When you apply blush in the right shape to flatter your face, it has an amazing ability to play up your best features. And it doesn’t take long to master at all.
First things first, spend a few minutes of quality time with your mirror to determine your face shape. This step will feel familiar if you’re a fan of contouring, but you certainly don’t have to be an expert to figure it out! Our favorite way to find your face shape involves a mirror and a dry-erase marker or an old lipstick. Pull your hair back and take a look in the mirror. Using the marker or lipstick, trace the outline of your face right on the mirror, following the contours of your chin, cheek and hairline. Step out of the way and look at the shape you traced. Compare it to the descriptions below – whichever it most closely matches is your face shape!
- Heart Shaped: Your forehead is the widest part of your face, your cheekbones are prominent and your chin is pointed. Picture Reese Witherspoon.
- Round: The measurements around your face are equal and have gently rounded corners. Mindy Kaling is a round-faced beauty!
- Oval: Your forehead is larger than your jawline, your face length is longer than the width of your cheekbones and the angle of your jaw is slightly rounded. Tyra Banks is a good example.
- Square: The width of your forehead, cheekbones and jaw are all nearly the same, with straight sides and a fairly flat jawline. Olivia Wilde shows off her angular features!
- Diamond: You have a pointed chin and high cheekbones, with a narrower hairline. Picture Selma Blair’s sharp-yet-subtle bone structure.
If you’re having a hard time narrowing it down, don’t worry. The most common face shape is oval, so if you’re not sporting any particularly prominent features, our tips for oval faces are a good place to start.
RELATED: How to Contour Any Face Shape
Choose the Right Tools to Apply Blush
If your idea of a blush brush is the tiny little plastic one that comes with drugstore brands, you’re not alone. If that’s all you’ve used, you’ll be amazed at the results you get from a pro-quality brush! To pair with our Perfect Blush, the Angled Blush Brush #03 is a must-have. You’ll be able to get all of the below looks with just that tool, but it’s also a good idea to have the Small Tapered Powder Brush #19 on hand for even more precise placement.
We like to apply blush as the final step of our makeup, because it allows us to add the perfect amount of color to complement whatever eye look we’ve chosen. When your face and eyes are good to go, gather your blush and brushes and read on!
How to Apply Blush to a Heart-Shaped Face
Heart-shaped faces have naturally prominent (and naturally gorgeous!) high cheekbones. Our first goal is to accentuate them with blush. Picture a ‘C’ shape from the top of your cheekbones up to the top of your temple and follow this shape with your blush. Concentrate a bit more color on your cheeks and then pull it upwards, diffusing it toward your hairline. You can also add a bit of color to the center of your forehead to help balance its width with your narrow chin.
How to Apply Blush to a Round Face
Because round faces tend to have such soft features, our goal is to make the cheekbones pop. Instead of applying blush directly onto the apples of the cheeks, aim a little lower down for a lifted effect. Blend the color out toward your hairline and not in toward your nose, which can actually make your face look rounder. Choose a matte blush for a polished, professional look, as shimmer-packed formulas have a tendency to look a little cherubic on round cheeks! Go for the velvety matte shades of Perfect Blush: numbers 01, 02, 07, 08, 10 and 11.
How to Apply Blush to an Oval Face
Oval faces are fairly proportionate, usually with somewhat prominent cheeks and a narrower chin and forehead. This makes blush application especially forgiving! Find the most prominent part of your cheekbone and start there. Using soft strokes, blend it up toward the temple. Add just a touch above the temple, too. The only place to really avoid when adding blush to oval-shaped faces is below the cheekbone – leave that area for a darker contour or you could end up looking wind-burned rather than rosy.
How to Apply Blush to a Square Face
Square faces tend to have cheekbones that are the same width as your chin, blush is a great way to help those cheekbones stand out! Define them by applying blush to the apples of your cheeks and then pulling the color softly upwards and outwards, toward the lower side of your cheekbones. Avoid sweeping the color too much horizontally, because this can create the illusion of a wider face. We also love adding a hint of blush along the hairline just above the temples, which softens more angular features.
How to Apply Blush to a Diamond Face
Diamond-shaped faces are similar to oval faces, but typically have a more pointed chin, narrow hairline and defined cheekbones. You can follow similar guidelines, using blush to accentuate your well-proportioned face shape. Like oval faces, diamond shapes should avoid putting blush below the cheekbone. Instead, circle blush onto the tops of your cheekbones and pull it out to your hairline. This will draw attention to your beautifully defined features, so get ready to turn heads!
RELATED: We Have a Blush Crush
Now that you have the shape and technique down, take a look at our tips for choosing the right color blush to flatter your skin tone! We’d love to see how your new blush knowledge is making your features shine. Tag us in your before and after photos!
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