Beauty Post: The 5 Commandments of Blush

Blush is kind of tricky. With a slip of the wrist, you can end up looking like a clown if you're not careful. Allure magazine prepared 10 key commandments for their readers about how to apply blush so that you look as natural as possible.

KEEP IT BELIEVABLE
"The whole idea of putting color on your cheeks is to mimic a healthy glow," says makeup artist Laura Mercier. Though there's room for variation, roses like L'Oréal Paris True Match in Spiced Plum are best for pale skin, apricots such as Yves Saint Laurent Cream Blush in 01 work for medium complexions, and muted brick reds like Bobbi Brown Pot Rouge for Lips and Cheeks in Pink Truffle flatter dark skin.

FIND THE RIGHT FORMULA
For normal to dry skin: Try a cream blush, such as Paula Dorf Cheek Color Cream. "It blends in more easily than other formulations and generally looks a little more natural," says makeup artist Jillian Dempsey. "It's almost like an added layer of moisture."

For normal to oily skin: Go with a powder formula, like Nars Blush. It will last longer than a cream blush, which can migrate and fade.

For oily skin: A gel (which can be hard to blend on drier skin) stays put. Try Almay Smart Shade Blush

CHOOSE YOUR TOOLS WISELY
"For bright powder blush, a good fan brush is a must," says Dempsey. "It's best at distributing color evenly and creating a soft effect."

A fan or a big, fluffy brush works with other powder blushes, as long as it's soft. "The bigger brushes can be too thick, giving you too dense an application," says Dempsey. She likes both natural and synthetic bristles; goat- and pony-hair ones for their softness. For cream or gel blush, the best tool is your fingers.

CREATE A BASE
Blush can exacerbate redness and look blotchy on uneven skin. The fix? A great primer, says makeup artist Mally Roncal. "That way you have a smooth base for your blush to go over." We swear by the Best of Beauty–winning L'Oréal Paris Studio Secrets Professional Magic Perfecting Base.

POWDER FIRST
Even if your skin isn't oily, a layer of translucent powder (try Estée Lauder Lucidity Translucent Loose Powder) used as a primer for your powder blush will help the pigment go on uniformly and last longer, says Mercier. "If you like a dewy look and normally avoid powder, just powder the area where you'll be applying blush."

To view the complete commandment list click HERE