One of our longest-held beauty habits is smiling when applying blush. That and making a funny face when swiping on mascara. We’ve been doing it for so long that it almost happens automatically! But, we were today years old when we found out that smiling while applying blush isn’t actually correct.
Blush is a popular product, for sure, but in recent times the placement of blush has become even more important — largely thanks to TikTok. The most recent blush trend to go viral is known as the “blush sandwich”, according to Glamour, and involves applying blush much higher on the face than you’re probably used to.
Instead of placing blush on the apples of your cheeks, this trend involves stacking your contour above the hollows of your cheeks and applying blush on top — quite far above where you would usually apply a blush product as the intention here is to provide a lifted look to the face.
This aim behind not smiling while applying blush is much the same. While blush has long been brushed onto the apple of the cheeks as this is where your skin naturally goes rosy, as soon as you stop smiling, the blush doesn’t end up in a flattering part of the face, says makeup artist Alexandra Compton.
“Your blush placement will actually be lower with a straight face,” Compton told MindBodyGreen. According to Compton, this can create the illusion of drooping or sagging due to the placement of the blush. If you apply the product with a straight face, you’re able to see where the blush sits and create a more lifted look.
Smiling while popping on blush means the product can also settle into fine lines or creases on your skin, says Compton. Putting it on while holding a straight face can help prevent this from happening — to a certain extent.
While there aren’t any hard and fast rules to applying blush, trying out this new blush trick might prove useful and you just might come to prefer how it looks when applied with a straight face and sitting higher on your cheeks.
