If you don’t wear blush now, you should start immediately. Blush livens up the whole face. When you apply foundation and powder you take away all your natural coloring. What you want to do is apply a blush that is going to mimic your natural flushing color and give you your radiance back. Blush will also enhance your cheekbones, giving your face more structure.
Blush shades can come in peach, pink, mauve, apricot, bronze, salmon, brown, terracotta, fuchsia, red and orange. For light skin, choose lighter shades. Medium skin, medium shades. For dark skin, clear (not muddy or muted) bright vibrant shades look great. There are different formulas of blush: powder, cream and a gel. If you are very new to blush, don’t go for the gel at first. It’s the hardest to control and you can look like a clown if it’s not done correctly. Powders and creams are the easiest to use.
If you are going to use a cream blush or gel, apply it after foundation and before powder. You don’t want to apply anything creamy over something that has already been powdered, it will not go on right and look blotchy. I believe the best way to apply cream or gel blush is to use your fingers. Put the blush on your index and middle finger and rub the fingers of both hands together, getting it even on both sides.
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| Photo by http://www.jsimagedesign.com |
While looking in the mirror, smile to see the “apples” of your cheeks.
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| Photo by http://www.jsimagedesign.com |
Start rubbing the blush at the outer edge of the “apple” and blend it towards your hairline. You don’t want any lines or finger marks. Gel blush needs to be applied very quickly before it dries. If you applied too much cream blush, use a sponge wedge remove some. If you applied too much using a gel, you’re a little bit screwed. Face wash or more foundation can fix it. Apply a light dusting of translucent powder to set the blush. Lipstick can substitute for cream blush if you don’t have any or if you are in a pinch.
Powder blush can be applied after foundation and powder with a blush brush.
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| Photo by http://www.jsimagedesign.com |
Use the same placement as the cream blush, starting at the outside of the “apple” and blending out towards the hairline.
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| Photo by http://www.jsimagedesign.com |
If you applied too much, remove some with a sponge wedge or apply more translucent powder over the blush.
Blush can come in matte or shimmer, it’s up to you which you like better. Matte will look more natural and is best for photos or harsh lighting situations. Shimmer will look best under lower light. Shimmer blush also will be too much if you have shimmery eyeshadow and shimmery lipstick on also. Shimmer all over will make you will look like a sparkler on the 4th of July.
A few tips: Don’t go too far in by your nose on your “apples”. Don’t go too far up by your eyes, and don’t go too far down by your jawline. And for goodness sakes, ditch the horrible stiff brush that comes with a lot of the blushes these days. If you use it, you risk looking like a lady from the 80’s with her scary unblended stripe.
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| Photo by http://www.jsimagedesign.com |
Blend, blend, blend! If you apply your blush like this I will find you and scrub your face clean! 🙂