Custom-blend Your Own Cream Blusher

For those of us on the downhill side of 40, do we really think we’re convincing anyone when we use the same powder blush we used in college to fake a rosy glow? In the bright morning light as we walk our kids to school or greet each other over the office coffee pot, our self-deception is shattered by the looks in our friends’ eyes as they struggle to look past the vibrant stripes on our cheeks. Rub all we want, the stripes never quite blend into a convincing glow. Help!

I heard somewhere that older, drier skin like ours needs something more than dry powder to help us look vibrant. But because my cosmetics budget (hah!) is severely restricted by the need to buy more meaningful things for my family, I’ve struggled to find a blusher that’s appropriate for my middle-aged face and doesn’t cost more than 10 gallons of gas. I shop primarily at Target and Walgreens Drugs, where the only cream blushers I’ve found are look-at-me sparkly or smell like mashed strawberries.

So I set out to blend my own. All you need is:

• Your favorite powdered blush,
• Face cream,
• A dinner knife,
• A toothpick, and
• A really tiny jar.*

*Because we’re exposing the blush and face cream to the open air and any germs on our knife or toothpick, it’s best to mix only a few week’s worth of cream blush at a time. I use the little 1/4–ounce sample jar I got at a Clinique cosmetics counter in my previous life, when I wore name-brand makeup as well as skirts and high heels!

Here’s all you do:

1. Add a squirt of face cream into your jar.

I use one with sunscreen so I feel frugal and smart.

1. Use your knife to scrape a small amount of blush powder into your jar.
2. Stir the mixture with your toothpick, adding more blush powder until you get the right depth of color.

That’s it! Enjoy.