I’ve never been a huge makeup girl. I stick to a little concealer, blush, clear gloss, and mascara. My fair skin looks better with less.
But it’s so hard not to be seduced by the beauty hacks you see while scrolling through TikTok. A tutorial that promises to take years off your face? I’ll try it. But every time, I quickly realize that I can’t contour without looking like a clown, smoky eyes make me look like I’ve gotten into a bar fight, and when I try to cover up the redness I get on my chin, it somehow pops out 30 minutes later. So I don’t even bother trying anymore.
But when I saw a video on how to apply blush, bronzer, or both really high on your face to give you a lifted effect — that looked really good and natural — I almost rolled an ankle getting off the couch to give it a try. I figured it was a product I was using anyway, and it couldn’t hurt to try. And I’m amazed at the results.
At first I was nervous I’d do it wrong. I mean, I’ve never put stuff for my cheeks so close to my eyes before, and there was a part of me convinced that this wasn’t going to do me any favors. But what else was I going to do on a random Tuesday night? Worst case scenario it looked terrible and I washed it right off.
I got my bronzing stick (I like a cream or a stick instead of a powder because powder settles into my crows feet, and we really don’t need to make those look any worse), and dabbed a little bit a few inches under my pupil, where my cheek meets my under-eye. It was still in the apple area of my cheeks, but higher than I’ve ever worn it before.
I was blown away at the difference. I have dark veins under my eyes that you can see, and no matter how much concealer I wear, the darkness doesn’t go away. But putting the bronzer where I did really helped draw my eye away from that area and it did cover some of the darkness. I also have hollows around my eyes — another glorious part about being almost 50 — and in the past when I’ve done blush or bronzer lower on the face, it made my eyes look more sunken-in, because it was dragging my face down. I didn’t even realize it until I started applying my products higher.
Then, because I couldn’t stop scrolling for tips, I came across another video where a woman was putting blush in front of the corner of her eye and keeping the color really high on her face. I was on a roll, so I had to try it. Once again I was pleasantly surprised that a simple makeup trick could make such a difference. I love finding easy tricks that I can easily do that make me feel better about myself.
If you’re looking for a little lift, or just want a way to mix up your makeup routine, you have to try this super easy trick. I know I’ll never go back.
Katie lives in Maine with her three kids, two ducks, and a Goldendoodle. When she’s not writing, she’s reading, at the gym, redecorating her home, or spending too much money online.