Ahh, pink cheeks. They have been popular as long as women have been alive. You’re welcome to pinch yours whenever you’d like some color (just like in all those Jane Austen movies). Or you could just use blush (my mom always called it “rouge” when I was young.) Really, it’s something that everyone should be wearing.
The idea behind blush is not to contour your cheeks and make your face look more sculpted than it actually is. That was a big deal back in the 80’s and I still remember my MiaMaid teacher having the most ghastly streaks of orange which were supposed to make her look like she had cheekbones. Guess what? That doesn’t work. Blush is about putting natural color back on your tired face. Hence its name.
Bobbi Brown (the makeup artist not the singer who did Whitney Houston wrong) says that the fastest way to take ten years off of your face is to put a nice, natural pink on the apples of your cheeks. Which is just where mother nature intended it to be. I had a certain salesperson from a compnay which shall not be named try to tell me that blush should never be within two finger widths of your nose. She’s wrong. I’m going to go with Bobbi Brown on this one. Stick to the apples of your cheeks. The apples are the chubbiest part of your cheeks when you smile.
Like lipstick a flush of color on the face does wonders for your skin, your eyes and your overall appearance. Pink cheeks signify health and vigor. They perk everything up a little.
Blush is also one of the easiest things to apply. You have basically two choices: powder (the most common) or creme. If you use powder it’s best to get a nice fluffy brush. If your blush does come with a brush it’s usually a skinny, rectangular thing; not worth a whole lot. A big fluffy makeup brush is good for blush as well as powder so it’s a nice tool to have on hand.
I happen to have a creme blush right now. No particular reason other than I felt like trying something new. This is the Maybelline Dream Mousse Blush. It comes in several really natural, flattering shades. It’s also a great texture. Sometimes cream blushes can be too firm and wipe off half of your makeup when you try to apply them. This one has a nice, easy-to-apply consistency. Remember those triangular latex sponges we got last week for foundation? If you use cream blush, you’ll need another one. But the one for the blush can be reused as much as you’d like. I don’t know why it’s OK to reuse them for blush but not for foundation. That’s just what seems right in my brain. You are welcome to change them as often as you like.
I have also used Bobbi Brown’s Sheer Color Cheek Tint. It’s very nice, but it’s more expensive($22). Again, there are deals to be found on ebay. Try it on in person first, though, to make sure it’s something you like and the color looks good.
Now the hard part is finding the right color for you. Actually that’s not very hard at all. If you are caucasian your blush should be a nice soft pink. You know how that’s the color of a little child’s cheeks? Just a pretty soft pinkish color? (Not orange and not maroon.) That’s what we’re going for. The paler your skin, the paler pink you should get. If you have dark skin then you’ll need a darker, more vivid shade of blush.
This is the crazy thing about blush: it almost always needs to be a smidge darker than you think (just a smidge. You don’t want to look like a hooker from the 1800’s). I’m fairly conservative when it comes to the quantity of blush I apply, but I had to do an interview with someone via webcam and I looked horribly washed out on the trial run. So I applied much more blush than I usually do so I wouldn’t look like a talking corpse. After the interview I forgot I had on the extra blush and went to run some errands. I had three people stop me and tell me how pretty I looked. That never happens. Plus my husband said I looked fantastic too. Moral of the story: pink cheeks are good.
So in order of application, blush goes on after foundation and concealer but before powder. Powder will set all your face makeup.
You can do this!
Okay, so after you did the thing on under-eye circles, I had to go get my mom from the airport and miracle or miracles, got to stop by Target first and pick up the concealer you suggested. And then when I got back to the car, discovered it had been hidden under the Dude's carseat and I hadn't paid for it. AKK! Mom's flight was coming in so I didn't have time to go back and now it's been over a month or whatever. I never even opened it up I felt so bad, and this weekend I got the chance to go back to a Target. Marched in, gave them the makeup and asked them if I could please pay for it now. They were kind of shocked, but dagnabit I'm a good Mormon gal. So I finally get to use it!! It is working well so far, I need to reread your tutorial. Now I need your cream blush. I looove your advice, thanks for doing these posts!
I am going to have to put my foot down on the blush. I have realllllly red cheeks. Naturally. All the time. If I put blush on I am going to look like Bobo the clown.
But I totally think it is great for others – and I dig these posts…
I think I will dig them more when Sephora opens in June.
I'm with you on blush, Girl! Magical!
That is one thing I have been trying to convince my sisters to use. Blush is just as important as mascara. MAC's powder blush is also great. And it's only $10.
The scary thing is, I NEED every component of makeup you mention…
Good tip! I love blush but I'm always a little confused about what to do with it since umm… I don't really ever turn "pink". I think I kinda do it the wrong way and attempt to make my cheeks more defined, haha.
Oh wanna give me a makeover Jenni?!
I'm with you on blush. Somebody said to me the other day "you look really happy and springy today." I told her it was my shirt color. I have a question: what color of the mousse blush do you use?
I use Soft Plum.
I personally find that nothing makes me look so healthy and attractive, or makes my eyes sparkle, so much as blush. Naturally I would never go anywhere w/o lipstick. But blush just does wonders for me. If I'm feeling drab or pale by the afternoon, the sure-fire way to make me look good again is to reapply the blush. I love blush!
I am loving Makeup Monday! Thanks for the fantastic advice. And please do a tutorial on bronzer. My teenage daughter uses it and it looks great. On me… not so much. I'd love to hear your advice 🙂
I've been doing it up lately. 🙂 I sometimes feel too made up, but I figure that is because I really only used powder and mascara.
What the heck! My daughter tells me I am beautiful. Now, I just have to train Nathan. 🙂
You managed to convince me to buy 16 hour lipstick. Now my resolve will probably deteriorate and I'll end up getting blush too, lol.
I stole some of my roommate's for graduation…
I tend to avoid blush since I turn red easily enough on my own…
I love blush! I have some Coralista by benefit (added bonus–it’s rose scented, which is my favorite scent in all the world). It was spendy–$28–but I’ve had it for 2.5 years and I don’t think it’s going to run out any time soon.
Can you explain how to set one’s make-up with powder? I’m 23 and my generation never learned that. I’m soooo confused about it. But I think it’s something I want to figure out.