4 Ways to Apply Blush and Look Sunkissed
Pink blush, peach, strawberry, or deep red. Here's how to choose which blush is best for you to create a sunkissedd makeup look for spring.
Blush plays a crucial role in enhancing our beauty, providing a healthy and radiant appearance to our faces. The natural flush that appears on our cheeks due to emotions or sun exposure has, for better or worse, signaled good health and beauty. Alongside maintaining a diet rich in carotenoids, selecting the right blush shade is essential to accentuate this glow.
Determining one's skin tone is the key factor in choosing the appropriate blush color. Fair-skinned individuals should opt for light pink blush, peach blush, or apricot shades to brighten their complexion. Those with amber-toned skin can go for golden or bronzed blush hues with hints of orange for a more complementary look.
For a sun-kissed effect, a combination of blush and illuminating makeup is recommended, mimicking the glow of days spent by the seaside. This blend highlights the cheeks and nose, areas typically exposed to the sun.
However, for evening events where lighting can alter makeup appearance, a red blush can create a glamorous and impactful look.
Currently, a prominent figure in the realm of blush is Patrick Ta, a makeup artist hailing from Los Angeles and the founder of Patrick Ta Beauty. Ta gained recognition for bestowing a luminous glow upon celebrities like the Hadid sisters, Camila Cabello, Alix Earle, and Katy Perry. His line of blush is highly regarded for its quality, particularly due to its seamless integration with highlighters. Ta's products are known for their ability to provide a natural yet radiant finish, making them a trusted blush choice among beauty enthusiasts.
What is the Difference Between Blush and Bronzer?
Within the realm of makeup, the blush category also encompasses bronzer. As its name implies, bronzer consists of warm, darker tones and undertones that are ideal for contouring, intensifying tanned skin, and defining facial features using techniques such as contouring.
Blush: Powder or Cream?
Understanding your skin type is crucial in determining the best type of blush—whether cream or powder. For dry skin, cream blush offers a uniform and seamless finish, providing a guaranteed radiant effect. On the other hand, those with oily skin typically fare better with powder blush, as it helps control shine and ensures longevity.
Different skin textures necessitate distinct application methods. Applying cream blush is relatively intuitive; one simply uses their fingers to lightly dab the product onto the cheeks and then blends it outward towards the edges of the face. Alternatively, a foundation sponge can be used for application.
When it comes to powder blush, whether loose or compact, it's advisable to utilize a kabuki brush with a large surface area. This allows for circular and directional movements, ensuring even distribution of color. A helpful tip is to tap off any excess powder collected by the brush before application to prevent excessive layering of color on the skin.
Blush: Which Color to Choose?
Determining your skin undertone, whether warm or cool, is essential in selecting the most suitable blush color. This undertone remains constant over time and serves as a key factor in choosing the right hue. An easy way to discern your undertone is by examining the veins on the inside of your wrist: if they appear bluish, your undertone is cool, while a greenish tint indicates a warm undertone.
For individuals with warm undertones, peach blush complements olive complexions beautifully. Conversely, those with cool undertones can achieve a radiant Snow White-esque effect by opting for pink blush. Red blush, as seen in makeup styles such as Hailey Bieber's strawberry makeup or Tomato Girl makeup, is particularly flattering on sun-kissed skin tones.
Now, let's delve into where to apply blush on the face based on the distinctive oval shapes of four fabulous celebrities.
How to Apply Blush: Center Blush Makeup if Your Face is Square
Square faces are characterized by their sharp and well-defined chin, cheekbones, and jawline, lending a more angular appearance. To effectively apply blush and soften these features, take inspiration from Margot Robbie's approach. Concentrate the blush on the central part of the cheeks, aligning it with the pupils of the eyes. Blend the product slightly outward and toward the ears to create a more rounded look and achieve a balanced, harmonious appearance. This technique helps to soften the geometric edges of the face, enhancing its natural contours.
How to Apply Blush: Oval Face Tips and Tricks
For an oval face like Bella Hadid's, where features are slightly longer than they are wide, blush serves to widen and soften the face. Achieve this effect by adding a rosy luminosity to the center of the forehead and the tip of the chin. To sculpt the cheeks, follow the natural contour of the face, moving upward and outward along the cheekbones. Blend the blush with soft, circular motions, seamlessly uniting it with the rest of the makeup. This technique enhances the natural contours of the face, creating a flattering and balanced appearance.
How to Apply Blush: Round Face
Round faces, such as Madison Bailey's, offer excellent canvases for experimenting with blush. With their naturally proportioned ovals across the forehead, cheeks, and jawline, applying blush becomes a straightforward task. To enhance the face shape, apply blush slightly higher on the cheeks, using the outer corners of the eyes as a guide. This technique visibly lifts and defines the face, accentuating its natural contours. By strategically placing blush in this manner, you can achieve a flattering and balanced look that highlights the best features of a round face shape.
How to Apply Blush: Heart-shaped Face
Heart-shaped faces, exemplified by individuals like Sydney Sweeney, often feature a wider forehead and a pointed, protruding chin. Blush can play a pivotal role in softening these features and enhancing the appearance of rounder, fuller cheeks. To achieve this effect, begin by applying blush slightly below the cheekbones and move in a curved U-shaped motion along the contours of the cheeks, extending towards the temples. This technique helps to balance the facial proportions, adding softness and dimension to the cheek area. By strategically placing blush in this manner, you can create a flattering and harmonious look that complements the unique features of a heart-shaped face.
Our last trick? Don't use blush at all. As a fifth option, using lipstick as a blush can serve as an effective and reliable Plan B when blush is not available. Applying lipstick as blush is straightforward. Simply dab a small amount of lipstick onto the tip of your finger and gently tap it onto the central part of your cheeks. Then, blend it outwards for a natural-looking flush. It's advisable to use a handbag mirror or the reverse camera on your smartphone for precision and control during application. This quick and convenient technique allows you to achieve a rosy glow on the cheeks using a product you likely already have on hand.