Choose a blush in two steps: the texture first, then the shade. The texture follows your skin and your base. Powder suits normal to oily skin and a powdered complexion, cream and stick suit dry skin and a dewy finish, and liquid gives the sheerest, most skin-like flush. The shade follows your undertone and depth: cool undertones look fresh in pinks and berries, warm undertones in peach, coral and apricot, and neutral undertones can wear most of them, with rose and mauve the easiest place to start. The deeper your skin, the richer the shade needs to be to show. Below we set out each texture, the shades by undertone, where to place it and how to blend, with the blushes we have chosen for each.
Powder, Cream or Liquid: Which Blush Suits You?
The difference is in how each one sits on skin. Powder rests on the surface and softens shine, so it wears well on oilier skin and is the easiest to control with a brush. Cream melts into skin rather than sitting on it, so it looks fresher on dry skin and leaves a soft sheen. Liquid is the lightest of the three: a little goes a long way, it dries down to a stain-like finish, and it suits you if you prefer your skin to show through. A useful rule is to match like with like. Powder blush goes over powder, after you have set your base. Cream and liquid go over liquid or cream foundation, before any powder, so they blend into it instead of dragging.
Powder Blush
A powder blush is the classic choice, and the most forgiving if you are new to blush, because you can add colour a little at a time. Chanel Joues Contraste Blush is a finely milled powder that can be swept on lightly for a sheer flush or layered for more colour, and its compact holds a mirror and a brush for touch-ups. Clinique Blushing Powder Blush builds from sheer to more defined in the same way, with a brush included in the case. Guerlain Terracotta Blush is a pressed powder made for seamless layering and a sun-kissed flush. Sensai Blooming Blush pairs two tones, with a translucent white powder to adjust the luminosity, and comes with its own brush.
Cream and Stick Blush
A cream blush is the choice when you want cheeks that look lit from within rather than powdered. A stick is the simplest way to wear it: swipe directly onto the cheek, then blend with your fingertips, whose warmth helps the colour melt in. Glam of Sweden Cream Blush Stick is a slim, creamy stick with a satin finish and a cream-to-powder texture. Essence Baby Got Blush Blush Stick twists up for quick, buildable colour and is small enough to carry in a handbag. Gosh Blush Up Cream Blush has a silky cream texture in a tube with a sponge tip, and pearlescent pigments for a luminous finish.
Liquid Blush
A liquid blush gives the most natural-looking result, and the most colour for the least product, so start with a single drop. Work quickly, before it sets, and blend with fingertips or a damp sponge. Chanel Les Beiges Eau de Blush Water-Fresh Blush is a water-fresh fluid made for a sheer result rather than dense colour; shake it gently before use. Essence Baby Got Blush Liquid Blush has a lightweight liquid texture designed for seamless blending, in a small tube. Bare Minerals Complexion Rescue Highlighting Blush is a gel-cream in a tube that brings colour and a light-catching glow together, with hyaluronic acid and squalane in its formula.
- Les Beiges Eau de Blush Water-Fresh Blush
- Baby Got Blush Liquid Blush
- Complexion Rescue Highlighting Blush
Which Blush Shade Suits Your Undertone?
Your undertone is the colour beneath the surface of your skin, and it stays the same whether you are pale in winter or tanned in summer. Three simple checks help. Look at the veins on the inside of your wrist in daylight: blue or purple suggests cool, green suggests warm, and a mix suggests neutral. Think about which jewellery flatters you: silver tends to suit cool undertones, gold warm ones, and both suit neutral. And notice how your skin meets the sun: if it burns easily it often leans cool, if it tans readily it often leans warm.
- Cool undertones: soft pink, rose, raspberry and berry. Shades that lean orange can look muddy.
- Warm undertones: peach, apricot, coral and warm terracotta. Very cool, blue-based pinks can look chalky.
- Neutral undertones: most shades work. Dusty rose and mauve are the easiest place to start.
Fair, Medium or Deep: Matching Blush to Depth
Depth decides intensity. On fair skin, soft and light shades read as a natural flush, while a deep berry can look like a stripe, so use a light hand. On medium skin, rose, coral and warm pink show clearly without looking stark. On deep skin, light pastel shades can turn ashy, so choose richer, more saturated colour: berry, plum, brick, deep coral and rich terracotta all show beautifully. Whatever your depth, a quick test helps. Pinch your cheek gently and look at the colour that appears. A blush close to that shade will look like your own.
Where Should Blush Go?
Smile, and find the fullest part of your cheek, the apple. Place colour there, then blend it up and back along the cheekbone towards the top of your ear. Keeping blush above the line of your nostril, and no closer to the nose than the centre of your eye, gives a lifted look. Sweeping it a little higher, towards the temple, is softer and more sculpted. For a sun-flushed effect, take the last of the colour across the bridge of the nose. To soften a round face, place it slightly higher and further back; on a longer face, keep it on the apples.
How Do You Blend Blush?
- Start with less than you think. Tap excess powder off the brush, or use a single dot of cream or liquid.
- Blend outwards and upwards in small circles or soft taps, never in a hard line.
- Build in thin layers, checking in daylight between each.
- If you have used too much, buff over it with a clean brush, or press a little foundation over the edges with a sponge.
- For colour that lasts, layer a touch of powder blush over a cream or liquid one in a similar shade.
Where to Begin
Choose the texture that suits your skin, then the shade that suits your undertone, with a richer colour the deeper your skin. If you are choosing just one blush, take a powder or cream in a soft rose or peach close to your natural flush, and build from there.
