Beauty
Every Celebrity You Know Is Into This Super-Specific Blush Placement Right Now
It’s all about draping, darling.
Blushing is associated with many things, embarrassment and shyness, brides and dolls — generally all things relating to innocence and girlishness. But this season, blush is bolder, brasher, and being worn by all the coolest girls you know.
At the 2024 Met Gala, in particular, many stars showed up to the “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion”-themed affair interpreting the “Garden of Time'' dress code in bright, chipper floral ensembles and extreme, first-thing-you-notice hot pink blush. The most notable of the night included Cynthia Erivo, Greta Lee, and Ayo Edebri’s makeup looks, which all seemed to recall a memorable 2017 Rihanna Met Gala look, where she wore a dress of 3D petals and fuchsia blush draped dramatically from her eyelids to her temples and cheeks.
Blush draping originated in the 1970s and is credited to Cher’s then makeup artist Way Bandy, who first called the technique “color glow.” The makeup technique is all about using blush essentially as a colorful contour. By placing blush higher and applying it more heavily around the cheekbones and temples it gives the illusion of higher, more prominent cheekbones. The bright pink shade gives it a hyper feminine vibe opposed to overly angular like a cool-toned contour or sun-kissed.
The more-is-more look has also been gaining popularity far outside of the confines of floral themed events. See the softer side of blush draping with Camila Cabello’s fairy-like glow or the ’80s-equse jolt of neon as seen on Charli XCX.
The look is highly customizable for your skin tone, occasion, and general level of bravery. As long as you pack on the pigment and blend out the blush high on the temples and the outer perimeter of the face (rather than centered on the apples of the cheeks and nose), you’re doing it right. To dip a toe into the trend, try a lighter, candy shade with a shimmery finish that merges together blush and highlighter for a more subtle look. Or you can always go full hilt with an electric matte pink that really pops.
