I’ve learned that it’s all about what else I’m wearing on my eyes and lips, and for me, I’ve had the privilege of trying a lot of products that may not be “flattering” on me as someone else would tell me if I asked. This has allowed me to see an assortment of colors and pairings that are outside-the-box–some I’ve really enjoyed and others that I have to be more particular about what I pair it with.
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Honestly, I think part of it was actually applying the shades so I could see them. I was super afraid of blush for a long time when I was just starting out and felt that if people could see it, I was doing it wrong (so I applied the teeniest amount)! Now that I’m less afraid of building my blush up I can appreciate the shade and finish a lot more and differentiate between ones that I love and ones that just don’t do it for me. Kind of a no-brainer, really. Oh well.
Because my skin has a neutral olive undertone, the same shades that work on my lips also usually work out beautifully on my cheeks. Nothing too yellow, gray or blue-based, and I’m good to go. Everything from bright purple UD Bittersweet thru Nars vivid red-orange Fetishised and everything in between. The only thing I do need to watch out for is blushes, or anything really, that gives off an ashy look on my cheeks. This because even though I appear lighter in person than one would imagine someone with my foundation matches would, apparently, I have more color than is obvious even to my own eye! Probably because even with NC37 or Lancome N360, my skin has a very bizarre translucency to it.
Trial and error! The easiest thing I’ve learned to do is match my blush to my lipstick, so a coral lip with a coral blush, plum lip with plum blush. If I wear red on my lips I try to keep blush neutral/brown toned, more in the bronzer family. This has helped a lot, especially if you like colorful eyeshadow looks.
Mostly by swatching in store on the back of my hand. A lot of cool toned blushes look ashy on my skin, so those are ruled out easily. In general, I don’t like a lot of shimmer or frostiness, so that rules out super shimmery or metallic blushes. And finally, bright lipsticks (especially reds) can give me a “clown” look, so I assume intensely bright blushes would have the same issue.
Blush was the one makeup product that I wasn’t very adventurous with. Because I’m so fair, I used to be afraid to wear anything other than light pinks or peaches, applied very lightly. (The exception was a CoverGirl trio with three shades of lavender so you could contour your cheeks that I wore in college.) I wore BareMinerals Rose Radiance as a blush almost exclusively for 10+ years.
Reading the Phyrra Nyx blog (Courtney is pale with neutral undertones like myself) helped me realize I could wear a greater variety. Temptalia and its readers helped, in getting me to venture into brighter shades. Now I’m not afraid to wear my blush a little more heavily. I’ve found plums and purples look great on me and I love them. I even sometimes wear fuchsia, red, and tangerine blushes, as long as I can sheer them out some.
I think I always gravitated towards peachy shades. Certainly pink ones did not work for me and peach was the alternative that flattered my complexion and worked well with my overall colouring – which is a mixture of cool and warm tones.
I have a few staples that I rely on. Blush isn’t an area where I splurge as much. I am transitioning from NARS to other less expensive brands, and am looking for a good replacement for Orgasm. I wear that when I want a sheer, barely-there blush. Probably going to hit up Milani or Wet n Wild. That said, I feel pretty free to wear whatever color I want. Being more tan, I prefer to have colors that are more vivid so that they will show up – I just use a lighter hand and blend out more on screaming colors like Taj Mahal, or Exhibit A. But I usually coordinate my eyes and blush with whatever clothing I’m wearing unless I want a barely-there cheek. It just depends on how I feel.
There are some really pretty blushes out there, but I just haven’t been moved to buy many of them. I may replenish Taj Mahal, though, because I don’t think I’ve seen anything quite like it by anyone else. Lovejoy is also a favorite, a blush that is also good when I don’t want to bother contouring. I may replenish that too when the time comes.
I don’t think I *have* figured it out. I suppose I gravitate toward coral-y colors — especially ones that lean orange — when I’m doing “no makeup” looks, but I have no clue how I got there. When I have anything other than a “nude” face, what looks good on me is heavily dependent on the rest of my makeup.
Mostly intuition, with some trial and error and a little bit of trying to look for current shades that are similar to blushes I used to wear.
I have tried plenty. I think pinks are the most suitable son my skin which is cool toned fair with some pink or reddish undertone. Pinks, peaches, corals, and very light maybe such as the one from Cover Girl in medium shade but applied very light handed. Actually all of them I blend well it I’ll look like a clown. I been using the WetnWild Cat Walk highliter to diffuse them a bit and it works well and I get a faint satiny glow with it.
I finally asked my hair stylist and she told me that I look best in coral, and I agree with her on that. Same goes for lipstick. I’m neutral with pink undertones and I had been choosing the wrong makeup shades forever. I discovered Temptalia not long after that and y’all made such a big difference for me!!