Daily hacks: How to use your blush to create a sunburnt effect

In our 'daily hacks' series, we bring you the latest beauty and home tips, trends and tricks to transform your life and save you money.


TikTok users are showing love for the ‘sunburnt’ effect, which enables them to get a bit of glowy colour without suffering the harmful effects of UV rays.

It might seem a bit crazy as trends go, but the results have a certain cachet, we must admit.

To achieve it, these makeup brush experts have developed the technique of ‘W blush,’ which has now gone viral on the Chinese social network.

Another week and yet another new trend on TikTok, which is becoming a genuine treasure trove of beauty tips and advice.

After repurposing a hair spray to reproduce fake freckles, the users of the Chinese social network are outdoing one another with ingenious ideas for recreating the famous ‘sunburnt’ effect — that’s right, the one we used to try to hide after falling asleep in the sun.

But nothing could be easier, say a host of TikTokers, who just use a simple blush to get their favorite new look.

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Be aware, however, that the method used to achieve the desired effect is rather different from the way you generally apply blush in your classic beauty routine.

Called “W blush,” it doesn’t require any special skills, since it consists in applying the blush in question — liquid, cream or powder, anything goes — on the cheekbones and the tip of the nose to form the letter “W.”

Clever! All that’s left is to blend the material with a brush to get the desired effect.

A hit on Instagram, the method is gaining a huge following on TikTok with dozens and dozens of videos out there, and few real variations, except for the amount of product applied.

The success is such that some videos have been viewed hundreds of thousands of times, with comments full of enthusiastic endorsements.

The video of Taylor Frankel, co-founder of a makeup brand, which has already accumulated nearly 150,000 views, deciphers the method with her own products in a total of 18 seconds. It’s a technique that truly is within everyone’s reach!

@taylor_frankel Sunburnt trend – Y/N? #makeup #trend #fyp #nudestix ♬ Get Into It (Yuh) – Doja Cat

All that remains is learning how to dose the amount of blush. A ‘sunburnt’ effect is fine, but there’s no need to have a heavy hand and risk resembling lobster.

No one wants that, whether it’s after a makeup session or from too much sun exposure.

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