Like most things, my mom was right about blush. As soon as I started regularly wearing makeup in high school, my mom would insist that I needed to “put a little color in my cheeks,” and would practically chase me with a blush brush. For some reason, my idea of blush was that it was dated, clowny, and just generally too “done” looking. (I was also a teenager and probably enjoyed the small rebellion.) So I ignored her pleas. But once I picked up a compact of Nars’ Deep Throat my freshman year of college on a whim—it was out of budget but I couldn’t resist the name—I realized my mom was actually on to something.
Since that day, I’ve been hooked on blush, and will always go to bat for it as the most underrated makeup product. I love the way it instantly wakes up my face, and when applied with a heavy hand it can add either a romantic flush (think a rococo cherub) or a disco edge. That being said, every blush I’ve tried, even what I would consider my ride-or-dies, still had a little room for improvement. And then l I tried the Patrick Ta Monochrome Moment Velvet Blush.
You may know Patrick Ta as the makeup artist behind Gigi Hadid’s, Shay Mitchell’s, and Elsa Hosk’s glowiest makeup looks, and last month he expanded his namesake makeup line to include blushes named after his favorite qualities of the women in his life. Like the name suggests, the blushes have a matte finish, except for She’s Adorable, which has a light shimmer. At first swatch, I was a little underwhelmed, but that was actually intentional—they’re designed to be super buildable.
“I love pigment, but with a blush it’s super important to have something that’s not going to put a whole blob of color onto your cheek,” Ta told me when he introduced the collection. “You should be able to build and grow the color, I think blush should look like a diffused cloud.”
The four shades are designed to be universally flattering and are mostly neutral with one bright option. The pigment swipes on evenly, and imparts the prettiest, natural-looking glow. I like to use a heavy hand to get a lot of color, but it never looks old or fake, and the powder melts into my skin thanks to the included moisturizers and specially treatment pigments. I love to use the peachy shade She’s Sincere in leu of bronzer to add all-over warmth and subtly contour, and a pop of the bright pink She’s Passionate on the apples of my cheeks to make it look like I slept more than five hours.
Ta notes that most of his clients are afraid of blush, as I once was, and recommends starting slow. While I like to go full force with a fluffy brush, he says to apply it with a brush, but then stamp over it with a Beautyblender. “If you use too much blush, this really blends it into your skin and melts the powder for a seamless look,” he says. He also likes to blend a little bit of blush into the crease of your eye to pull a look together.
While the seamless application is a plus, for me the biggest perk of this blush is that it actually stays on all day. Despite not having oily skin, I have a face that eats makeup, and most face products don’t last more than a few hours on me (although Urban Decay’s setting spray has been helping), but the first time I tried this one, I was shocked to look in the mirror at the end of the day and see my flush was still in tact.
I’ve barely looked at my other blushes since acquiring the Patrick Ta, which is saying something because I have at least 100 to choose from. The only downside? Every time I swipe it on, I’m reminded that my mom was right.
Bella Cacciatore is the beauty associate at Glamour. Follow her on Instagram @bellacacciatore_.
