Okay so this morning I grabbed my coffee, scrolling through stuff online, saw this title from NYT about cheek color using just a few things. Honestly? Sounded like my kind of lazy girl magic. Let’s see if this works.
The Starting Point
Looked at my messy makeup bag. Told myself, “Alright, minimal items. NYT promised great color, better deliver.” Pulled out the absolute basics:
- A tinted moisturizer – the one I use daily anyway.
- A lipstick – a warm pinky-red stick, definitely not expensive.
- A fluffy brush – clean, thank goodness.
- My fingers – always reliable, right?
Playing With the Lipstick
First, I smeared a tiny bit of that lipstick straight onto the back of my hand. Looked scary bright! Then, dipped my finger in it and tapped, tapped, tapped onto the apples of my cheeks. Boom. Intense pink spots stared back at me. “Way too much, idiot,” I mumbled into my coffee cup.
Grabbed the fluffy brush. Swirled it gently over the bright dots, buffing like mad. Didn’t try to spread it far, just softened the edges. Oh wow. It actually started blending. Kept buffing with barely any pressure. The crazy spots turned into this flushed, warm glow. Like I just got back from a brisk walk? Weird. It worked.
The Cheat with Moisturizer
Almost forgot the “bit of cheek” trick. Dabbed a tiny, tiny dot of lipstick onto the fingertip that still had some tinted moisturizer residue. Mixed them together on the back of my hand. It made this sheer, creamy, rosy paste thing.
Then I just patted this mix onto the high points of my cheeks. Right there above where I put the first flush. Light taps. Gave this otherworldly lit-from-within highlight! Zero shimmer, just a different kind of glow. Subtle. Didn’t need any fancy illuminator crap.
What Actually Happened
Ended up with:
- Flushed cheek color underneath from the buffed-out lipstick. Super natural warmth.
- A softer, lifted glow on top from the moisturizer/lipstick mix. No glitter bomb.
- All done with two things I already use and my grubby fingers! My legit blush pot? Collecting dust.
Whole thing took maybe two minutes after messing up the first try. Seriously surprised. That lipstick is stickier than my usual cream blush, gotta be careful not to tug, and maybe skip putting it right on dry skin without mixing first. Buffing is KEY. But yeah, NYT wasn’t lying. You can fake fantastic cheek color with almost nothing. My minimalist heart is happy. Might actually use that weird lipstick shade now.
