Your face powder is SO powerful. It’s a preternaturally powerful secret makeup weapon, and it’s capable of monumentally more than simply setting your base makeup. For starters, it can save you from a lifetime of leaving the house with unintentional clown cheeks.
This has happened to me on more than one occasion: I’ll leave the house thinking, “Dayum, my makeup looks fly!” but then I’ll walk by a mirror and think, “HOLY FREAKING CRAP! How did I leave the house with that much blush on my cheeks?!”
I get a little cray-cray with blush, man. There’s something about sweeping the color back and forth… I don’t know. It just makes me extremely happy. 🙂 But sometimes I get a little unintentionally heavy-handed with it and don’t realize what I’ve done until I catch a glimpse of myself in a window or mirror.
Most of the time when I go to something somewhere that will take more than a couple hours, I bring a pan of face powder with me (it’s almost always MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Medium Golden) and a powder brush for touch-ups, and I’ll also use that same powder and brush to tone down my blush when I notice that it’s too bright.
Just load your powder brush with powder, tap off the excess, and lightly swirl what remains back and forth on your cheeks. The powder will mix with your blush, diluting it and sheering out the color, thereby toning it down.
Also, if you’re ever out and about and notice that you maybe didn’t blend the edges of your blush as much as you could/should have, load that same powder brush with powder, and run it along the edges of your blush to diffuse them, and make a smoother gradient.
I’ve been doing this a lot lately, and it has basically saved me from myself, LOL! Try it sometime if you’re ever accidentally too heavy-handed with your blush.
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
A lovely blush color on your, Karen (screamin’ OR toned down, lol). I also notice that blush looks best on smiling faces. 🙂
Yes! Or goofy faces!
Alright, I need that blush. I’ve been wearing MAC Mocha every day and need to alternate. I forgot how much I love that Mineralize skin finish powder, too.
Melba is SO good. I went through a phase where I was wearing it 24/7 and then got distracted… You know how it goes. Get it!
I love that blush!! And, oh my gosh, for once it’s something I actually own!! I definitely need to get it out, it will be a nice change and perfect for the summer I think!! Could I also ask what you are wearing on your lips in the photos? I love the color!! Thank you :)!
Hi SophieN,
You should see my pan of Melba. It looks, um, well loved, LOL! I need to Unsung Hero it soon!
Funny you should mention the lipstick because EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. I wear it I get a ton of questions. It’s Tom Ford Skinny Dip, and it’s fabulous.
Great tip! So it isn’t just me! A few times I was a bit too enthusiastic about blush (Joues contraste, I loove u!), so this powder trick totally saved me!
I’m always enthusiastic about blush it seems, LOL! Chelsea in the comments here says that you can do something similar with cream blushes. Take your foundation brush (without any additional product on it) and run it along the edges to blend ’em out. GENIUS!
Great tip! Y’know, my fav brush for this kinda stuff is that Chanel one I mentioned once – it’s called the ‘blending foundation brush’ (#7), which in theory is for applying any type of foundation. But really, I never use it like that, I just blend all sorts of other products with it instead (highlighter, blush, bronzer, you name it) and it works incredibly well for that. Or I can also use it to go back in with extra powder to do some damage-control when I have to. Life saver! 😛
I do that all the time, otherwise I’d be looking like crazy most of the time.
I do something similar when I use cream blush. I take the foundation brush I used (I don’t add any extra, I just use what’s left on the brush) and blend out the edges.
That’s a great idea, Chelsea! I’m going to try that.
Sorry for being a little behind with my comment. That sounds like a great makeup tip. My problem is that I tend to avoid powder because my skin is very dry, but I notice that my makeup fades quickly. I would love a face powder that is good for very dry skin.
Hi there, Jane! Hope you don’t mind my answering here. As a powder user, the main things that helped me most with dryness were: first, avoiding powder foundations with talc in the ingredient list (talc just seems to suck the moisture right out of my skin; mica-only formulations seem much better instead, e.g., the ones from Lily Lolo or Inika); and second, making sure that before I ever put the powder on, my skin is both hydrated and very nourished.
The idea here would that healthy skin needs both water and oil – so what works for me is to use a suitable face oil together with a water-based cream on my face, and allowing them time to get absorbed for a few minutes before going in with the powder. I get clogged pores easily, but I’ve found that only means I should take care with the *type* of oil I use, rather than avoid oil completely. For me, hemp seed oil and raspberry seed oil have only benefited (and actually cleared) my skin. Then there’s also pomegranate seed oil that really relaxed and deeply nourished it too. Hope this is of some use!
Wow, that’s great info. Thanks LK!
Awesome, you’re very welcome! 🙂 Mind you, the pomegranate seed oil doesn’t smell too great, but does help skin *a lot* with nourishment & brightness. The other two I mentioned do both – they smell nice (nutty for the hemp seed, and nutty and fruity for the raspberry seed oil), and help out skin. There are literally tens of oil types out there to pick from. They also feel great once you apply them, and then spritz your favourite hydrating mist on top. Personally, I really like rose water for that, which also helps them absorb faster. After all this, I find that powders don’t feel so drying on my skin any more. 🙂
This is me with the clown cheeks on the regular. I usually sweep a layer of powder over everything in the summer but I hadn’t thought about using it specifically on bright blush blotches.
Thanks!
Also, I’m still really loving your photos lately. Give me your secrets please–are you just running them larger? Using new equipment? Hiring Patrick DeMarchelier?
Love that look of a flush of color- it looks great on you! If you haven’t tried it, Tarte’s Tipsy is similar and really nice too!
Thanks for the tip!
I’m still learning to apply blush despite wearing makeup since I was 11. I’ve seldom worn blush; I’m rather pale and it’s been a challenge finding blush colours which look natural for me. I’ve also been heavy handed when applying it as I’ve little practice. 🙂
Cheers!
If you have a blush that’s WAY too pigmented for your skintone, first hold your brush perpendicular to the surface of the blush, and gently tap (do not swipe!) the tips of the bristles on the blush. Then, holding the brush perpendicular to the back of your hand, gently tap the tips of the bristles on the back of your hand to remove excess product. Repeat the process with your pressed powder, tapping off the excess in the same spot on the back of your hand where you tapped off the excess blush. Now you’ve sheered out the blush my mixing it with your pressed powder, and have just the right amount of the blush/powder blend on the brush to apply to your face. Need to pick up a bit more? Gently tap your brush in the residue left on the back of your hand.