While we typically associate blush with Spring—when an onslaught of rosy pigments tend to hit shelves to help the pale masses ease their way out of winter and into the summer sun—the great cheek accentuator is making an uncharacteristic splash for Fall. As one of the trends we’ve noticed backstage this season, blush has come in a whole range of shades and, perhaps more interestingly, placements, providing an updated take on an age-old staple.
Most recently, models sported “a gorgeous rosy cheek” at Versace, where Pat McGrath finger blended Olay’s Simply Ageless moisture-rich formula from the apples of models’ cheeks toward their temples, only a day after making it the star product backstage at Prada. There, in accordance with Mrs. Prada’s “innocent glamor” directive, McGrath placed the rosy pigment on cheeks, lids and lips for a uniform flush.
Before the fashion pack headed across the pond, rouge went rogue on countless occasions in New York, too. At Marc Jacobs, François Nars dabbed his Cream Blush in Lokoune low and haphazardly to resemble “a grandmother who’s a bit eccentric.” The placement wasn’t all that dissimilar to Tom Pecheux’s at Ralph Lauren where the face painter intentionally went low to “get rid of the sporty look. This keeps it from being too girly,” he said of the layers of MAC Cosmetics blush in Fleur Power, a bright pink, and Esée Lauder Silky Powder Blush in Radiant Peach, a warm apricot, that he blended just above the outer corners of the mouth before painting on a bright red pout.
Perhaps our favorite flush thus far came at the hands of Gucci Westman. “I wanted you to really feel it-like it’s authentic,” the Revlon global artistic director said at Oscar de la Renta where she swirled the brand’s ColorBurst Lipsticks in Fuchsia and Candy Pink in a “big apple” on models’ cheeks. The best part? Her inspiration: Westman could not get the image of Björk on the Jean Paul Gaultier runway circa Fall 1994 out of her head when the raven-haired Icelandic beauty rocked a similar look. Love.
Celia Ellenberg
