As we age, our skin loses its natural elasticity, and wrinkles and fine lines become more pronounced. While blush can bring color to our cheeks, using the wrong formula can actually emphasize texture and aging skin. So, what’s the solution?
According to professional makeup artists, it’s time to ditch the powder blush and switch to a liquid or cream type. Not only do these products offer a more youthful, glowing and radiant finish, but they’re also easier to blend and build for a customizable look.
Read on for tips and suggestions from pro MUAs Margina Dennis and Mandie Brice, and to discover the benefits of liquid/ cream blush, as well as insight for finding the perfect shade for your skin tone.
Pro MUAs Reveal the Secret to Youthful Blush: Cream & Liquid
The best kind of blush for aging skin, Dennis says, is a "cream or liquid formula that doesn't have shimmer or glitter." Powder and shimmer formulas, she warns, can "draw more attention to texture and wrinkles" without realizing. "I would also shy away from the powder formulas because they can sometimes draw attention to texture in the skin," she stresses.
Brice agrees, and notes that mature skin naturally tends to be drier and have more texture. "A liquid or cream blush will glide onto skin much more easily," she notes. Powder makeup can "dry the skin and make texture or wrinkles stand out a bit more," she reiterates.
"Cream tends to be a little easier to blend and work with for beginners than liquid," she points out. "The reason I recommend to use one that doesn't have shimmer or sparkle is because that aspect often that exacerbates the look of wrinkles as well," she adds.
How to Master Application & Find Shades for Your Skin Tone
When adding blush as a step in your makeup routine, Dennis advises "applying on the cheekbone to give the illusion of lifting the face." She also says to "blend up and back towards the ears." As for a color choice, Dennis says that "rose, cool peach, coral, terracotta and soft reds" all "promote youthfulness."
Brice says that a good guideline for picking the right blush color is understanding undertones. "If you look better in gold jewelry, you're likely a warm undertone, and colors that have more of a red base will be best, like corals, bronze-toned pinks, and even a muted red," she suggests.
If you're cool toned, Brice notes that "silver jewelry looks best on you, and you can do blushes with a hint of blue, like more purple-ish pinks." Neutral undertoned people can wear any color for the most part, she continues (lucky you!) and you can base it off "what you're wearing on the rest of your face, like your eyeshadow or lipstick."
Some brands, she concludes, use either "warm" or "cool" or "neutral" (or N, C, W) in the names of the colors, "which can be super helpful as well." Good to know!
