For about two years my cheeks were the loudest thing on my face. Big pink flush, sometimes coral, sometimes all the way up to my eyes. So when I started seeing the anti-blush trend everywhere, beige cheeks, taupe cheeks, a little shadow where the color used to be, my first thought was that it would make me look tired.

It doesn't, if you pick the right shade. It just looks like your face, slightly warmer and with better bone structure. Here's what I've figured out after a few weeks of wearing it, and the Korean blushes I'd use.

So what's the difference, really?

Regular blush is pink, coral or red, and it sits on the apples of your cheeks so people notice it. Anti-blush (some people just call it muted blush) goes the other way. The shades are beige, nude, soft brown and dusty mauve, close to the natural shadows on your face, and you blend them up along the cheekbone like a soft contour.

The point isn't zero color. It's warmth and a bit of shape without anyone thinking "oh, she's wearing blush".

Picking your shade (and where I went wrong)

Fair skin looks best in light beige and nude pink. Medium skin can go toasty hazelnut, almond and muted mauve. Deeper skin tones should go richer, plum and chocolate brown, because pale beige just sits on top and looks chalky. My mistake was going too brown on fair skin, which read as dirty instead of soft.

Keep the eyes and lips quiet too. A muted cheek with a bold red lip is a different look entirely.

The powder I keep going back to

milktouch Tone-On Blusher compact on a beige background with nuts — milktouch Tone-On Blusher

The names alone sold me. milktouch Tone-On Blusher comes in 01 Toasted Nuts and 02 Autumn Roco, which is basically the whole anti-blush palette in two pans.

It's a powder with very fine pearl, so there's a soft sheen instead of a flat brown stripe, and the mix of particle sizes helps it sit smoothly over pores. It goes on without clumping, even when I go back in with a brush for more.

The beige I'd buy for a nervous friend

Peripera Pure Blushed Sunshine Cheek compact on a warm beige background — Peripera Pure Blushed Sunshine Cheek

Peripera Pure Blushed Sunshine Cheek spreads like watercolor, really sheer, so it's hard to overdo. That's exactly what you want when you're not sure about beige cheeks yet.

016 Acorn Beige is the one for this trend. 031 Creamy Beige is a little lighter if you're very fair.

A hazelnut that works on lips too

Colorgram Tintin Dory Blur Jam pots stacked on a pink background — Colorgram Tintin Dory Blur Jam

Colorgram Tintin Dory Blur Jam has this bouncy, dough-like texture that blends out to a velvety matte. It's a lip and cheek pot and it didn't dry out my lips, which surprised me for a matte.

03 Hazelnut Pink is my pick for medium skin, and 02 Warm Almond is the warmer, browner one. Same shade on lips and cheeks keeps the whole face calm, which is kind of the point here.

If you want it blurry, not shiny

Two models wearing fwee Lip&Cheek Blurry Pudding Pot in nude and rose shades — fwee Lip&Cheek Blurry Pudding Pot

The fwee Lip&Cheek Blurry Pudding Pot range is huge and it's sorted by base shade, so you can go straight to the nudes (the ND shades) and ignore the rest. The pudding texture taps on with one finger and gives a soft-blur finish.

ND03 Without is a nice muted nude. RS03 Faded is a dusty rose that looks lovely on medium and deeper skin. It's pigmented, so start with a tiny amount.

The one for dry skin days

2aN Heart Wearing Liquid Cheek tubes floating on a pink background — 2aN Heart Wearing Liquid Cheek

Powder on my cheeks in January is a no. 2aN Heart Wearing Liquid Cheek is a twist-up liquid made with 50% moisture essence and 15% glossy oil, so it melts on clear and dewy instead of sitting on dry patches.

Most of the range is pink and peach, but 06 Bare Glow is the quieter one I'd go for. Dab a little higher than you normally would and blend up.

Tiny compact, very muted shades

Clio Essential Lipcheek Tap Blur slide compacts on a pink background — Clio Essential Lipcheek Tap Blur

Clio Essential Lipcheek Tap Blur is a melting balm in a little slide compact that lives in my coat pocket. It warms up on your finger and gives a transparent, healthy-looking flush on lips and cheeks.

03 Mellow Sand and 05 Autumn Toast are the two that fit this look. Autumn Toast on the cheekbone with a bit on the lips is my lazy Sunday face.

My cheat for making my own shade

Colorgram Re-Forming Contour Stick on a pink background — Colorgram Re-Forming Contour Stick

If none of your blushes are muted enough, add shadow. I swipe a bit of Colorgram Re-Forming Contour Stick on the back of my hand, tap a pink or peach blush next to it, mix with a fingertip and press that onto my cheekbone. Instant anti-blush, custom to my skin.

It also works alone under the cheekbone with the built-in smudge tip. 04 Light Warm Tone is good for fair skin, 03 Neutral for most people, and 02 Cool Tone if warm contour turns orange on you.

Start sheer, blend up, and keep everything else on your face low-key. If it feels too flat, a dot of your old pink blush on top fixes it in two seconds. You'll find more muted shades in our blush collection.

MAKEUP

The Anti-Blush Trend: Muted, Beige-y Cheeks and the K-Beauty Blushes I'd Use

FAQ

What is the anti-blush trend?

It's a cheek look that skips bright pinks, corals and reds for muted shades like beige, taupe, soft brown and dusty mauve. The color is placed more like a soft contour, so cheeks look warm and shaped instead of obviously flushed.

Which anti-blush shade suits my skin tone?

Fair skin usually looks best in light beige and nude pink. Medium skin suits toasty hazelnut, almond and muted mauve. Deeper skin tones can go richer with plum and chocolate brown so the color doesn't turn ashy.

Where do I put anti-blush?

Blend it along the cheekbone and a little toward the temple rather than only on the apples of the cheeks. Think of it as halfway between where you'd put blush and where you'd put contour.

Is anti-blush the same as contour?

Not quite. Contour is usually a grey-brown shadow, while anti-blush still has some warmth or pink in it. You can mix the two, though, by tapping a little contour into a muted blush to make your own shade.

Written by Hyerin Park

Hyerin has always loved shopping—fashion, beauty, and pretty much anything worth adding to cart. Since starting Baerry, that habit has turned into testing dozens of new beauty products that land on the team’s desks in Seoul, plus plenty she buys herself. An ISTJ with a very high bar for what makes the cut, she treats her own face as the testing ground before recommending anything.