Of all the hacks out there, whether they be beauty, cleaning, recipe or otherwise categorised, my favourite ones are always the easy ones. Not the ones that only work when you’ve accumulated myriad different items or waited an extended period of time – the ones you can do right now, right here, with things you already own. The best. 

This week, hunting for simple tricks to try at home, I stumbled across a simple blusher technique. Shared by influencer Madi Prettyman, liquid blush is blended with a shimmering highlighter to create a fresh, holiday-dew flush. In my opinion, blush is one of the easiest ways to fake a good night’s sleep – it instantly refreshes the face and emulates the healthy glow of a brisk walk outside. So, a blush hack? Yeah, I’m listening.

Not a fan of highlighter (I usually sprint from anything flecked with shimmer), the thought of diluting the glitter with blusher drew me in. So, armed with a liquid blush (the YSL Nu Lip and Cheek Tint in shade 03) and a highlighter (the Refy Gloss Highlighter, £18) I set off to undo the effects of a sticky summer, an endless string of head colds and multiple bad nights’ sleep. 

While easy to do, you simply blend the blush with the highlighter, I found that I used much more of each than I would normally, trying to find the perfect mix between shine and pigment. However, where blush can sometimes look flat, the addition of a highlighter gave an iridescent sheen of a dewy glow. And, even as a highlighter-avoidant, the gloss didn’t put me off – if anything, it slightly dulled the shimmer down and made it look more natural.

While I don’t know if I’ll cycle it into my everyday routine (in certain areas the two formulas separated slightly), it’s the perfect holiday go-to when you want to look like you’ve done much more (and slept much more) than you actually have. Blush-lighter – who knew?

Main image: Morgan Fargo