I’m very particular about the formula of my cream blushes. For good reason: the more oily and blendable a blush is the better it settles into my skin to create a dewy and seamless flush. For years, unable to find a product I deemed oily and blendable enough (Milk Makeup’s Lip and Cheek came close, but wasn’t sufficiently emollient; ditto Kjaer Weiss’s Cream Blush), I created a mixture out of Glossier Cloud Paint and a touch of the Ordinary’s Marula Oil. The concoction, when applied to my cheeks, was perfect: The oil sheered down the Cloud Paint’s potent colors, so they looked light and natural, and added a subtle dose of shine. Plus, it was moisturizing on my dry skin. The trouble, though: It was messy and time-consuming to create. But since no single product looked as good on, I continued to use the back of my hand as a makeshift canvas every morning.
The second Em Cosmetics Serum Blush — the newest product from OG YouTube star Michelle Phan’s beauty line — touched my skin, I knew I’d found my Oily Blush Hero. This serum-slash-blush has a sheer, buildable liquid formula that’s insanely easy to apply: You dab two or three drops of it onto your skin with your fingers, and that’s it. It’s ultra-blendable, so you can achieve anything from a soft tint to a more vibrant, dewy hue. Many blushes cling unattractively to dry or flaky patches (my RMS Beauty Lip2Cheek has been known to do this), but not this one. The consistency means it sinks into the skin, and the addition of squalane, hyaluronic acid, and vitamin E means it actively hydrates and soothes. In other words, it has everything I loved about my oil and Cloud Paint mash-up (sheer, easy to apply, natural-looking, hydrating) and more (she heals me!). The product comes in several different colors: Rose Milk, a nudey pink; Pink Nectar, a true, watermelon pink; Soft Amethyst, a berry; and Sunset Sky, an orange coral. The best way to figure out which will look most natural on your skin is to take a selfie after the gym, then pick the shade that looks the most like your natural flush. For me, that is the Rose Milk.
If you’re a dry-skinned person whose makeup tends to pill throughout the day; if you love a natural, dewy look; or if you’re simply in the market for a new, extremely blendable cream blush, this product is a must. It should come as no surprise that the queen of dewy skin herself, Katie Jane Hughes, has already given it her rare stamp of approval.
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