Put some colour in your cheeks: why blusher is all you need right now

Yahoo

2 days ago

Sometimes blusher gets sidelined by beauty consumers: After all, a scarlet lipstick makes a louder, smarter, sharper make-up statement. A glistening eyeshadow gives a more glamorous, glossy look. But I think we've got this wrong. My desert island beauty product would be blusher. And I think yours should be, too.
Because if our eyes are the windows to our soul, it is our cheeks that reveal the truth in our heart. Flushed with love? Desire? Delight? Exuberant? Exhilarated? Afraid? No other body part so openly discloses our feelings. Flushed cheeks are — to me — vitality, life force and beauty defined.
And I'm not alone. Over the decade that I covered fashion week shows — hundreds of them, from London to Paris, New York to Milan — I heard designers in the tiny backstage beauty areas praise the 'perfect flush' time and time again. They enlisted the world's finest make-up artists to recreate perfect iterations on their models, from the radiant blush of first love, to cheeks freckled and ruddy from the sun, or that pinched prettiness that comes with a frosty winter walk.
Blush has been a make-up mainstay for thousands of years. In ancient Egypt ochre was rubbed onto the cheeks, while the early Greeks used crushed mulberries and aristocratic Romans turned to red vermilion. By the start of the 20th century French companies, such as Bourjois and Guerlain, began to produce the stuff at scale — and demand hasn't stopped since.
'Across cultures and centuries, a hint of colour on the cheeks has always been associated with youth, vitality, emotion and beauty,' says make-up artist Ninni Nummela. 'It mimics health and radiance. Whether softly blended or boldly sculpted, it adds depth and dimension, delivering an instant lift.' Fellow face painter Celia Burton agrees. 'Blush brings a face to life,' she says. 'At its core, it's linked to youth: colour in the cheeks signals vitality. But beyond that, it adds charm and joy. We're currently returning to a more honest approach to make-up, where we enhance what's already there, celebrating the natural tones that show up in the face. You can't do that authentically without blush.'
Our current fascination with real skin, plus more minimal beauty approaches such as the clean girl aesthetic, have sparked a blusher renaissance that feels less like a trend and more like a homecoming. Social media platforms and real faces have begun to reclaim blush as not just a finishing touch but as a focal point.
Importantly, too, this is the kind of magic that suits us all. There's a thrilling universality to blush that few other beauty products can claim. It transcends age, gender and skin tone. The shift is also powered by innovation: today's formulas go far beyond the chalky, sparkly iterations of yore. Creams, balms, gels and tints that range from sheer to satin and matte to dewy allow for a seamless spectrum of finishes that work with your skin and better mimic a natural finish.
Victoria Beckham's new Colour Wash Blush Water Tints are a case in point. Sitting somewhere between a stain and a gel, they are infused with activated sea water and come in three shades: coral (my fave), flushed (VB's go-to) and vintage rose, delivering a modern, painterly finish that looks like it's your own and feels — even in a busy blusher market — rather unique. 'It's the flush you get after a fantastic laugh, a day in the sun … or any other invigorating reason cheeks might show a little colour. I can think of a few,' says Beckham. 'I always draw a bit across my nose and the top part of my cheeks, where the sun would naturally kiss you.'
Talking of application ... 'We've been applying it high on the cheekbones for years,' says Burton. 'Almost as an extension of contouring, but real blush doesn't show up there naturally. Think instead about how your face looks after exercise — the colour sits quite centrally on the apples of the cheeks, directly under the eyes and sometimes sweeps across the nose or hugs low along the jaw. Blush is about bringing a believable warmth to the face.' Nummela's top tip is about keeping it real too. 'Lightly pinch your cheeks to reveal the colour your skin turns, then choose a blush that closely matches that shade.'
Convinced? I do hope so.