Is Your Blush Making You Look Old?

The year I turned 40, I was invited to sit on a panel with several other magazine beauty editors. The topic: Reaching readers in the digital age. Prescient. As a courtesy, a professional makeup artist was hired to touch up each editor’s makeup before she hit the stage; I figured I’d get a dusting of powder to combat shine and off I’d go. I was wrong. 

When I sat in this makeup artist’s chair, instead of powder, she pulled out a cleansing wipe and began to gently dab at my blush, muttering, “too low” under her breath. “But I applied blush to the apples of my cheeks,” I protested. I’d been writing that makeup tip in magazines for years. “You had apples in your twenties, my dear,” she said. “Now you have pears.” 

She was right. Despite decades of conscientious skincare and twice-a-year Botox, my skin was not as taut as it once was—and my apples were slowly, subtly heading south. Thankfully her solution didn’t involve surgery. “Just apply color to your pear stems, where your apples used to be,” the artist explained, “That creates the illusion of lift.” 

While we're on the topic, now is also a good time to consider switching from a powder blush to cream color. It smooths on easily and evenly, and has a softer, more flattering finish than powder. A few of my favorites: NARS The Multiple in Riviera ($39; sephora.com); Laura Mercier Creme Cheek Color in Oleander ($26; nordstrom.com); Bobbi Brown Pot Rouge for Cheeks and Lips in Pale Pink ($30; nordstrom.com); and La Prairie Cellular Radiance Cream Blush in Rose Glow (pictured above, $70; nordstrom.com)