All your questions about Blush
How to choose blush shade?
The role blush plays in your makeup application is much subtle than your lipstick shade or the shade of eyeshadow that you’re wearing. It’s still important, however, and it can completely define your look despite being such a subtle undertone.
Choosing a shade of blush depends on what kind of effect you’re going for. For neutral looking day wear – such as heading to work or out for lunch with your friends – opt for a blush shade that matches your natural undertone. To find what your natural undertone is, ask yourself some basic colour questions:
- Does silver jewellery suit you better than yellow gold?
- Are the veins in your wrist a cool blue and clearly visible or are they greenish or blend under the skin?
- Do you tend to burn in the sun rather than tan?
Silver jewellery suits cooler-toned individuals and they are also more likely to see their veins as blue and burn in the sun before tanning. If you’re more a yellow gold person and your veins look greenish then that’s a sure sign of yellow in your skin tone and you’re probably much more likely to tan a beautiful burnished brown in the sun than burn. Anyone who looks pale out of the sun but tans beautifully under it and who suits both yellow gold and silver tones is known as ‘neutral’ and gets the best of both worlds.
When you know what kind of undertone you have, you can select a shade of blush that both matches your undertone and completely detracts from it. Natural-looking daywear makeup calls for blush tones that match your natural skin tone while more dramatic makeup events call for choosing an entirely different blush. The key to getting the combination right is about the application and how deep the tone is. For fairer skinned individuals, don’t choose anything too dark for your skin tone.
Cooler tones benefit from cooler-toned blush shades like pinks while warmer toned individuals suit stronger red tones. Build your blush layers slowly, adding a little bit each time rather than a lot at the start. It’s much easier to build up colour than it is to tone it down. Experiment at home with a full contour palette and blush set to see how each shade suits your skin tone and build your technique from there. If you like darker tones, for example, but you’re naturally fair skinned then you can still wear your favourites. Just experiment with a light dusting to start with and tone it down with another layer of foundation over the top.
How to make cream blush last longer?
Cream blush has been a lifesaver for every regular makeup wearer. It’s blendable, feels light-weight on, and ensures a sheer brilliant finish but it does have a tendency to fade throughout the day. So, how to make it last a little bit longer without having to reapply? We’ve put together some general tips here that you can try.
#1 – Use a beauty blender and a translucent powder finish
As a cream base, using your fingers to distribute and blend your cream blush can thin it out as the natural oils on the pads of your fingers are worked into the tone. A beauty blender helps to stop this from occurring and the translucent powder will help protect the cream blush from drying out early and fading.
#2 – Using a primer underneath
Just like your foundation, a primer helps to dry out your skin and remove excess oils while remaining nice and sticky for your makeup tones to cling to. Using a primer first will help to keep the cream blush tone looking fresh all day long.
#3 – Use a combination of cream and powder blush
For a strong blush finish and look, use your cream blush as a base and then gently sweep a powder blush product over the top. Ensure you don’t overdo the tone and darken too much. Protecting the cream blush tone with a powder tone in the same hue will deepen the look and stop it from fading.
If you have darkened it too much and you can’t seem to make a sweep with a blush brush work for you, choose a flat brush (like a foundation brush) instead and gently tap the tone onto your skin. Gentle dabs will help to slow down the application of colour and give you greater control over the finished look. Finish it off with a translucent powder finish for all-day freshness and luminosity.
How to match blush and lipstick?
Lipstick shades can dramatically change the appearance of your skin, drawing out some tones and deepening some tones, depending on the colour that you choose. If you’re naturally a cooler toned individual, then a pink lipstick shade will actually make your skin look warmer (more yellow). To reintroduce that pinkish, rosy glow, choose a blush shade that’s a cool pink (with a bluish undertone rather than a brown undertone) and apply to the apples of your cheeks in layers.
A quick and cheeky way of always ensuring that your blush and lipstick shade match is to use them for both areas of your face. Lightly dab your lipstick directly to the apples of your cheeks like you would a cream blush and blend with a moist beauty blender, building up layers slowly.
