Blush Blunders Uncovered
By: Beauty Pro Brittany
As a makeup
artist, blush is typically one of the last things that I will apply to a
client. I do this because blush balances the face and can make any women look
lifted and full of life. But, with so many choices, it can be very frustrating
and intimidating to find the medium, color, and texture that suits you best.
I'm going to try to break it down for you so that the next time you go to your
favorite makeup counter you will feel confident and sound like a Beauty Pro!
When anyone sits
down in my chair, the first thing I do is an overall assessment. This is
something I think most of us forget to do to ourselves because we are so quick
to think that we already know what we look like. Our skin is constantly
changing with age, seasonal conditions, and even different climates. So, take a look... a good look, soak yourself
up! Here are a few good questions to ask yourself during your self assessment:
What is your skin type that day, how much texture do you have on your skin, do
you have a warmer or cooler skin tone, and finally, what do you want others to
see when they look at you? How do you want to present yourself to the world?
Choosing the medium that is best for you
There are many
more choices today than ever before, I am going to talk about three different
mediums that I most frequently use. There's your basic powder blush,
baked/mineral blushes, and cream blushes.
Pressed Powder Blushes
Among the most
commonly used, powder blush is very easy to apply. It is good for all skin types
and comes in just about any color, finish, or texture your heart desires. If
you have normal to oily skin you will benefit the most from powder blush as it
will help to absorb the oils on the skin throughout the day and the staying power will be the best for you. Those with dry skin can
still use powder blushes, just make sure to properly moisturize and prime the
skin so you don't end up looking like a powdered donut, lol. I prefer to use a natural hair brush with
powder blushes, whether it be fluffy to diffuse, or angled for more contour.
Baked Mineral Blushes
You can typically
tell if a blush is baked or mineral because of the dome shape to the powder.
They actually pack a mineral filled blush into a pan and bake it, hence the
name. Mineral blushes are better for normal to dry skin. They typically leave a
glow or shimmer to the skin, so if you are oily I recommend using it very
sparingly and with specific placement, otherwise you can end up looking like a
disco ball by the end of the night. Eek! Again, because the mineral blushes are
powder, I still prefer my natural hair brushes to apply them (Fluffy and
Angled)
Cream Blushes
A little
intimidating to most, cream blushes are packed with emollients and moisture for
the skin. I love this formula for my dryer skin types and more mature clients.
As usual, if you are have normal-combination skin you can use it too. I would
more often than not steer clear if your skin is on the oily side as these
already leave a dewy look to the cheek. With cream blushes you will need a
brush that can handle pushing around and blending the cream. I adore using a
stippling (duo fiber/skunk) brush for cream blush. The size of my brush depends
on how much space you are working with on the cheek. This brush is made of natural
and synthetic hairs. The synthetic hairs can manipulate and push the cream
around while the natural hairs create a soft blend.
Texture
Besides your skin
type, your skin texture can really help you decide what blush is best for you.
In a perfect world we would all have smooth flawless skin, but let's face it,
in the real world, that's hard to find. That’s what I love so much about makeup,
it helps accentuate what you want others to see and diminishes our
imperfections. So for those of you who have some texture to your face or a
breakout caught you at a bad time, steer more towards the matte to natural
satin textures. (If you have a hard time figuring out what texture a blush is,
most of the time on the label under the name it will state what finish it is.)
The more matte finish will lessen the appearance of texture on the skin because
it doesn't reflect any light off of the surface of the skin. Something with a
glow to it or more frosty finish reflects light and will show any texture
underneath.
Choosing a color
Do you have a
warmer or cooler skin tone? Warmer skin tones are more of a golden shade and
cooler skin tones tend to have more of a pinkish hue. For an everyday look you
want to try to mimic your natural flush color. I feel that when most women
think blush, they think pink, but I find that the colors that flatter the most
skin types have a touch of warmth to them. However, you also want to think of
your overall makeup and what tones will accentuate it best while looking great
on you. Make sure to choose the right intensity for the depth of your skin tone
also. Fairer skin shades will want to stick to softer tones, tan skin shades
with medium tones, and darker shades going for more depth and saturated colors.
So, now that you
have picked the medium, brush, texture, and color that will suit you best,
you'll need to get it on the face somehow. This is the make it or break it
moment, you can have the perfect blush and if it's applied incorrectly it will
make you look just as bad as the wrong blush applied correctly. This is why it
is so important to really assess your features objectively. Are your cheekbones
already sharp and defined or could they use some sculpting? What look are you
going for? How do you want others to see you?
.
My top three
application techniques would be the blush only on the apple of the cheek, a
sculpted cheek with more color towards the apples, and a sculpted cheek with
more intensity towards the upper cheekbones along the hairline up to the
temples. I feel like just about anyone can wear the three different types of
applications, just keep in mind that putting blush on differently can create a
different shape or adjust them slightly. Applying blush on the apples of your
cheeks will round the face, sculpting with more color towards the apples of
your cheeks will for the most part keep your face shape and bring out your
cheekbones, and sculpting the cheekbones with the concentration of color
towards the hairline, to narrow the face
As described
above, this is a pretty basic introduction to blush. If you want to get fancy
you can use more than one color to create more depth in sculpting or more
highlighting. You can also mix textures for different effects. A general rule
of thumb, lighter colors/shimmer textures will pull a feature forwards and
darker colors/matte textures will push back a feature. If you find
yourself confused or have any additional questions, please leave them in the
comment section below!
Thanks for reading... BLUSH ON MY FRIENDS
