IMAGE Business Club members on the small habits that have improved their productivity
IMAGE Business Club members on the small habits that have improved their productivity

Sarah Finnan

Tried & Tested: IMAGE staff shares their favourite hydration hero
Tried & Tested: IMAGE staff shares their favourite hydration hero

IMAGE

Weekend Guide: 9 of the best events happening across Ireland
Weekend Guide: 9 of the best events happening across Ireland

Sarah Gill

Co-founder of the Hygiene Hub Ciára Dalton: ‘I wanted to make a tangible difference’
Co-founder of the Hygiene Hub Ciára Dalton: ‘I wanted to make a tangible difference’

Sarah Finnan

Winter wreaths you can use year after year
Winter wreaths you can use year after year

Megan Burns

There’s a new hydration mist on the market, and it didn’t come to play
There’s a new hydration mist on the market, and it didn’t come to play

IMAGE

Long live Irish shopping: inside Irish boutiques
Long live Irish shopping: inside Irish boutiques

Sarah Finnan

Dr Caroline West’s guide to talking to your teenagers about consent
Dr Caroline West’s guide to talking to your teenagers about consent

Megan Burns

This Art Deco Donnybrook house has been adapted for multi-generational living
This Art Deco Donnybrook house has been adapted for multi-generational living

Megan Burns

Havana Boutique owner Nikki Creedon on subversive monochrome
Havana Boutique owner Nikki Creedon on subversive monochrome

Suzie Coen

Image / Beauty

Natural flush: How to make the most of high-colour cheeks


By Aisling Keenan
13th Mar 2020
Natural flush: How to make the most of high-colour cheeks

My own natural flush steered me away from blush for years, but then I discovered the best way to build on what I have going on naturally…


Blush was never something I thought I could wear. My cheeks, unfortunately for me, always look flushed – but not in the soft, organised way that someone with an even complexion wearing blusher looks. My cheeks? Ruddy. I look permanently embarrassed, with uneven dots of colour springing up all over my face like an updating heat map.

The colour is unreliable, sometimes puce, sometimes pink, sometimes even orange. I covered it up and avoided blush so as not to add to the situation. But I’ve had a glorious, blush-wearing last few years since I learned the tricks. Depending on the day, I’ll choose to either conceal my natural colour or embrace and work with it – both are fine.

CONCEAL

If you’re not in the humour of working with your colour…

  • Hydrate your skin really well first
  • Use a green colour corrector targeted on the areas you get most colour
  • Blend that well and follow with a warm-toned foundation (the green colour can sometimes wash out your normal skin)
  • If needed, concealer on the area can provide extra coverage
  • Lastly, I’d recommend using powder and then powder blush on top of all of that – you’ll have created a great base and can place the colour wherever you want it

EMBRACE

If you want to work with your natural colour…

  • Start with great hydration again – if you like, use a green-tinted moisturiser like this one from It Cosmetics
  • Next use a medium coverage foundation to even out your skin
  • Don’t powder just yet!
  • If you can wait a few minutes to let your foundation settle in to see your natural colour coming through, do
  • Then, use cream blush: I find that it melts in to your skin more easily and therefore looks more natural
  • Less is more here – start with a small amount and look at yourself from all angles to see what the colour you’ve added looks like with the rest of your skin

The cream blushes I go back to time and again are:

natural flush

Bobbi Brown Pot Rouge in Calypso Coral

€28 from brownthomas.com

natural flush

Fenty Beauty Matchstix in Yacht Life

€28 from fentybeauty.com

natural flush

Nars Liquid Blush in Luster

€28 from spacenk.com


Read more: The expert guide to AW19’s easiest beauty trend, healthy flush blush

Read more: Five sheer and dewy cream blushers for healthy, flushed skin

Read more: 5 Beautiful Blushers For Your Beauty Bag

Photo from Unsplash