What's the point of so many {cheek} products? #4

Blushes

Previous posts:

What's the point of all that make-up? #1 

The point of so many lip products. #2 

What's the point of so many eye products? #3

So you might think that the list of cheek products may be short - you apply blush to your cheeks, right? - but if you are someone who loves to accentuate your cheekbones or create a healthy flush, you might want to see how the following cheek make-up products work out for you.

Colour

To add colour to your cheeks, you are going to want a blush. Your blush can be a tint, cream, powder or lipstick and it can be applied to a bare face over primer for longer wear or over your foundation and setting powder to bring life back to your skin. Blush can transform your look or go very, very wrong.

I like to build up my blush in a few light layers to prevent overdoing it. If you are prone to clone face, try lightly swirling your brush in the blush and follow by tapping the brush before caressing your cheeks lightly with it. Place your brush slightly off-centre from the apples of your cheeks and then blend outwards to prevent intense circles of pink in the middle of your face.

• Cream blush - The slippery texture of a cream blush makes for easy blending and is also ideal for blush application on bare skin. Because cream blush is "sticky", it often lasts longer than a powder blush would and makes the perfect primer for powder blush when you want to extend its wear. Cream formulas are also sometimes used to create dewy and youthful finishes as it never sets completely matte.
• Powder blush - A big fluffy brush is essential for applying powder blush and those stiff little brushes that come with your blush compact are best left for dusting ornaments. Unlike cream blush, powder blush is difficult to apply and blend with your fingers but makes your transition from your contouring shade to your highlighter much smoother. Blush finishes can be matte, shimmery or satin.
• Cheek tint - A cheek tint can be used in much the same way as you would a cream blush and if you own the one, you don't need the other. The big difference between a cheek tint and a cream blush is the consistency. A cheek tint is more fluid with a gel consistency and can double as a lip tint.
• Highlighter - Once you've spent a lot of time sculpting out your cheekbones with a contour shade and warming it up with bronzer (to be covered as part of the "Face" post in this series), you want to accentuate the highest parts of your cheekbones and give a healthy glow to your skin. Some people absolutely hate this trend and prefer to look more natural and matte but for the rest of us on the highlighter/strobing train, a beautiful highlighter can be found in a cream or powder formula. Both formulas offer the same benefits and it really depends on your preference but take note that a highlighter applied too heavily, can emphasise crow's feet.

Finally, if this post makes your head spin or your wallet sigh, a lipstick or tinted lip balm can absolutely double as a cream blush and that pinkish eye shadow that you are still trying to figure out how to create a colourful smokey eye with, works just as well.

Let me know what type of blush you prefer.