Three Ways To Break Out of a Blush Rut

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I tend to apply blush one particular way: Hastily, as I'm running out the door.

So I reached out to Linda Hay--she's Victoria's Secret's makeup artist--to help fix my slapdash, aimless ways.

Her three techniques create significantly prettier effects than what I've been doing, and take the same amount of time--nearly none.

Sporty. Gisele's favorite method, according to Hay: "Sweep a tawny or peachy blush across the flat part of your cheekbones, the bridge of your nose, and even on the hairline and temples," she says.

Romantic. "Blend a creamy pink or rose blush with some luminsence directly onto the apples of the cheeks." Little wonder why perpetual ingenues Keira Knightley and Kirsten Dunst like this look, says Hay.

Sculpted. If you weren't born with Kate Moss cheekbones, just fake it. Tap an angled blush brush into bronzer, and "scoop" it under the apples of your cheeks, creating a contour. "Then sweep a tiny spot of blush onto the apples of cheeks," and finish with a hit of highlighter on the outermost part of the cheekbone. "J. Lo and Eva Longoria have perfected this technique," says Hay.

And after a few tries, so did I.