Is the Rare Beauty Soft Pinch Blush Worth $23? I Tested It Against the $9 Drugstore Dupe

Soft Pinch has been one of the few genuinely-earned-the-hype products of the last couple years, not just another product riding a well-edited TikTok. So when I kept seeing people say the $9 NYX Lift and Snatch Cheek Tint was basically the same thing, I had to actually test that claim instead of just repeating it.

Here’s the honest verdict, not the sponsored one.

The formulas, side by side

Rare Beauty Soft Pinch Liquid Blush – $23
A weightless, whipped liquid formula that blends into skin like a second layer of it. Buildable without going patchy, and it keeps a natural, lit-from-within finish rather than looking glittery or wet.

NYX Lift and Snatch Cheek Tint – about $9
A close formula match on pigment, blendability, and wear time. It gets you most of the way to that same soft flush. The one real difference is the applicator: NYX’s tip is sharper and less forgiving, so you need to dot small amounts and blend immediately before it starts to set, or you’ll end up with visible edges.

Where Rare Beauty pulls ahead

• Application is more forgiving. The doe-foot applicator on Soft Pinch is rounder and softer, so it’s harder to mess up if you’re in a rush.
• Shade range. Rare Beauty has more shades built for a wider range of skin tones, which matters if you’re not a close match to NYX’s lineup.
• Longevity in humidity and heat. In my testing, Soft Pinch held up slightly longer through a full hot day without needing a touch-up.

Where the dupe holds its own

• Pigment payoff is genuinely close – a little goes a long way on both.
• Finish reads the same in photos: natural, dewy, not glittery.
• Everyday wear time (normal indoor day, no extreme heat) is close enough that I couldn’t reliably tell them apart at the end of the day.

My verdict

If you’re buying your first your-cheeks-but-better blush and want the most foolproof application, Soft Pinch is worth the $23 – especially if your shade match matters or you’re prone to heavy-handed application. But if you’ve used liquid blush before and know how to work fast with a smaller applicator, the NYX dupe gets you 90% of the way there for a third of the price, and I’d start there.

This is one of those rare cases where neither answer is wrong – it depends on how much you value convenience versus saving $14.

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Updated for this week: the five clone-house perfumes people are searching right now, with current prices and what each one is compared to.

Where to buy

The $9 dupe: NYX Lift & Snatch Cheek Tint is on Amazon.

Check today’s price on NYX Lift & Snatch Cheek Tint →

Also worth a look: e.l.f. Camo Liquid Blush, another budget liquid blush with a soft, blendable finish.

Check today’s price on e.l.f. Camo Liquid Blush →

Rare Beauty Soft Pinch is sold at Sephora and rarebeauty.com, not Amazon. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

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