Bashful Blushes Tips For Enhancing Your Cheeky Side

Bashful Blushes - Tips for Enhancing Your Cheeky Side

Your face is one of the first things people see so you want it looking its best to make a strong first impression. Unfortunately though, your cheeks can be the source of a number of challenges ranging from acne and freckles to dryness and blush.

Your best weapon in the war for great skin, especially on your face, is a daily beauty regimen of cleansing, toning, moisturizing, and sun protection. Use quality products, and be consistent as your results will reflect your effort.

Cleansing: A healthy face is a clean face free of unwanted bacteria, sweat, dirt and oil. Traditional bar soaps, however, may dry your skin, leaving it itchy and unpleasant. That's where specialized facial cleansers come in: they are designed to clean your face and remove old make-up and dead skin cells without removing the fat cells that keep skin soft or damaging the protective layers that shield your skin from the elements. Consider using beauty bars, soap for sensitive skin or commercial gentle facial cleaning products, such as cleansing creams that can be gently massaged into your skin. Pay special attention to your chin and nose, which are the most likely areas for blackheads to show up. For extra convenience, you may even want to try the pre-moistened cleaning pads or wipes that have been on the market for a few years.

Before you wash your entire face, you may need to take special measures to remove old make-up (always before bed, ladies). Eye-cleansing lotion and a bit of cotton can help remove mascara and eye shadow. Be gentle when removing eye make up because the skin around your eyes is thin, sensitive and particularly prone to damage.

Toning: A quality toning product will remove any trace of dirt or make up that might have escaped your cleanser. It will also help tighten pores to keep your skin looking great. Be sure to work your toner into the forehead and cheeks using a small wool pad, as well as into any crevices or wrinkles around the nose and chin. If you have the budget, try a professional mud mask periodically.

Moisture matters: There are so many moisturizers available that you could use a different one each day of the year without repeating. Fun, maybe, but you're probably better off choosing a single brand and sticking it to it as long as it works well for you.

The most basic functions of a moisturizer are to seal in your skin's natural moisture and to protect your skin from the outside elements and environmental pollutants that could otherwise irritate your face. Manufacturers and marketers of moisturizers, however, often overlook those goals in their haste to claim the latest miracles that their product can initiate. Some of the claims are quite fantastic - and are just that fantasy-based (taking ten years off your face after one week of use, for example). If you really want a miracle anti-aging product, use a moisturizer with sunscreen. Otherwise, almost any moisturizer will do what it is meant to do: trap moisture and protect your skin.

Sun protection - it's absolutely vital: Nothing will age your face more quickly than unprotected exposure to the sun. If you want to have healthy, young-looking skin for decades, it is important to wear sun protection every single day, regardless of the season. Just because you can't feel the sun's heat in the middle of winter does not mean the UV-rays are not reaching your skin.

Sun protection with SPF 15 is considered the minimum acceptable daily sun protection. Your lips must also be protected, so ensure that once you've slathered your cheeks with sun block, that you do your lips as well (try lip balm with built-in sun protection for an easy fix). Be sure to reapply your sun protection product if you intend to spend a great deal of time outside or if you will be in the water.

Add a little sass to your look: After your cheeks and the rest of your face are clean and healthy, it's time to dress them up. Add a little sass by applying blush. When you have it in the right place, blush should never be lower than your nose or any closer to it than the centre of your eye's iris.

Using a large brush, apply blush from the apple of your cheeks upward toward your eye and then blend it with the edges of a dry make up sponge.

Don't be afraid to show your cheeky side - feel free to use different shades of blush; lighter in spring and summer and darker in fall and winter. Keep in mind though, that if you have oily skin, the color of your blush may change as the day wears on.