{summer skin} // Your New, Perfect Blush.

I view summer as a celebration of skin.  After months of layering warm coats and sweaters, we can finally give our skin a chance to shine.  In recent years, summer makeup consisted primarily of using various types of highlighting products.

Highlighters are cool but have you tried complimenting your skin with a product that enhances your soft, feminine features?

Lately, I find myself reaching for my small tubes of Glossier Cloud Paint whenever applying my everyday look. This is a huge win for me because, as a child of the '80s, I was traumatized by the clown-like blush women wore back then. I swore that I'd never place any coloring on my cheeks thanks to my well-established fear of looking unnatural.

Today's blush trend is nothing of the sort.  Thanks to Glossier we can now wear the most natural looking blush there is.  Powdered blush is decent but it sometimes looks like you're faking the look natural blood flow to the face.  Glossier perfected a lightweight formula that blends seamlessly with your skin to appear as if your blushing from within.

For the longest, I always maintained the assumption that blush wasn't necessary.  Let me tell you why I was wrong.

Once upon a time, I spent countless hours sitting people watching at airports as I traveled for work.  One observation I made was that young people and children have such amazing looking skin.  Another thing a lot of them had in common was they looked as if their cheeks were glowing from within.  That's when I concluded that blushing cheeks were a sign of youth (and the enhanced blood flow that children experience naturally).

Women wear rosy cheeks as a sign of health (blood circulation), beauty (enhanced cheekbones), innocence and femininity.  The modern way to wear your blush appears effortless.  It perfectly compliments your face without appearing overdone.  You can wear Glossier's cloud paint with a nearly bare face or to elevate your favorite makeup look.  The consistency is similar to a lightweight foundation which makes it perfect for blending into your skin.  You can also tweak the formula by blending a few shades together to create your perfect shade. 

At the moment, my Cloud Paint collection consists of Haze and Dusk.  Dusk is actually too light to show on my skin but I like to use it to dilute Haze if I'm looking to wear a softer hue.  Recently, Glossier released a couple other shades that really compliment darker skin.  I'm obsessed with how Dawn looks on various skin tones.  All the women in the picture above are wearing Dawn except for the model on the bottom left (wearing Haze).  I'm super curious to find out how Haze and Dawn together.

Glossier's catchphrase for Cloud Paint is "A New Way to Blush."  I wholeheartedly agree.  It's fresh, modern, easy, and effortless.  Your powdered blush is good. But Cloud Paint is better.