Your lipsticks can double as blushes - here's how

Using lipstick as blush is probably the most practical makeup tip I learned from my mom. I don’t even remember ever seeing blush on her vanity! This practice is what’s keeping my blush collection to five products max. Being a makeup junkie, I think I deserve a medal for that.

I hope this list helps you maximize your lipstick collection or find use for the lipstick tubes that you haven’t been picking up.

Maybelline Creamy Matte in Touch of Spice on the lips and cheeks

Matte Silicone-Based Lipsticks

In general, you can use most lipstick formulas on the cheeks. However, creamier wax-based formulas tend to feel heavy in our humid weather. If you have drier skin, satin finishes could be a bit more tolerable, but for normal to oily-skinned people, drier lipstick formulas are fitter for to use on the cheeks.

Most lipsticks are either oil and wax-based or silicone-based. The latter is easier to work with because they can be spread and blended onto the skin effortlessly, typical of silicone-based makeup. They also feel somewhat powdery and are less tacky. Many of the recently released “creamy matte” lipsticks are silicone-based.

L’Oreal Moist Matte Lipsticks

If it’s matte AF but doesn’t tug the lips, it’s probably silicone-based. A surefire way to know is to check the ingredients list! If any of the first three ingredients ends with –ane or –one and doesn’t have any type of oil or wax listed first, that’s the lipstick to go for.

Some of the best ones I tried as blushes are Happy Skin Moisturizing Matte Lippies, Maybelline Color Sensational Creamy Matte, L’Oreal Moist Matte, and Revlon Matte Balms. Wax-free lipsticks that aren’t predominantly silicone-based are good for blush use as well, such as the Laura Mercier Rouge Nouveau Weightless Lip Color.

Revlon Matte Balms

Laura Mercier Rouge Nouveau Weightless

Outlandish Lipsticks

If you find that most blushes end up looking the same color on your cheeks, try using “non-wearable” lipstick colors like purple, orange, neon pink, or pastel as a blush! They look intimidating when applied to full opacity, but they translate to a more wearable hue when sheered out on the cheeks.

Revlon Matte Balm in Shameless on the lips and cheeks

A good example is the Revlon Matte Balm in Shameless. I spent months looking for a purple-toned blush and most of the purple blushes I found looked more pink than purple on my cheeks. I was so close to buying Benefit’s Lollitint, a lilac lip and cheek stain, good thing I remembered that I own Shameless. I'd stopped using it on my lips but I love it on my cheeks! It’s easy to blend and stays on long enough.

Pale Lipsticks

Don’t chuck your pale lipsticks just yet, especially if they’re pigmented and have a crème to matte finish. They might make you look sickly when applied to your lips, but they make great subtle-looking blushes.

Happy Skin Moisturizing Matte Lipstick in Too Cool on the lips and cheeks

Take for example Happy Skin’s Moisturizing Matte Lipstick in Too Cool. Since I don’t normally wear eye makeup, the shade washes me out. On the cheeks though, it gives just enough color to warm up my face. This is currently my favorite blush because it doesn’t make me look clownish even when I accidentally layer too much.

A few reminders

Since this is ‘off-label’ use, make sure to do a patch-test first before trying out this makeup trick. Also, make sure to sanitize the lipstick before or after every use, especially if you’re acne-prone.

Lastly, have fun playing with your lipsticks! And if you’ve already been doing this, please share your favorite lippies-as-blush in the comments!