Where to apply your blush

You may have heard this little makeup tip about where to properly apply your blush. Well, when you smile the biggest part of your cheeks that puffs out is the so-called apple. Some photographic examples showing the right area to apply the blush onto should give you the right idea.

To achieve an anti-aging effect you want the blush to be subtle

When you are younger you can get away with misapplied blush, it won’t kill you. But as you age, blush becomes trickier and in fact it can be one of your biggest makeup pitfalls. For one thing, you want the blush to give you a natural rosy glow. Yet, at the same time you don’t want it to show and draw an on-lookers attention. Your eyes should always look most prominent for makeup over forty because this gives an illusion of a lifted face. You never want to have your blush be too strong otherwise it drags the center of visual gravity down from the eyes to the cheeks, which ages you.

The reason over blushed red cheeks ages you is that it draws attention to facial wrinkles under the eyes as well as around the nose and mouth (think of a clown). Noisy, over blushed cheeks detract from the flawless look you want. You want a large swath of continuous skin in a smooth tone, unmarred by obvious makeup demarcations. It definitely looks most flattering (and anti-aging) when the physical feature of your eyes stands out more than your cheeks.

Minimizing your crow’s feet or under eye wrinkles

There is also another big pitfall of blush which has to do with those pesky under eye wrinkle and smile lines. If you inadvertently apply the blush too high up on the cheeks, it goes into the under-eye wrinkle territory. Since many mature women have aging crinkles and wrinkles under the eyes, you don’t want the blush going there. Any color that sets down into those wrinkles is going to darken them (think of red blood vessels) and make them stand out, so not good to showcase wrinkles! Blush is going to set right into those laugh lines so you need to keep the blush away from wrinkles. After you’ve applied concealer and a light foundation, it’s best to keep blush color totally away from crow’s feet. Apply it just under that area of the eyes, and blend softly instead.

Blush that looks severe

Well you should know that you don’t want the blush to look like two big round obvious circles. Some women mistakenly take that little faux pas to the complete opposite extreme however. It’s when you see this severe horizontal (think war paint) blush application that I am referred to. This is also another no-no. If the blush shows up as a visible horizontal harsh line going from outer lip towards ear, it’s also bad. It cuts up the face and wrecks your flawless younger look. So, avoid both circles and horizontal slashes with the blush.

Target zones for blush for the older woman

If you are using a jumbo makeup brush to apply the blush, be sure to gently apply the blush at the apples (below crow’s feet) and blend back with the brush towards the ear. All you need is a little bit of blush in a color not far off from your foundation. It should look natural and help to vanquish a tired looking face. Remember to keep the brush away from the wrinkles lines, apply only just enough to add color and blend well back towards the edges of the face. Don’t get blush into your crow’s feet wrinkles and also don’t get blush in too close around to the nose area. Both of these will make your skin look older.

If you use crème blush apply right at the apples (smile and it would be right where someone would pinch your cheeks). Again, blend well and back towards the outer part of the face. Another tip is that if you can see a blush demarcation line at your ears then you have applied too much, or the color is too dark, or both. Harsh colors can contribute to looking like you are wearing a makeup mask, so keep color tones subdued and natural. It really only takes a little bit of blusher and be sure to choose a natural looking shade. I hope you enjoyed this simple tip about blusher. I promise that avoiding bad blush application will help you achieve that flawless makeup look that you desire!