Blusher is a product adored by older women, for obvious reasons. A quick swirl restores a youthful bloom to a complexion that’s become less vibrant with age, while the latest flaw-blurring blushers are like an airbrush for mature skin. That said, many of us are clinging to an outdated application hack that can actually drag the face down, rather than visually lifting cheeks.
The old-school makeup advice is to give your widest grin, then apply where we see your cheek ‘apples’ pop out, but makeup artist Val Garland says it’s a hack that mature women should ditch.
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Grinning while applying blusher can lead to unflattering placement
‘Women smile, smile, smile and apply blusher but you’re not walking around with your face like that so it’s wrong,’ says Val, a makeup legend who has worked with everyone from Helen Mirren and Judi Dench to Kate Moss and Cindy Crawford. ‘You need to apply blusher to your resting b**** face!’
So adopt a neutral expression, and then ‘you want to put blusher higher and slightly further, so you’re creating that triangle of youth. You want that, so your face looks lifted,’ Val explains to GH. ‘Always blend your blusher outwards and upwards.’ Apply blusher too low (as easily happens with the ‘apples’ hack), and it’ll visually sag your face.
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Adopt a neutral expression and sweep blusher upwards towards the temples
To help give your face an extra lift, Val suggests using a fan brush and a bit of concealer on the back of your hand.
‘If I feel I’ve got a bit too much blusher too low, I’ll then take the brush in a C shape and use concealer to lift the blusher back up,’ she tells us, demonstrating the upward sweeping motion. ‘That makes the blusher lighter in the centre and pushes it up to the outer cheekbones and temples.’
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A fan brush is great for correcting and lifting, says Val
For the most effective lift, she advises leaving blusher to the very end of a mature makeup routine. ‘First, I’ll get the complexion right, get the highlight right so I’m creating a good structure for my face,’ she tells us. Trinny London Miracle Halo is one of her favourites for illumination, as ‘you don’t want sparkly bits. Or I might just use some Weleda Skin Food on the tips of my fingers and just tap that in for glow, instead of highlighter.’
Trinny London Miracle Halo
Credit: Trinny London
Weleda Skin Food
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She then advises adding bronzer to warm the face, ahead of cheek-lifting blusher. ‘You want “back from Ibiza vibes” but you don’t want to do bronzer all over because you just look orange. I think it’s nice to sweep it into the hairline, along the outside of the face and just a bit on the nose.’
Doing bronzer first helps to balance your look, and side-steps another common midlife blusher issue. ‘You don’t want to be too pink,’ she says. ‘You don’t want to look like you’re having a hot flush.’
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Bronzer is needed to balance blusher and stop it looking too pink
Val recommends using a liquid or cream blusher for the most natural, glowing-from-within look, and says it’s easy to find good formulas for all budgets. She rates Rare Beauty Soft Pinch for a mid-range buy, while e.l.f’s £8 Cameo Liquid Blush gets her nod as a great budget buy.
Rare Beauty Soft Pinch Liquid Blush
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e.l.f. Camo Liquid Blush
Credit: amazon
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