The Ultimate Neutral Blush Edit + Swatches

Welcome to the neutral blush edit.  This post has been in the making since..the start of this blog? Neutral blushes are one of my favorite categories of makeup, and I can’t ever seem to resist another neutral blush. 

Every time I try to create this post and compile all my blushes, I seem to forget to include one – but I *think* I finally got them all this time – and there are a total of 32 blushes featured in this post! 

The category of ‘neutral’ covers a wide range of shade – for me, a neutral blush is not really a specific color so much as it is a blush that will not interfere with any other color I’m wearing on my face, such as my eye shadow or lip color.

Neutral blush for me is usually some variation of beige or tan, and can have pink, rosy, or more orange tones – but the point of it is to make my face appear more sculpted or less bare than no blush. The point is not to look like a natural flush, but to give my face an extra something that can pair with any lip color or eye color. It should be something I can wear with any lipstick shade or eyeshadow. If I were a normal person, I might just own one neutral blush that I wouldn’t have to think about. But me being me, I have my own arsenal of neutral blushes ranging from an almost nude look to a more sculpted bronzer/contour/blush hybrid. 

My neutral blushes generally fall into these categories, though they aren’t hard categories:

• Nude neutral – these are the barely there blushes. They add just a hint of something to my face, but it is hard to tell the actual color. These blushes usually have a matte or satin finish.
• Bronze neutral – these are warmer neutral blush, and can be used a bronzer/blush or contour/blush in one, depending on how warm it is. They are a little deeper than the nude neutrals on me, and can be anywhere from matte to shimmery.
• Pink neutral – these have just a hint of pink, but are not quite what I would categorize as pink blushes. These blushes give me somewhere between a flush and a sculpted look, and can also be anywhere from matte to shimmery.
• Cream neutral – I put these in their own separate category because I often use the cream neutrals by themselves. They can be any of the above colors, but the finish is usually a little dewier, as cream blushes often are.

There are a few classic neutral blushes from the past few years – Nars Douceur, Tarte Exposed, MAC Harmony that have really paved the path for me as far as neutral blushes go. Unfortunately, with a few exceptions, many of the go to nude neutral blushes have been discontinued. 

I tried to group some by the color families as described above, but because there is so much overlap between the categories, there’s no strict category for each of the groups. 

If you’d like to shop all the blushes in one place, you can click through to my Shoplist collection here (affiliate links), or click through individual affiliate links for each product below. If there is no link to a product, it means it is discontinued. 

(All individual links are affiliate links except for the Victoria Beckham Blush and Phytosurgence blush. All products with a * next to them were sent as press samples)

Group 1:

• Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Exposed – a sheer nude neutral that has a slight warm mauve color and a soft matte finish
• Nars Douceur (discontinued) – nude neutral that is a sheer tan brown shade with a hint of pink and a soft matte finish
• Too Faced Baby love (discontinued) – nude neutral that has a slight mauve tone and a soft satin-shimmer finish
• Marc Jacobs Air Blush Flesh and Fantasy (discontinued) – nude neutral that is a peachy brown shade and a satin finish
• Jouer Blush Bouquet in Darling*, right side – a pink neutral with a hint of peach and a soft shimmer
• Jouer Blush Bouquet in Darling*, left side – a nude neutral that is a slight peach shade and a soft shimmer
• Lancome Blush Subtil in Miel Glace – nude neutral that is a cool toned mauve and a soft satin-shimmer finish
• MAC Sheertone Blush in Blushbaby – nude neutral veering into pink neutral that is a beigy pink shade with a soft matte finish
• Charlotte Tilbury Cheek to Cheek Blush in Pillow Talk – a pink neutral with a light beige undertone and a shimmer finish

This group had my favorite and also discontinued blushes. I reach for Douceur constantly, and it is a unique brown/pink shade that looks barely there. I also reach for Tarte Exposed, which is a long time favorite and thankfully still available. 

Group 2

• Urban Decay Afterglow 8-Hour Blush in Video (discontinued) – nude neutral that is a tan brown shade and a matte finish
• Bare Minerals Gen Nude blush in Let’s Go Nude – nude neutral leaning towards bronze neutral that is a warm tan in a matte finish. This is getting hard to find and I suspect it may be getting discontinued
• MAC Sheertone Blush in Gingerly – bronze neutral that is a neutral brown shade and a soft matte finish
• Hermes Silky Blush Powder in Rose Tan – nude neutral leaning towards bronze neutral that is a warm peachy bronze shade and a matte finish (reviewed here)
• Cover FX Monochromatic Blush in Warm Honey – a bronze neutral that is a peachy bronze shade with a matte side and a metallic side

• Surratt Artistique Blush in Chaleur – a bronze neutral that is a warm brown shade and a satin finish
• Becca Mineral Blush in Wild Honey (discontinued) – a bronze neutral that is a warm tan with a shimmer finish

This group has the warmest blushes of all the ones in the post today. Of this group, MAC Gingerly and Hermes Rose Tan are similar to each other, though Gingerly is a little deeper and more matte. Cover FX Warm Honey is a little more neutral than Hermes Rose Tan, but I think both Gingerly and Warm Honey could be alternatives to Hermes Rose Tan if you’re not looking to spend that much money on a blush. Surratt Chaleur is the warmest and deepest of the group, and I use it almost like a bronzer for my skintone.

Group 3

• Laura Mercier Blush Color Infusion in Fresco* – nude neutral that is a sheer tan brown shade and a soft shimmer finish
• Chanel Joues Contraste Powder in Rose Bronze – a pink neutral that is a rosy beige shade and a slight shimmer finish
• Chanel Joues Contraste Powder in Alezane – a bronze neutral that is a tanned rose with a slight shimmer finish
• Dior Rouge Blush in Charnelle – a bronze neutral with a medium bronze-brown shade and a shimmer finish
• Buxom Wanderlust Primer Infused Blush in Seychelles – bronze neutral that is a neutral toned mauve-bronze shade and a shimmer finish
• MAC Mineralize Blush in Warm Soul (new version) – nude neutral that is a peachy beige and a glowy shimmer finish. This is different from the original Warm Soul from several years ago as MAC reformulated the Mineralize Blushes. 

• MAC Trace Gold (discontinued) – nude neutral leaning towards bronze neutral that is a warm bronzey gold and a shimmer finish
• MAC Sheertone Blush in Sunbasque – bronze neutral that is a peachy bronze shade and a shimmer finish
• MAC Margin (discontinued) – pink neutral that is pinky bronze shade and a shimmer finish

This group has blushes that are more neutral toned than Group 2, and generally have more shimmers.I couldn’t find dupes among these blushes because the different shimmers really set them apart. This shows me how unique both Dior Charnelle and Buxom Seychelles are. The Dior sometimes pulls  more pink on me, and other times it pulls more bronze, while Seychelles really is a mix of neutral pink and bronze with a complex shimmer.

Group 4- Cream blush

• MAC Glow Play Blush in Blush Please – a pink neutral that is a neutral mauve and a soft satin finish
• MAC Glow Play Blush in So Natural – a nude/bronze neutral with a light beige gold shade and a soft satin finish
• Bare Minerals Bounce and Blur Blush in Blurred Bluff – a neutral/bronze neutral that is a bronze neutral shade and a soft shimmer finish
• Victoria Beckham Cheeky Posh Blush in Playground – nude neutral with a terracotta nude blush in a satin finish
• Phytosurgence Skin Spark Blush Balm in Smolder – a burnt apricot shade with a satin finish
• Kjaer Weis Desired Glow – a nude neutral that is a pinkish beige shade with a satin finish
• Tower 28 Beach Please Lip and Cheek Cream Blush in Magic Hour* a nude neutral leaning towards pink neutral that is a pinky beige and a dewy finish
• Fenty Beauty Cheeks Out Freestyle Blush Rose Latte – bronze neutral with a deep bronze brown shade and a satin finish

I had to redo these swatches because I recently was sent the Tower 28 Balm in Magic Hour and it fits perfectly in this post. I found that it was similar to MAC Blush Please, but with a much dewier finish. If you like the shade but find the Tower 28 balms too heavy and dewy, definitely trh the MAC Glow Play blush in Blush Please. MAC So Natural and Bare Minerals Blurred Buff are also similar to each other, though Blurred Buff is a little deeper and more bronze.

What are your favorite neutral blushes? Do you see any here that you want to try? Chat with me below! 

*items with an asterisk were sent as press samples.