How to Apply Blush for Your Face Shape

Blush not only gives you a pop of colour, if applied correctly it can change your facial structure, just as contouring or highlighting would. Whether you want your face to look more defined, or feel it needs softening up, a blush can help you achieve this.

First, you need to distinguish your face shape. Read further to find the perfect place you should brush your blush.

Oval Shaped Face

Oval faces are considered the ideal face shape due to the proportional features and prominent cheekbones. It is here that you should concentrate on applying your rouge.

You can identify the most prominent part of your cheekbone by simply pressing around that area, looking for the apple of your cheeks. Alternatively, smiling will reveal the most protruding parts of your cheeks. Once found, softly blend in an upwards motion then sweep back towards your ear. This will give your cheekbones even more definition.

Although you want to highlight your cheekbones, do this with subtlety. The blush on your brush should be light, tapping off any excess. This will result in a natural look and accentuate the contours of your face.

Square Shaped Face

If your forehead is the same width as your cheekbones and chin, then you have a square shaped face. As the sides of your face are straight and your jawline sharp, you can draw attention to the roundest part of your face - the apples. Applying your blusher here will soften your your features.

In a circular motion, gently sweep your blush around your apples and blend out towards the corner of your brow. This will round and soften the face by drawing attention to the width around the cheeks instead of the jaw.

Be careful - brushing your blush too near to the sides of your face will widen it. Instead, use the centre of your face as the focal point.

Heart Shaped Face

Those with a long face, narrow chin and prominent cheekbones have a heart-shaped face. The aim is to soften the chin, so application of your blusher needs to be under your cheekbones, swept upwards towards the ear.

You do not want your blusher to be too bright so tap off any excess - less is more. Apply in a “C” shape starting under your cheekbone and sweep the blush towards your ear, similar to how you would contour.

The idea here is that you are creating a blended look rather than focusing solely on the cheeks. See it as lightly shading your face by applying more blusher to the cheekbone, less as your sweep nearer to your ear. This will create an illusion that will soften the chin.

Round Shaped Face

Those with a rounded face and jawline will want to create more definition. Your cheeks are the fullest part of your face, therefore avoid applying blusher directly on that area as this will draw attention to them and further round your face.

Suck your cheeks in and sweep your blush underneath, towards your temples. This will slim the face and give you more cheekbone definition. It will create more angles on your face, and take away the rounded finish. For the best results, use an angled brush for application.

Always sweep in an outwards direction. Applying blush near your nose, or the centre of your face will focus the attention to your cheeks and round your features further. Opt for a matte blush, avoiding cream ones as these are harder to manipulate and create angles with.

Don’t let the shape of your face stop you from having a killer bone structure. Accentuating the correct areas creates the perfect illusion, meaning you can have those chiselled cheekbones you always desired.