How to make your cream blush last the day.

Image: Getty

It’s the ultimate love/hate relationship: I love cream blush, but I hate the way it never stays put.

Cream blush is a great product for adding colour, luminosity and a radiant glow to the skin. It gives a natural, believable flush and is great for people who prefer the ‘no-makeup’ make up look.

RELATED: The 3 best blushes for people who hate blush.

I love cream blush for weekends when I can’t be bothered with a full face of products and just want to look more alive. The stick versions, like Clinique’s Chubby sticks, are great to throw in your bag for touch ups. (Post continues after gallery.)

The only issue with cream blush is its lasting power. It is notoriously bad when it comes to going the distance. Even as someone with dry skin I’m always left disappointed to have lost the colour pop only a few hours after applying it. For oily-skinned girls, it’s sometimes a case of ‘why did I even bother?”

But fear not — there are some tricks to getting your cream blush to go the distance.

Start with a clean face

By starting with a freshly washed face and minimal moisturiser, you're removing the film of oil that's accumulated overnight, therefore giving your blush the best possible chance of clinging on.

Prep your skin

After applying your usual facial moisturiser, give it a good 60 seconds to properly soak into the skin. Then, apply a primer suitable to your skin type — this will not only hydrate the skin, but will help your makeup stay on longer in general.

RELATED: How to figure out which blush suits your skin type

Use a long-wear foundation

It's common sense really. If you use a foundation that slides off half way through the day, your blush is going to go with it. The best approach is to choose a long wear formulation like Revlon Colourstay Liquid or MAC Prolongwear Foundation to ensure your cream blush has the best base to cling to.

Avoid powder

At. All. Costs.

Cream blush and powder just do not go together and applying a cream based product over the top of a face powder is going to  break up your base and leave you looking like a patchy, streaky mess.

Use your fingers or a synthetic brush

The best tools when it comes to cream blush is either your fingers or a synthetic fibre brush. Thats because natural fibres tend to absorb more product, therefore giving you a much lighter wash of colour. Smaller brushes will also give you a lot more control over where the colour should be.

RELATED: Which foundation brush suits you and your makeup?

However, when it comes to cream blushes I always opt for using my fingers rather than a blush. I find that it helps melt the product into the skin a little better due to the heat in your fingers and allows you to blend the colour out evenly.

Apply more

Due to the nature of cream blush you can afford to be quite liberal in your application. What I mean is that you should always apply slightly more colour than you are comfortable wearing as the product will soak into the skin, therefore losing a little of the colour.

Powder

So you know how I said avoid powder at all costs? Well, I kinda lied. While it's true you should avoid putting cream blush over powder, applying a light hand of powdered blush in a similar colour will help lock in the colour without losing the luminosity and sheen that cream blush gives.

How do you make your makeup go the distance?