How To Be Beautiful: The buzz on blusher

Blusher is one of the most useful make-up bag items, yet it's also the one we're most likely to misuse. Put to its proper purpose – the addition of a little healthy colour and added dimension – it does its job admirably. It's when we start employing it to create the illusion of cheekbones, manically sculpting in light and shade, that things go awry. This kind of contouring is best left to the professional make-up artist; rendered by an inexpert hand it looks as subtle as a child's painting-by-numbers kit.

The temptation to abuse your pot of blusher is mercifully reduced this season, as soft pinks are everywhere and – unlike tawnier shades – they insist on the creation of a flushed glow rather than super-sharp cheekbones. These rosy tones point to a wider mood in beauty on the spring catwalks that was unreservedly pretty and girlish.

It may sound a bit sappy, but when it comes to blusher, hard edges are best avoided.