Blush Stick Shades for Cheeks and Lips, From Peach to Cherry

Blush Stick Shades for Cheeks and Lips, From Peach to Cherry

A good blush stick is the fastest way to a flush, and the best ones double as a lip color. These are the cream sticks, multi-use sticks and a few longer wearing options I would keep in a bag.

Gucci Westman spent years as a celebrity makeup artist, painting faces for magazines and backstage at fashion week, before she launched her own line, Westman Atelier, in 2018. Baby Cheeks is the cream blush the brand itself calls its best-selling one. It is a good place to start, because a stick is simply a cream blush you can control.

Westman Atelier Baby Cheeks in Minette is a luminous peach with medium coverage and a natural finish. Fenty Beauty Match Stix in Strawberry Pop is a color-adaptive gel stick that shifts to a rosy shade on your skin. Bobbi Brown Skin Enhancer Blush Stick in Flirty Peach is a neutral peachy pink with hyaluronic acid spheres and a glow that lasts up to eight hours. Makeup by Mario Soft Pop in Raspberry is a bright pink with a dual-ended brush. Kosas Impressionist Multistick in Vibration is a guava pink for cheeks and lips. Marc Jacobs Joystick in Papa Don't Peach is a vibrant coral, the Blurring Blush stick in Daiquiri is a matte pink that goes from cream to powder, and LYS Beauty Higher Standard in Elite is a mauve.

A quick test: swipe the stick once on the back of your hand, then tap it out with a finger. If you can still see skin through it, it is right for cheeks.

Comparison chart of Blush Stick by shade depth, from lighter shades at the top to deeper shades at the bottom, with every shade of one product on the same row and spread from cool pink to warm coral, featuring Fenty Beauty, Iconic London, Westman Atelier, Makeup by Mario, Bobbi Brown, Marc Jacobs, Kosas, NARS and Haus Labs
Blush Stick

Cream blush sticks

Multi-use sticks for cheeks and lips

Sticks that also work on lips are the ones I actually finish. Ogee Sculpted Cream Blush Stick in Pink Diamond is a neutral pink with light, buildable coverage and jojoba oil. KJH.brand Soft Smudge in Soft Coral is a warm peach that dries to a soft matte wash. VIOLETTE_FR Bisou Blush in Louise marbles two shades, a neutral pink beige, and comes with a detachable brush. Haus Labs Color Fuse in Glassy Rosette is a rose with a glassy finish that lasts 8 hours. LIXR Lixstick in Damson is a peachy pink tint that is waterless, so a little goes a long way. Iris&Romeo Multi-balm in Wild Berry is a berry stick with ceramides. VERSED Shade Swipe in Pinch and 19/99 Beauty Cream Blush Stick in Bacca round it out.

Pairing tip: swipe the stick on your lips first, then on your cheeks, and blend the two edges into each other. The color reads as one thought.

What I would skip: a matte cream to powder stick like KJH Soft Smudge on very dry cheeks without a moisturizer underneath. It grabs on to any dry patch.

Multi-use sticks for cheeks and lips

Blush sticks with a little more color

Some sticks are simply for days when you want more. Dior Rosy Glow Blush Stick in 077 Candy is a pearlescent bubblegum pink that adapts to your skin's pH for a custom color, with up to 12 hours of wear. Charlotte Tilbury Unreal Lip and Cheek Glow Stick in Cherry Glow is a deep cherry red with hyaluronic acid and a luminous finish. Dolce&Gabbana Cherry Glaze Bar in 03 Cheeky Coral is a pop orange, waterproof stick that stamps on with a glossy finish. NARS The Multiple in Swing is a cool light pink for cheeks, eyes and lips.

Westman Atelier Baby Cheeks in Dou Dou, Sisley Paris Phyto-Blush Twist, Victoria Beckham Beauty Blush Stylus and Clinique Chubby Stick Moisturizing Cheek Color Balm round out the sticks, and I would swatch them in person.

Pairing tip: put a deep cherry like Charlotte Tilbury Cherry Glow on with a fingertip, one tap at a time, and blend until it looks like a stain.

What I would skip: stamping the Dolce&Gabbana bar in one heavy swipe. The pop orange shows every hard edge, so tap and blend in small sections.

More blush sticks to try

How I pick a stick

Pick the format first. A slim, dewy stick like Westman Atelier or Bobbi Brown is for skin that wants to look fresh, and a cream to powder stick like the Blurring Blush stick or KJH is for days you want it to stay put. Then pick the shade by undertone: pink and mauve for cool skin, peach and coral for warm skin. Keep the stick near your bag and use it after foundation, before powder. You want it on the high point of the cheek, blended out toward the temple. And if you cannot decide, one multi-use stick in a rosy peach is hard to get wrong.