A cheeky blush – blusher 101

Back in the old days, like a long, long time ago, when makeup was considered risqué and only worn by women of questionable morals, women would pinch their cheeks to give them colour.

Nowadays we don’t have to resort to mild forms of self-torture to achieve that cheeky glow, we have a myriad of colours to choose from to dust or smear across our cheekbones. In fact the blusher compact has an endless amount of colour choices which can be very confusing, so confusing that many women are so afraid of choosing the wrong colour they decide not to wear it at all. This is bad. This can make your face look unnaturally flat and lifeless.

The general rule of thumb with blush is to find a colour similar to what your cheeks naturally turn when you blush (hence its name) or after you’ve been exercising. Blusher should be easy to blend, there should be no hard stripes, and if it isn’t its either too dark or bright. Having said that, you should have at least two shades of blush in your makeup kit – one that looks totally natural and another that is slightly brighter. The lighter shade you wear during the day, the brighter at night. And NO bronzer is not blusher. It’s different, it should be applied differently to complement blush.

Blush comes in three types: powder, cream and tint. Which type you choose to use is up to you, but there are some general guidelines – keep your makeup textures the same – so if you’re heavy with the powder don’t use cream blusher, if you’re looking for that dewy liquid look, use cream not powder. Those with an oily skin type would be wise to avoid using cream as it will only drip off your face (literally). Stick to powder to mop up excess moisture.

Powder blusher should be applied with a big thick brush – not the skinny ones that usually accompany the compact. Start at the apples of the cheeks (find this by smiling), then blend up towards the hairline. If you apply colour below the cheeks, you’ll drag the appearance of your face down, which gives the same affect as aging and is not a good idea.

With your ring and middle finger, dab dots of cream blush up from the apple again and blend into the hairline. The trick with cream blush is to start lightly and then build up the colour slowly until you achieve the look you want.

Cheek tints tend to look rather bright and overwhelming in the container but are sheer once applied. Use in the same way you would a cream blush.

Here’s a general colour guide from makeup artist Bobbi Brown:

Porcelain Skin – pale pink or pastel apricot

Fair skin – sandy pink tones

Medium Skin – Tawny brownish pinks

Tan skin – Deeper brownish rose

Latin or light black skin – Plum, golden brown or deep rose

Black skin – dark or deep bronze or deep red

Very black skin – just a hint of very dark bronzer or no blush at all

Which do you prefer – cream or powder and why?

Tamsin xo