How to Choose the Right Blush Colour for Your Skin Tone

Determine your skin tone and undertone 

To find your complementary blush, skin tone and undertone are going to be your guides: 

• Your skin tone is the surface-level colour of your skin. While skin tones are on spectrum, they are often categorised as deep/dark, medium/olive and fair/light.

• Your undertone is the subtler colour that lays just below the surface of your skin.

Ever had to learn how to find your skin undertone for lipstick colour-matching purposes? Well, it’s the same for blush. There are three types of undertones: cool, warm and neutral. The quickest way to determine your undertone is to check the colour of your veins.

• If you have blue or purple veins, you’re probably a cool

• If you have green veins, you’re likely a warm

• A mix of both means you have a neutral undertone, in which congratulations – this means you can pull off pretty much any shade!

How to choose blush for your skin tone 

Here at Maybelline, we have a range blush formulas to choose from: including liquid, gel cream, and powder that allow you to build up intensity as desired. Once you have identified your skin tone and undertone, you can start experimenting with different blush shades. Whether you’re dark, medium or fair-skinned with cool or warm undertones, we’ll guide you through our expert recs for blush colours that will match your complexion.

Blush for dark skin tones 

The best blushes for brown skin, deep skin, or dark skin tones tend to be richer shades with more intense pigments. Where lighter blushes can wash out a darker complexion, bold shades offer a stronger point of difference from your skin tone.

Here, think vibrant berry, bright coral, or vivid red and orange shades – blushes with shimmer particles look extra luminous against deeper skin tones, too.

Cool undertone: Intense berry shades and cool undertones are a match made in heaven. This is because berry shades tend to have blue or purple pigments which emphasise cool undertones. Cheek Heat Gel Cream Blush in ‘Berry Flame’ is our personal favourite – its purple pigments really pop against deeper skin tones.

Warm undertone: This is where you can play around with rich, orange-toned red blushes to emphasise the gold in your warm undertone – or dabble with coral and peach shades for a soft, natural-looking flush. Our go-to coral shade for dark skin and warm undertones is the Cheek Heat Gel Cream Blush in ‘Coral Ember’ – tone it up or down for your desired look.

Best blush for medium skin tones 

While there’s a range of different skin colours that sit along the spectrum of medium skin tones, they’re all compatible with a wide range of blush shades.

Let your undertone guide your palette of colours to help find the right hue for the look you want to achieve – like a warm, bronzed look or a subtle flush.

Cool undertone: Just as they do with deeper skin tones, berry shades look beautiful against medium skin with cool undertones. But, since the surface skin tone is lighter, you’ll want to seek out slightly paler hues like mauve or purple-toned pink blush. For a shade that really pops, we love a rich pink like Cheek Heat Gel Cream Blush in ‘Rose Flush’.

Warm undertone: The ultra-blendable, glowy Sunkisser Multi-Use Liquid Blush in 'City Sizzle' amplifies your natural warmth thanks to its rosy tone and luminous finish. This shade is also one of the best blushes for olive skin (basically a warm, green undertone) to bring out your natural bronze hues. Want to opt for a more subtle summer blush look? Our Sunkisser Multi-Use Liquid Blush in ‘Electric Bronze’ will give your cheeks that enviable glow.

Best blush for fair skin tones 

We’ve all been a victim of ‘blush blindness’ at some point in time, but excess blush can be more noticeable on fairer skin tones where the contrast is so stark. The best blush for fair skin leans towards lighter shades that don’t overpower the complexion. Pink blush shades are synonymous with fair-skinned beauties, after all – and for good reason! These shades amplify your natural flush, without creating a heavy contrast against your lighter features.

Cool undertone: Thanks to their bluish hues, baby pinks are a fair-skinned, cool-toned babe’s best friend. If that sounds like you, we have the perfect shade for you to try: Cheek Heat Gel Cream Blush in ‘Pink Scorch’. It’s a pink so frosty that only a cool undertone could pull it off, and a colour tailormade for that ‘winter-kissed’ look.

Warm undertone: Peach-based pinks or soft coral shades look stunning against a light skin tone with a warm undertone because they bring out your natural yellow and golden hues. Our pick has to be the Sunkisser Multi-Use Liquid Blush in ‘Sol Search’: a nude, pink-toned blush with golden pearls to provide that perfect summer flush.