Ask 10 people how they choose their blush shade and you’ll get 10 different systems — wrist veins, jewellery tests, colour wheels, undertone quizzes. But according to the industry’s most in-demand makeup artists, the real answer to how to choose the right blush shade has to do with how a shade behaves once it actually touches your skin.
“I’d start by looking at the skin in natural daylight,” says Saikat Chakraborty, national artist at M·A·C Cosmetics India. “Your skin tone is your depth, from fair to deep, while your undertone is the colour underneath it, usually cool, warm, neutral or olive.” His method for figuring out how to choose the right blush shade, though, is refreshingly low-tech: “I wouldn’t overthink the wrist-vein test. Try the blush directly on your cheek. Your cheek will tell you much more than a chart ever will.”
Zaara Kazi, creative director and makeup artist at Looks Salon Mumbai, takes the opposite entry point (and swears by it). “If you’re confused about your undertone, start with your wrist,” she says. “Green veins mean warm undertone. Blue or purple veins mean cool undertone. If there isn’t a clear distinction, you’re a neutral undertone.” Whichever route gets you there, the destination is the same: a blush “that complements your natural undertone and makes your complexion look fresh and healthy.”
The blush shade that matches your undertone
Once you’ve placed yourself on the spectrum, the shortlist narrows fast. For cool undertones, both artists land on the same family: pinks, mauves and berries. Warm undertones “tend to come alive with peach, coral, apricot and terracotta,” Chakraborty notes and Kazi agrees.
Neutral skin, fortunately, has the most room to manoeuvre. “Neutral skin has more flexibility, so both rosy and peachy shades can work,” says Chakraborty, while Kazi simply notes you “can rock both warm and cool shades.” For olive undertones (often the trickiest to shop for), Chakraborty recommends “muted peach, warm rose, terracotta and earthy coral,” which Kazi echoes. Both are quick to add, though, that these are starting points, not laws: “There’s always room to play around.”
Depth changes everything
Undertone gets you the right family of colour; depth decides how saturated it should be. “Think about depth and intensity, not just colour,” says Chakraborty. “Fair skin can look beautiful with softer pinks, peaches and mauves. Medium skin can take richer roses, corals and terracottas, while deeper skin can really embrace berry, plum, brick, fuchsia and vivid coral.” Kazi’s guide to the same rule: “Fair: soft pinks and peaches. Medium: rose, coral and terracotta. Deep: berry, plum, brick and burnt orange.”
Both artists flag the same mistake — playing it too safe on deeper skin. “One thing I tell my clients is not to automatically choose a pale blush because they want it to look ‘natural’ or because it’s trending!” says Chakraborty. “On deeper skin especially, a richer, more saturated colour can actually look more natural.” Kazi’s rule of thumb is nearly identical: “The deeper the skin tone, the richer and more pigmented you can go.”
The blush shades to be wary of
There is, inevitably, a version of every shade that backfires. Grey-toned mauves and icy pinks are the most common culprits. “Very ashy or grey-toned mauves or even lilac shades can make olive or golden skin look dull, while icy pinks can sometimes look chalky on warmer or deeper complexions,” Chakraborty explains. Kazi’s breakdown adds the why: “Cool-toned pinks and blue-based mauves can create too much contrast with the skin’s golden or yellow undertones, while overly orange shades can clash with cool undertones and make the skin look overly red or flushed.” And a blush that simply disappears on application, Chakraborty notes, “May simply be too light or not saturated enough for your skin depth — not necessarily the wrong colour family, but sometimes it’s about choosing the wrong version of that colour.”