Beauty TikTok – or beautyTok as it is affectionately known – is a carnival procession of viral wheel reinventions. Tomato girl, strawberry girl, blueberry milk, mermaidcore, latte makeup – not to mention the return of the dreaded concealer lip. Listen, Gen Z, if you’d lived through it the first time, you’d know to leave Y2K style well alone. I may have only been eight years old, but even I knew that putting concealer on lips was a bad idea…
But if there’s one TikTok microtrend I’m taking with me into 2024, it’s underblushing – which might sound rude, but is, in fact, an idiot-proof, one-way ticket to a beautifully sculpted, flushed-from-within, baby-doll look. The secret? Liberally applying blush to your under-eye area. Before you tut and scroll on, it’s not insane, but it does require a leap of faith – and it’s a godsend for all the girlies with dark circles. I know that because I am one of them.
Once you’ve mastered this makeup hack, you’ll never go back.
Peach, pink and coral tones are excellent at counter-acting the grey and blue tones responsible for under-eye bags – it’s a colour-correcting trick that makeup artists have been using for decades, and it works a treat for every skin tone. Now, it’s worth saying that everybody has their own method of underblushing, but this is what works for me.
Start with an extremely generous skincare routine for a canvas that is primed to perfection. No skimping on that serum. Then, apply your foundation base and contour as normal. Now for the fun part. Take a liquid blush or cream blush and – I love using highly-pigmented products such as the Rare Beauty Soft Pinch Liquid Blush in Happy. With an extremely liberal hand, apply over the apples of the cheeks, sweeping upwards over the cheekbones. Paint a splodge in the middle of your under-eye area. This will look insane. Trust the process.
@zoekimkenealy I saw @TARA SIGARI MAKEUP FASHION ♬ original sound – zoekimkenealy
Next, apply your concealer as you usually would, with a generous splodge at the inner corner of your eye. The creamier the concealer the better. Then, take your floofiest brush – we’re obsessed with Zoeva’s vegan range – and blend, blend, blend away!
@tinaprokas Underblushing is one of my fav methods at the moment it makes your skin so flawless! IB: @TARA SIGARI MAKEUP FASHION Products 👇🏼 @rhode skin peptide glazing fluid @Hourglass Cosmetics ambient soft glow foundation shade 5 @BEAUTY BAY blush in shade blooming @Kylie Cosmetics concealer 3.5N Hourglass Translucent Powder #underblushing #makeuptrends2023 #makeuptutorial #blushtechnique #blushtrend ♬ original sound – Tina Prokas
This should already be looking BE-AUTIFUL, but next, we’re going to bake using a loose powder, such as the Huda Easy Bake in Cherry Blossom, which smells simply divine. After you’ve brushed away the loose powder, add a touch of highlighter and – if you want to – a little powder blush, such as the Dior Backstage Rosy Glow Blush.
Et voilà. You’ll never look back. Kardashian-Jenner klan, eat your heart out.
This story first appeared on GRAZIA International.