How To Do The Trendy Japanese Blush Technique For Perfectly Flushed Cheeks

It's no secret that winter can leave skin looking a little dull and lifeless. Luckily, heavy blush trends have blown up on TikTok and across the internet as a whole through the cold months. We've seen blush draping, sunburnt blush, W blush, and aura blush all having big moments. In fact, virtually every makeup guru has produced a video featuring heavily pigmented cream or liquid blush products, including TikTok heavy hitters like Makayla Nogueira. It's abundantly clear that the season of the flushed cheek is upon us.

Are there any new directions left for blush-forward makeup looks to move in, though? Of course there are. The latest trend to surface on TikTok is a playful and fun naturally flushed look created using a classic Japanese blush technique, as demonstrated by users like Lilcottagefairy. Here's what you need to know to recreate the look in a way that complements your skin tone. 

The key component of the trending Japanese blush technique is the way the application mimics the appearance of natural flushing. Skin flushing commonly occurs in light-skinned people, and it's when they experience a sudden strong emotion like embarrassment or anger or when they consume alcohol or spicy foods. Persistent flushing can also be a sign of a potential medical condition such as rosacea or hyperthyroidism, according to Healthline.

If you've ever experienced natural skin flushing, you know exactly the look you're going for. Rather than limiting your blush application to just the cheekbones, the apples of the cheeks, or the temples, you'll want to apply the pigment across the entire cheek area, across the nose, up around the temples, and onto the earlobes. In addition to creating a naturally flushed look, the technique calls upon the traditional makeup style of the geisha and the more modern girlish kawaii aesthetic depicted by anime characters (via Maikoya). 

When your goal is to replicate a strong natural skin flush, it's more important than ever to make sure your blush color is compatible with your skin tone. If you aren't sure whether your skin tone is cool, warm, or neutral, figuring it out is fairly quick, simple, and easy. Start with taking a look at the veins in your wrist under natural lighting. If they appear clearly green, your skin is warm-toned. If they look blue or purple, your skin is cool-toned. If they appear to combine blue and green into a shade of turquoise, your skin tone is neutral (via Colorescience).

Neutral-toned skin is fortunate enough that it can rock any shade of blush and still look natural. Cool-toned and warm-toned babes need to exercise a little more caution when selecting a color, as detailed by Buxom. Pink or purple-based blush shades will look most natural on cool-toned skin, while red or orange-based hues will bring the most life to faces with warm tones. Once you've selected a color that won't clash with your skin, flush away to your heart's content.