The O Glow: The basics on blush, bronzer & highlighter
It’s true. Throughout my entire career, I’ve been told to apply blush so many different ways, it’s no wonder every client I meet is totally confused about where to put blush. But the reality is that blush exists because it creates the illusion you are in fact, blushing. This essentially means the “blush,” or the slight glow your face creates after a vigorous workout. This could mean a healthy flush from actually exercising or you know working out in “other” ways. Read the O Glow. I mean c’mon, Nars did not name their number 1 selling blush, Orgasm, for no reason.
So here’s the trick to making blush work for you, so you don’t look like a clown:
- Smile in a mirror & find the apples of your cheeks
- Using a blush brush that is the appropriate size for your face, start at the apple of the cheek & sweep to your upper ear, staying away from your eye area. You want to avoid putting blush around your eye socket & in the general eye area because you don’t want blush in your fine lines or wrinkles.
- After you have swept the blush brush from the apples of your cheeks to your ears, then blend the color out, whisking away any hard lines of demarcation & making the blush look natural. As you can see the word natural keeps popping up in all of my blogs about make-up & make-up application.
- My favorite blush brush is the flat top Kabuki brush (http://www.myimagejourney.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=600_602&products_id=1100134) sold at Authentic Beauty for $32.
- Again I must emphasize you need to blend & blend again & blend some more. You really don’t want racing stripes, read unnatural & awkward streaks of blush on your face. As a general rule of thumb, you need to stick to a more natural blush application; apply with a light hand. You do not want to apply blush incorrectly because it is incredibly distracting. This rule also applies for bronzer.
Bronzer is meant to only give you a touch of sun. That’s right, a touch. Bronzer is not supposed to replace a natural tan, a spray tan, a tanning lotion, a tanning bed or any of the above. A slight touch of bronzer on tan skin gives skin a sunkissed glow. It complements the skin like blush does. The sun hits us predominantly on the forehead, bridge of the nose & the cheeks, so put it in those places, no where else. Do not pile it all over your face and look like an Ooompah-Loompah. This, by the way, is the number 1 mistake that women make-applying too much bronzer. Bronzer is just like blush except, well, a different color. You wouldn’t cover your entire face in blush, now would you? No you wouldn’t, so why would you cover your entire face in bronzer? Ok hopefully everyone got my point. Ladies, be subtle, it’s a subtle highlight of the cheeks. And speaking of highlighting….
Highlighter is meant to highlight. It’s pretty simple; wherever you place light, you making a feature pop, you’ll bring it out. And wherever you put dark, you’ll create depth. The only, I repeat only, places you want to highlight are above the cheekbone & below the brow bone. Furthermore, the only time to highlight & contour a feature is when:
- You have professional instruction.
- You are in a photo shoot.
- You are in very dark lighting & will be for the entire time you wear that make-up. Do not highlight or contour in natural light. That’s why they say, “drag queens paint their faces in the dark.” Their make-up is harsh, abrupt & pretty darn vile, if you ask me. Hello they’re guys trying to be girls. You are women being women. See the difference?
Elizabeth Taylor’s perfume ads are the perfect example of contouring done right. She looks incredibly sculpted and gorgeous with everything in place. Next time you want to contour, try to keep this in mind. But be warned, most women need little or no contouring or highlighting if their make-up is done correctly. HOWEVER..this was for a photo. If you see this in the natural light you would be offended!
Until next time! BROWS AND LASHES NEXT WEEK!!!!
