Soft, blurred, and beautifully diffused—watercolor blush is the delicate flush that’s becoming a quiet beauty favorite. Its signature look? A seamless wash of color without any harsh edges.

“It’s like a sheer veil of color on the cheeks,” says celebrity makeup artist Carolina Gonzalez, whose dreamy makeup style often draws inspiration from Alberto Vargas’s watercolor pin-up girls. “Imagine the difference between oil paint (opaque) and watercolors (soft and buildable). With watercolor blush, you can’t tell where it begins or ends—it just melts into the skin.” Gonzalez has created this ethereal look for stars like Sabrina Carpenter and Gigi Hadid, but Kendall Jenner, Simone Ashley, Dua Lipa, and Lily-Rose Depp also seem to love the trend.

The effect mimics watercolor paint on paper, and pro makeup artist Kasey Spickard links its popularity to the beauty world’s shift toward skincare-makeup hybrids—a fresh, natural look that contrasts with the heavy matte makeup of the 2010s. “This trend is all about a soft, dreamy wash of color on the cheeks,” Spickard explains. “It fits perfectly with the current love for glowing, skin-first makeup.”

### How to Get the Look
The right products help—think sheer balms, blendable creams, and lightweight liquid tints, all trending in 2025. But the real secret? It’s all in the application.

Gonzalez shares two easy methods:
1. For bare skin: Dot a small amount of liquid blush onto each cheek with your fingers, then blend outward, softening the edges.
2. Over foundation: After applying blush as usual, buff the edges with a brush. Then, dip your brush into a tiny drop of concealer and gently blend around the edges for a seamless finish.

Spickard takes an artist’s approach—building color in soft layers. “Start with a light wash of blush across the cheeks and nose, then add a deeper shade to the apples for dimension,” he says.

### Vogue’s Top Watercolor Blush Picks
– Best Water Gel: Chanel Water-Fresh Blush ($55)
– Best Water Tint: Victoria Beckham Beauty Colour Wash ($46)
– Best Liquid: Armani Beauty Luminous Silk Liquid Blush ($39)

The best part? This technique works with any blush formula—even powder. Just blend softly for that effortless, romantic flush.Here’s a more natural and fluent version of your text:

Blurring Blush
$36 at Nordstrom
$36 at Ilia Beauty

Glossier Cloud Paint
$20 at Glossier

Meet the Experts

Carolina Gonzalez is a celebrity makeup artist who has worked with stars like Sabrina Carpenter, Alessandra Ambrosio, Ashley Park, and Camila Mendes.

Kasey Spickard is a professional makeup artist based in New York and Los Angeles, with clients including Lyons, Kamie Crawford, and Brynn Whitfield.

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