Blush Blunders Uncovered

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?

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     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