Blush: Brushes, Colors & Powder or Cream?

You want a healthy, natural colour?  Then let’s introduce you to my dear friend Blush.  Blush has the ability to bring a youthful dewy glow and is simple.  Apricot and pink blush colours are definitely my favourite.   When I want more of a dramatic effect, I’ll use a darker colour.  

I want to start off with brushes.  Attached is a picture of some of my favourite MAC Cosmetic brushes I use.  These five brushes are my BFF’s when it comes to applying blush.  The 109 Small Contour Brush is used on your face to apply, blend and/or contour powder products, it blends colour smoothly into your skin.  The 116 Blush Brush is perfect for shading and highlighting your cheeks and face.   The 129 Powder/Blush Brush is more of an all purpose brush that can be used with blush or face powder.  The 168 Large Angled Contour Brush picks up a perfect amount of product and helps contour your cheekbones.  The 182 Buffer Brush is my have to have tool.  It helps blend product into your skin.  I usually take the blush colour I plan on using and apply it first onto the cheek area with brush 182 and then take a blush shade a bit darker and apply it to cheekbones with a 168 brush for a more defined finish.

When selecting a colour, my best advice is look for a colour that matches your cheeks when they are flushed.  Take a look in the mirror after you’ve just come in from the cold or after exercising.  You’ll want blush to look natural.  With fair complexions try rose, olive complexions try peach and dark complexions try apricot.  Another trick when picking the right shade of blush is finding one that matches your lip colour.  Or simply just pinch your cheeks.

For best results, skin should be prepped and foundation applied. When applying blush, always start with less and then you can add more if needed.  Take your brush with blush on it and tap it at least twice to get rid of any excess blush.  Place the brush onto the apple of the cheekbones and blend backwards.  Stay 2 finger widths away from your nose and use the brush to blend backwards towards your hairline.  Sweep the brush back and forth on your cheek.  Make sure you look at what you’ve applied from all angles this way you’ll know it’s completely blended in and there are no visible edges.  Blush should not go below the bottom of your nose or any closer into the center of your face than the iris of your eye.  If you find that you look pale after you’ve applied blush to your cheeks you can also apply a small amount of blush to your forehead (where the sun normally hits the face).  Want to give your eyes sparkle?   Applying blush by your eyes helps.

Blush comes in powder, cream, liquid or gel form.  Powder blush is the most commonly used and is usually good for all skin types and easiest to apply.  Powder blush is best applied after face powder and is best for oily skin.  Cream blush provides a more intense shade than powder blush and should be used sparingly and blended well.  I would recommend applying cream blush with your fingers and it contains moisturizing ingredients which make it suitable for dry skin.  Always apply cream blush over foundation and before you use face powder.  Liquid or gel blush provides strong and concentrated colouring.  It lasts longer. Liquid blush helps aid a sheer glow to your face and is considered to work best with oily to normal skin.  Liquid blush dries fairly fast so it’s hard to spread onto dry skin.  Apply it over foundation or onto your bare skin.

For over applied powder blush, use a translucent powder on top to calm down the colour.  If cream blush is over applied, blot the colour off with a tissue.