Step 3: Add Color

A hint of color on the cheeks or lips gives your face a healthy glow. Which feature you decide to play up depends partly on your complexion and partly on your taste. Women with light hair and pale complexions tend to feel washed out without blush. Women with darker hair and more color in their faces usually choose lipstick instead.

Blush is available in powders, creams, liquids, and gels. People with oily or problem skin are better off with a powder blush because it provides better coverage and a matte finish. Those with dry complexions should use a moisturizing cream blush. If your skin is normal, any type should work.

Selecting a shade is easy. Your face comes with its own palette: your natural flush. “The color of your cheeks just after exercise is your optimum shade,” says makeup artist Bobbi Brown.

Find the right spot for your blush by smiling and then applying it to the apple of your cheek and back toward the cartilage nub in the center of your ear. “Don’t let it go below the line created between the ear nub and nostril,” says Britton. “When your blush goes too low, it makes your face look wider.”

Choosing a lip color comes down almost exclusively to personal preference. Lip colors with sheer to creamy finishes are the most goof-proof to apply, since you don’t have to worry about staying exactly within the lines of your lips. Anything matte or opaque usually requires more precise application. Use your lips as a guide for choosing a color. Your natural lip color, deepened one shade, is your most wearable color.