For us, blusher is an essential part of our make-up bags all year round but they tend to pick up in popularity during spring and summer (well, that is, if the rain ever decides to stop).

Blusher has the ability to add warmth and depth to your face, while also leaving your complexion appearing healthier. They can also be used to sculpt features, but this is where things can get a bit tricky.

Speak to any make-up artist and they’ll tell you that the key to good blusher lies in your application technique and so, we’re always on the lookout for tips and tricks to help nail our approach. Then, we stumbled across an Instagram video that had the answer.

Nadine Baggott, respected beauty journalist and digital creator, hosted an IGTV on her Instagram page with Dominic Skinner, MAC Cosmetics’ global senior artist, in which he shared heaps of beauty advice but there was one thing that really stood out. While discussing how to apply blusher, Dominic taught viewers a completely new brush technique.

Traditionally, you may start by placing your brush on the apples of your cheek and working your way upwards. In fact, we’re yet to meet somebody who doesn’t start applying their blusher from the centre of the face but Dominic advises doing the complete opposite.

Taking a blusher onto his brush, he explains: “I’m going to work it from the top of the ear”. Placing the brush at the top of his ear, Dominic then begins to sweep his brush downwards towards the centre of his face. Now stay with us…

“By working blusher down, what happens is the brush hair flicks and just leaves a softer edge [on the inner part of your face],” he adds.

“When you’ve picked up product on a brush, the first place you put that brush is going to be the strongest point of the colour,” Dominic explains. “So, if you pick up blusher with a brush, and you go [straight onto the apple of your cheeks], well, you’ve just stamped all the pigment right there.”

“So when you then brush up, it then fades away to nothing. And the thing with that, is you then end up with all the colour [on the centre] and very little back here [near the temples].”

Dominic adds that by placing the concentration of colour around your temples, it helps to frame the cheeks, giving your face some shape and a contour. 

He also says that if you place too much colour on the apples of your cheeks, it can clash it with your eyeshadow and lipstick and places all of the focus on the centre, rather than your entire face.

It all makes complete sense and we’re wondering why it took us this long to realise that. Every day is a school day, right?

Main image: Getty