I want to talk about blush placement. I have one way of doing it on most face shapes, but I am curious if people have different feelings about it. I certainly see enough of my blushing pet peeve around: really red and dead center of cheeks, beside the nostrils.

I am big on clean beauty. Many times I won't even do blush on myself, but I will admit a face looks kind of undone without a hint of blush, especially if you've made the skin tone very even and very bright.

Technically, there is a recommended blush pattern for every shape of face, but I usually do one general technique. I like to start at the outer third of the eye, right at the arch of the eyebrow. Below the eye, and above the lower tip of the ear, I set my initial deposit of color. Then, I blend upwards toward the hairline.

These "measurements" proportion themselves nicely to most face shapes. I find that it works for long face shapes, round face shapes and everything in between. It's only with really wide faces that I adjust a little bit, pulling the start inward a little bit closer to the nose, but still not dead-center on the apple of the cheek.

I am not a fan of setting blush right in the middle of the apple of the cheek for everyday wear. If I'm doing an editorial interpretation of "lovely" style, that would be perfect, but for everyday looks and typical event makeup, I would never. I think the more you go toward the center of the face, the 'dirtier' and thus not-clean it looks. Blending blush over the nose especially, gives me a feel of being overheated. Keeping it kind of to the side of the face feels like a dainty flush; it feels demure and elegant.

Below is a set of photos, left side showing my preferred map, right side showing my hated blush map. You can click the photo below to view my comparison gallery of a side-by-side do and don't, just the do side and just the don't side.

My eyebrows are super uneven, sorry about that. I keep giving imaginary speeches in the midst of doing makeup and I forgot I wasn't quite finished when I moved on from my eyebrows :[