The Beauty of Neutral Blushes

For the past two years, I have been a devotee of berry-toned and crimson blushes, really loving the looks of an accented red cheek to match my favorite strong lipcolors and to provide extra drama to my very fair skin. Yet, as they say, variety is the spice of life, and as a result, my tastes in blush have done a complete 180 from the red blush look. Have I become entranced by the dolly-faced pale pinks with which I began my makeup-wearing days? No. Have I decided to liven things up with a punchy coral? No. My choice of flush is he most understated neutral.

Though they never look like much in the pan, shades of mauve, dusty rose, and tawny peach offer more to the skin than it might seem for any look, in any season, and any skintone. Here are the three main reasons why I've fallen so much for neutral blush.

Placement Does Not Have to Be Precise: Regardless of whether you've heard that blush should be placed on the applies of the cheek, on the cheekbones, somehow both, or be used in the hollows, wearing a bright blush often puts more pressure on getting the application technique absolutely perfect. Yet, bright powders easily can go astray, and any misstep not only looks obvious but is also often difficult to swipe away. Neutral-toned blushes, being inherently more muted harmonize perfectly with the skin wherever you put them and diffuse seamlessly as the light hits the various planes of your face whether they are placed exactly where you meant to or not.

They Are Built-In Color Balancers: Sometimes finding the right blush tone is a chore, especially on a morning when you are really tired. On the one hand, you feel like you need a flush of color, and pack on layers and layers of the brightest coral or pink to perk yourself back up. By the midday mirror-check, however, the look of a flush may turn into looking overly hot and bothered Though my skin is very pale, I am quite prone to redness and my skin begins to flush the instant I walk around outside or do anything even mildly active. Neutral blushes are the perfect go-between for perking me up in the morning without looking like too much in the heat of the day. In fact, I find that wearing a neutral blush actually helps tone down the excess ruddiness in my skin when I do flush a bit more, keeping my overall look in balance.

They Go With *Literally* Anything: Unsurprisingly, neutral blushes are very easily the most versatile. Because they don't start off obviously flushy, they take well to layering for a more dramatic effect or can be the perfect touch of color for a natural, no makeup makeup look. Of course, if you want the eyes or the lips to be a focal point, neutral blushes finish out the look without competing for visual attention or clashing with other bright colors elsewhere on the face. They are also great for if you want to experiment with both warm tones and cool tones in your makeup routine, especially in one singular look as they will bring the tones from both color families together, even if the neutral blush does err to either the cool or the warm side.

As you can tell, I have truly been enjoying discovering the merits of these "sleeper" shades of the blush world. What has been your favorite beauty discovery lately? Feel free to share in the comments section below the article.