December 22nd, 2010
For most of my make up wearing life I’ve taken cheek color for granted, focusing mostly on covering a zit or mastering liquid eyeliner. Not any more though. As I’ve aged I’ve learned to appreciate the lovely glow that blusher brings to the face. And can I just add that I love the word blush. Blush. It’s a soft and pretty word. Blush. And I like to speak it. Blush.
There are lots of thoughts on where to apply blush. I think in general that blush is for your entire cheekbone area. Not too close to the eyes both below and next to them, and not too far below the cheekbone. Be sure to apply color to the apple too (the part that pops out when you smile). Blush is NOT for the nose, forehead, hairline and chin. These places are for bronzer, not blush, and can create a sunburned look.
Blush color is only a big deal if it’s the wrong one. Choose a blush that is similar in shade to the color your cheeks turn when you … yep, blush! (sorry, couldn’t resist) There are thousands of colors of blush and plenty of sales people to help you find a color that works with your skin tone. Cheeks and lips should not match, but they should be in the same color. For example, pink cheeks with pink-toned lips; coral/peachy cheeks with tans and orangish lips; rosy cheeks with rose-toned lips. For red lips, I like a neutral, warm, toned-down cheek in whatever color this is for you.
Bronzer is nice for adding a little warm color on it’s own or along with blush color. If you are using bronzer, be very conservative with the color. Faking a tan with bronzer never works. Go only one shade or so darker than your skin color and apply the sheerest possible amount, adding more only as needed to achieve the look you want. Bronzer looks great on the cheekbones, along the temple and a tiny touch on the forehead, nose and chin. After bronzing, a swirl of blush on the applied to the apple of your cheeks looks very pretty.
I’m kind of in love right now with using a highlighter on my cheeks too. Once you’ve blushed, bronzed, or both, take a little highlighter and apply a sheer swipe on the top edge of your cheekbone for a nice little dusting of sparkle.
Blush, bronzer and highlighter come in powder, cream and even gel formulas. Powders are by far the easiest to work with and are the perfect choice for all but the most extremely dry skin types. A brush is essential for applying powder cheek colors and at the completion of color application, blend, blend blend to soften. Cheeks are no place for hard lines of color.
Cream, liquid, gel and cream-to-powder blushes apply nicely but not more so than powder. In my experience with cream blushes, they look dewy and pretty for about five minutes before they slide, smear or otherwise disappear.
Experiment to find what works for you. You know when you’ve done it right because your cheeks will look slightly glowy and healthy. Likewise, you will know when it’s gone wrong. If you aren’t happy or think it looks weird and off somehow, reach for a make up remover wipe and start over. It’s only make up.
Tags: Beauty, blush, bronzer, highlighter, make up
