I'm 51 but I'm told I look 21. This is EXACTLY how I use the miracle product which makes me look more than ten years younger - and you'll already have it in your makeup bag!
Gen Z's latest TikTok obsession is make-up 'blindness'. This is where users post self-deprecating images of looks they used to consider perfection, yet now look unhinged, to the song Crazy.
It started with 'brow blindness' (136.2 million posts on TikTok) showcasing vast, blocky, black caterpillars.
Now 'blush blindness' is catching up — at 41.3 million views of women with throbbing, neon painted faces.
As we age, our faces slump, meaning said apples sink lower. To create a youthful lift, the main part of your blusher should be angled up along the cheekbone
For decades, blusher has been an afterthought, lagging behind contour and bronzer. However, it's now seizing centre stage. And at 53, I'm rushing to over-blush with the best of them.
If there's one make-up trend I'm fixated with, it is pink cheeks. Before I discovered the magic, I would be routinely asked whether I had Tuberculosis, as I am so pale.
When I finally fell under blusher's spell in the mid-1990s, I went all in. Friends, boyfriends, even model Elle Macpherson informed me that I was over-doing it, but too much was never enough. As a pal put it: 'Too much blush is your signature. You wouldn't be you without it.'
The result is that, today, I am constantly being high-fived by young women admiring my blooming cheeks. 'I thought you must be a few years older than me,' cried a confused teen at a wedding recently.
Behold: I have finally cracked the secret to turning 21 again.
Still, I'm not going to pretend that blusher can't be tricky.
First: where to place your colour. If you deploy the 'smile, then apply to the apples of the cheeks' method, it's time to re-think. As we age, our faces slump, meaning said apples sink lower.
To create a youthful lift, the main part of your blusher should be angled up along the cheekbone. Don't worry, this will not look heinously 1980s — done right, it's a diffused look rather than a heavily-pigmented line.
I recommend a powder blush as a base — apply using a slanted sculpting brush such as ELF Angled Blush Brush (£6, elfcosmetics.co.uk).
My all-time favourite cheek cosmetic is Kevyn Aucoin Neo Limelight Highlighter in Ibiza. Naturally, this means it has been discontinued. Having bought up all the stock on Amazon, I have moved on to eBay.
I am also having it replicated via Cosmetics à La Carte's Bespoke Blusher service (£70, cosmeticsalacarte.com).
Kevyn Aucoin also offers The Neo-Blush (£34, spacenk.com) in two warm and two cool colour takes — following the same graduated colour design of satin, matte and pearl powders.
Clinique's Blushing Blush Powder Blush in Iced Lotus (£30, boots.com) has a similar lavender-ish quality for cooler, bluer tones, or try Innocent Peach (£30) shade, if you have a warmer of complexion.
For decades, blusher has been an afterthought, lagging behind contour and bronzer
Otherwise, MAC's new Glow Play Cushiony Blush in the pastel pink Totally Synced (£28, maccosmetics.co.uk), or apricot Cheer Up (£28) — the first cool, the second warm — offer soft colour, while blurring the appearance of pores and fine lines.
Once this powder layer is established, add the merest touch of a bolder shade of cream blusher on the middle of your cheeks. The key is Bobbi Brown's game-changing Jones Road Blush Brush (£34, jonesroad beauty.com), which distributes, and blends precisely the right amount of product.
I love Jones Road Lip and Cheek Stick in Royal Plum (£34), a gorgeous bitten berry with a strong pigment that stays true, on the cheek and the mouth. I also feel passionately about No 1 De Chanel Lip and Cheek Balm (£40, chanel.com). While Superdrug's Studio London Flaunt Flawless Cream Blush (£6, super drug.com) is a budget choice.
As for the under-blush trend, whereby you paint most of your face fuchsia, then apply base over the top? Leave that one to the teens.
My icon of the week
Lupita Nyong'o, who appeared in A Quiet Place: Day One and Black Panther, tends to only wear make-up at events
Lupita Nyong'o
The actress, 41, loves avocado oil to moisturise and cleanse and applies garlic to spots. She avoids make-up, apart from at events, choosing Lancôme Teint Idole Ultra Wear Foundation (now £27.65), plus its Hypnôse Custom-Wear Mascara (£28.56, sephora.co.uk). She swears by Vernon Francois Scalp Nourishment Braids and Locs Spray ($17.99, sallybeauty.com).
Cosmetic craving
I rarely recommend an entire range, as it's often better to pick and mix. However, L'Oréal Paris Elvive Glycolic Gloss Glossing Routine for Dull Hair (£57.96, now £28.98, boots.com) is the exception.
Flat but frizzy, parched, straggly and dishwater dull, my hair was in a slump. One glycolic glossing and it was revived; more and it is now flourishing. Glycolic acid is a skin exfoliating ingredient harnessed for its small molecular size, which can penetrate hair to sleeken and lend swish.
If I had to choose, I'd pick the Glycolic Gloss 5 Minute Lamination Rinse-off Treatment for Dull Hair (now £7.99, boots.com). But, really, it's all great.
Five body blitzs
Soap & Glory The Heel Deal Foot File (£10, boots.com)
A budget-friendly, fan favourite with three hard-working heads for exfoliating.
Hydréa London Bamboo Carbonised Exfoliating Shower Gloves (£6.49, sephora.co.uk)
Bamboo is antibacterial, so odour and mildew resistant. Plus, this is eco-friendly.
Monu Walnut & Shea Butter Body Polish (£35.95, monushop.co.uk)
Crushed walnut shells powerfully exfoliate, plus papaya enzymes balance and brighten skin tone.
Dove Anti-stress Advanced Care Body Wash (£3, waitrose.com)
Cleanses and moisturises, with a calming chamomile and oat milk infusion.
Athletia Smooth Body Milk in Feel at Ease (£30, athletia-beauty.co.uk)
Soothing, herbal, woody aroma ensures you'll feel moisturised.
