Rosy cheeks are in again. Ladies are toning their cheeks with liquid blush, and it’s all the rave on TikTok Tok. Rouge, also known as blush, is a cosmetic product which can be used to redden your cheeks. Applied as a powder, cream, or liquid, the makeup product imitates blood circulation in the face with a plump, red pigment to tone the skin.
Despite the trend resurfacing on TikTok, complexion and skin-reddening is not a new technique in the beauty industry. The beauty ritual of cheek-reddening was formulated with fat and red ochre pigment by ancient Egyptians. Blush was extremely popular in not only Egypt, but other cultures with ingredients like red vermillion, mulberries, and beets used to tone the skin.
Yet, most formulas back then contained toxic chemicals. Whether used as an accent to dark, kohl-lined eyes or after toxic skin-whitening rituals, blush has existed in beauty well before our time, and was even applied as a product to protect from illness.
The age-old use of liquid blush is trending, and we’ve got the must-try products. Ultra-pigmented liquid blush from Juvia’s Place, Rare Beauty, and SheGlam, are at the top of the list for Black content creators.
Juvia’s Place
Juvia’s Place, an African beauty brand with highly pigmented colors, is largely a part of this trend for their liquid blush. The Blushed Liquid Blush is a pigmented blush formulated in several tones for any complexion. The liquid blush has similar shades to their powder blush to blend, with the colors candy pink (Pink Lady) and hot fuchsia (Blushed Lily) as the most popular on TikTok.
For each of these trending liquid blushes, Black TikTokers applied only one drop to each cheek and were shocked by the spreadability of the blush. Like content creator Christina Abiola, we’re sure you’re asking, “is this going to work on dark skin?” Abiola applied one drop to each cheek then blended the blush into her concealer with a makeup brush. She then layered the liquid blush with the Juvia’s Place powdered blushes for a skin-tight finish, and let the comments decide her results.
Rare Beauty
For one content creator @yayaa.ms, she compared the Juvia’s Place liquid blush to Rare Beauty, a beauty brand owned by Selena Gomez. She applied a candy pink shade from Juvia’s Place with a burnt red from Rare Beauty, but the one dot results on a darker skin varied greatly from lighter skin. We recommend you use a small amount, as one dot of either blush may be extremely pigmented. However, when TikTok creators selected more earth-toned colors, they were able to blend up to two or three dots.
Sheglam
Sheglam, a cosmetics and beauty brand, has a Bustle Beauty Award-winning liquid blush. TikToker, Malika Nura, applied the shade “Lucky” on her cheek which blended quicker and easier, then blended with powder and powdered blush across her nose. The Sheglam formula has a less pigmented finish than Juvia’s Place and Rare Beauty which can easily be applied to a no-makeup makeup look.