for ideas for the blush and olive green combinations as I am unsure as to whether I should just get one of each or a pair. I look forward to your styling of the Radiant Hearts with Blush review!
I went for the blush RH, as most of the ones I’ve seen pictured have been quite purpley in shade anyhow! I love that you can see the hearts beneath the stone with the blush, whereas the purple is a lot darker and you can’t see the hearts so well.
I had a little Google as well for you and found this picture to start you off from a preview on bangsarbabe.com:
http://www.bangsarbabe.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Pandora-4.jpg
I really do like this combo a lot :D
Oooh…. thank you Ellie! That looks gorgeous and I love how the blush and olive complimented the centrepiece dangle. I sight the intricate lace clips too. Absolutely love this combination! I have been meaning to get the rose dangle and originally felt no space for it but now this provided new insight. Grateful thanks Ellie!
You’re welcome! :D I think the combination is a winner, especially with the clips!