MAC Blush in Desert Rose

I've heard some great things about MAC blushes, but I'm a little sad to say I haven't found them to be all of the hype.

I only have 1 MAC blush right now so maybe I'm jumping to conclusions too soon.  I also have only tried their matte blushes (I prefer mattes to shimmer/glittery blushes). 

The shade I own is...

Desert Rose:

I think they're a great size and the color range is amazing, but the color payoff isn't that good (in my opinion).  Maybe I'm using too light of a hand, but I can't get the color to show up with just one sweep(?).  The blush doesn't transfer easily to the brush.  In the swatch above, I went over the swatch 3 times to get that color payoff.

Other than that I have no complaints, the texture is smooth and not chalky at all. But the fact that you're paying for about $21 for a blush and can't get the color payoff easily is a pretty big "miss" for me.  There are tons of other cheaper alternatives that are better, I think. 

But, I do want to try Pink Swoon by MAC since I've seen that a lot in Japanese magazines.  That's on my wishlist right now so hopefully I'll be able to a review soon about that.