Why Orange Blush Should Be In Your Makeup Routine

It's time to bring orange blush into your makeup routine, and we're here to tell you why. Orange blush has been all over beauty TikTok recently, with even the Queen of Trends Sofia Richie applying the unique-colored cheek product in a September Get Ready With Me TikTok video. A number of our other fave celebrities have also been spotted sporting the beauty product on their cheeks, including Selena Gomez, Lori Harvey, and Emily Ratajkowski.

Just like red blush, this look has been around far longer than you might even think. Orange blush actually first became a trend in the Japanese Beauty world as far back as 2018. In fact, Pinterest told Refinery29 that year that searches and saves for orange blush had risen a whopping 250% on the social media site, with many of those coming from Japan. After that, it became super popular in the Korean beauty world and then made its way over to TikTok in 2022, where it's pretty much been trending ever since. But why on earth is orange blush so popular and what can it do that a traditional pink can't? Well, there are a few reasons why you need to pop on in your makeup bag.

One of the best things about orange blush is the fact that it's universally flattering on so many skin tones and it's just that bit more fun than the traditional pink so many of us put on our cheeks. As makeup artist Pauline Briscoe told Glamour, "Anyone can wear the shade, it really doesn't matter how old you are or what skin tone you have. It's a bold move — proving you're committed to experimentation with color — but it's also not too cool for warmer skin tones and not too warm for cooler ones." To get the right orange blush for you, check your undertones. Just like choosing the lipstick that's right for you is based on your undertones, those with cool undertones will want to go for an orange with blue undertones to avoid looking too unnaturally orange in the cheeks. As for those with warm undertones, coppers or warmer orange blushes will be more flattering. Either way though, this blush will bring warmth back into your face — which is perfect when your summer tan said bye-bye a few months ago.

When you apply orange, though, don't get too heavy-handed if you want it to look natural. "The trick is to apply it with a superlight hand. Use very little product and pressure on the brush, and build it from there. As long as it's light, it won't look ridiculous in real life," celebrity makeup artist Ralph Siciliano recommended to Glamour.

Another reason it's time to give orange blush a go is because applying it the right way will really help sculpt your cheeks. Instead of applying it just on the apples of the cheeks or horizontally to the middle of the ears, apply it upwards in a diagonal motion to the tops of the ears. Then you'll be drawing the eye upwards to give the illusion of a thinner face. And while it's doing that sculpting, as Pablo Rodriguez, makeup artist and director of artistry at Illamasqua, told Refinery29, peaches and corals, in particular, will give the skin a healthy glow in a way some pinks don't. In fact, an orange blush can actually double up as a bronzer. If you're a fan of a bronzed glow, this color can do the work of both products, instantly bringing more life to your look with a swipe over the nose and cheeks.

But they're not the only places you can apply it. Because it can double as a bronzer, you can also blush drape with it for a more tanned effect. Blush draping, for those unfamiliar, is a technique that involves applying blush to the cheekbones before bringing it up to either side of the forehead and blending it into the hairline. Nikki Makeup showed us on Instagram just how gorgeous this look can be when she tried it with a coral blush on "Grown-Ish" star Yara Shahidi. Talk about glowing!