Advertisement

Deep blush: The ‘get a little color’ alternative for summer

Share

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Forget about getting a deep, dark tan this summer. The look is dated (see Snookie, Lindsay Lohan, etc.), and even when it’s achieved through ‘safe’ chemical means, it’s still not as healthy as letting your skin breathe and stay its natural color -- whatever that lovely hue may be.

But if you’re after a little more color on your face -- to layer over your SPF 50, of course -- don’t underestimate the brightening power of blush.

Advertisement

No, we’re not talking about the ‘natural’ blush shade the Bobbi Brown counter girl meticulously matched to your blushing cheeks. We’re talking about amped-up tones that add a youthful radiance while still jibing with your skin tone.

Although your intuition may be telling you to go lighter with blush in the summer months, heat and humidity tend to shorten the face time of both cream and powder blushes. And nothing looks healthier than a pop of candy color on the apples of your well-moisturized cheeks, paired with a swipe of mascara. Adorable at any age.

A good rule of thumb when shopping for an amped-up summer shade: Go either slightly deeper or slightly brighter than your ‘natural’ cheek shade.

So if your go-to shade is a dusty rose, stay in the blue-red family of blushes, but experiment with a dusting of deep magenta or burgundy. If peach is your color, check out a bright cantaloupe or a dark copper tone.

Of course darker and brighter colors require a lighter hand during application, but can also look pretty (and fake a bit of robustness) when dusted lightly over the bridge of the nose, the brow bones and the tip of the chin. You’ll be ditching that J. Lo bronzer in no time.

-- Emili Vesilind

Upper photo: Blush Subtil in Shimmer Coral Sunset by Lancome.

Advertisement

Lower photo: Frankly Scarlet Powder Blush by MAC. Credit: MAC

Advertisement