Where to Put Blush: A Simple Guide by Face Shape

Blush is the fastest way to make a face look alive, and the fastest way to make it look odd. The colour is rarely the problem. Placement is.

The one rule that covers most of it

Keep blush above the line of your nostrils, and outside the line of your pupils.

Look straight ahead in a mirror. Anything applied below that first line drags the face downwards. Anything applied inside the second line, too close to the nose, reads as flushed rather than lifted. Stay inside those two boundaries and it is very hard to go wrong.

By face shape

These are starting points, not rules. Faces are not really six shapes.

• Round - apply slightly higher, on the upper cheekbone, and sweep the colour back towards the temple. Angling the blush upwards adds length.
• Oval - apply to the apple and blend outwards along the cheekbone. Most placements work; do not overthink it.
• Square - keep it rounder and slightly more central, on the apple, to soften a strong jaw. Avoid hard angular sweeps, which echo the jaw line.
• Heart - apply a touch lower and wider, sweeping outwards, to balance a narrower chin.
• Long - apply horizontally across the cheek rather than angling up towards the temple. A horizontal placement visually shortens the face.

Why the brush matters more than people think

A large fluffy powder brush spreads colour over a wide, soft area. That gives you a general flush, not shape. If your blush always looks vague, that is usually why.

An angled head is cut so the longer edge follows the line of the cheekbone. It places colour along that line and diffuses the top edge in the same movement - so the placement is deliberate and the blend happens automatically. That is the whole design idea behind the No. 15 Blush Brush.

For cream and liquid blush, a densely packed head works better than a fluffy one - it presses colour into the skin instead of pushing it around on top. The tapered end of the Ambient Lighting Edit Brush handles that, and highlighter as well.

The application itself

1. Tap off the excess. Almost every blush mistake is too much product on the brush at the start.
2. Start at the outer edge, not on the apple. Lay the colour down where you want it darkest and work inwards - you will never end up with a stripe.
3. Smile if it helps you find the apple, then relax your face before you blend. Blush placed on a smiling face can sit oddly on a resting one.
4. Build in thin layers. Two passes, not one heavy one.
5. Check in daylight. Bathroom lighting hides both harsh edges and colour that is too warm.

Fixing blush that went too far

Do not wipe it off. Take a clean brush with no product on it and buff over the area in small circles - that alone diffuses most of it. If it is still too strong, press a little of your foundation over the edges with a sponge, then buff again.

Where highlighter goes

On the high point of the cheekbone, just above and slightly outside the blush, in a short sweep towards the temple. Blush and highlighter should meet, not overlap. A tapered brush keeps that band narrow - a fluffy one puts shimmer across the whole cheek.

If you want both tools together, the Base & Cheek Duo pairs the No. 15 with a foundation brush, and the full range is in Cheek & Highlight Brushes. Everything is held here in Ontario and ships free across Canada.