Personal Makeup Tutorial - Blush and Bronzer Tips

So here is my second instalment where I am giving all the tips I learnt from the personal makeup tutorial that I did last Sunday.

Today's post will be all about applying Blush and Bronzer.

Bronzer
* Bronzer is normall applied prior to your blush and the best tool is a Kabuki brush as the large soft head can be used to give a wide area of coverage or squeezed to just give a little bit.
* First, and the most obvious tip is to use a bronzer that is suited to your skin tone. If you're pale like me you don't want to use a deep dark bronzer as it will just look ridiculous. There are a lot of different shades out there so it's best to find one that suits you so that you don't end up looking like you have dirty streaks up the side of your face.
* The places that benefit from the use of bronzer are the hollows of the cheeks, the outer corner of the eye up to the temple, the top of the forehead and below the jaw line. Bronzer used in these areas gives depth to the face and also creates a subtle warm glow.
* When applying bronzer in the hollow of the cheeks, the best way is to use a sweeping motion upwards towards the hairline and level with the centre of the ear. Sweeping upwards concentrates the colour along the bottom of the hollow as this is where the brush hits first. Sweeping downwards will concentrate the colour along the top which won't look right and will clash with your blush.
* The same upward sweeping motion goes for the triangular area between the outer corner of the eye and the temple and along the top of the forehead.
* A small amount brushed under the jawline will give the illusion of a more pronounced jaw and will also minimise the look of a double chin (for those of us who may have one, cough, cough....)
* When applying bronzer, less is always more. It's best to start off with a very small amount and then build up your colour from there. If you do happen to do any too dark patches you can use the foundation brush or sponge you just applied your makeup with (without adding any extra foundation) to gently pat over the darker areas until the level of colour you want is achieved.

Blush
* After contouring the face with bronzer you'll want to add a bit of colour to the face by using a blush. Most pale girls like me suit blushes that are more in the pink colour spectrum where those of you who have warmer complexions can get away with using darker plums and pinky-brown colours.
* Using either a slanted blush brush or a regular brush, you want to start over the apples of the cheeks at the mid point under your eye and blend out towards the hairline just above the ear. 
* If using a cream blush, it's best to pat the blush on with the fingers first or apply with a small flat blush in a patting motion before blending out.
* A cream blush also benefits from being set with a tiny amount of powder blush in a similar hue or a non-pigmented translucent powder. This gives it longer staying power and stops any patches from forming.
* Again, when applying blush, less is definitely more. It's much easier to apply more if you need the colour deepened than it is to remove any if you apply too much. You can also use the foundation brush or sponge trick over the top if you do apply too much and need to reduce the amount of colour on your cheeks.
* Remember, you're after a healthy rosy glow on the cheeks to lift and brighten the face. Clown cheeks are a big no-no!

The last three brushes in the below picture are normally used for bronzing and blushing:


(Foundation brush, Highlighting brush, Concealer Brush, Slanted Blush Brush, Kabuki Brush, Blush Brush)
Next I will go through everything I learnt about the eyes and eyebrows.

If you missed my first post which was all about achieving the perfect makeup base the link for that is here.

Hope everybody has a wonderful week.

Michelle xx