Blush: Makeup’s comeback kid

Welcome to Next in Beauty, a Vogue Business series highlighting category predictions, formula innovations and new product development for 2025 and beyond, in editorial partnership with global trends intelligence and consumer insights specialist Stylus. Blush is so back. After being relegated to our grandmothers’ makeup bags, the cosmetic category has gotten a modern overhaul. Its resurgence has been largely driven by creative virality, formula innovations and 2024 TikTok trends like ‘blush-touring’, ‘sunset blush’ and ‘glazed blush’, led by Gen Z favourite Hailey Bieber. Can the category continue to grow? Interest has spiked with new varieties entering the market. Consumers have a variety of formulas to choose from, including cream, liquid, gel and balm, that are highly pigmented, customisable and suited to individual skin and makeup needs. Liquid blush — popularised by the success of Selena Gomez’s Rare Beauty — generated $2 billion in global revenue in 2023. Rare Beauty told Vogue Business that it sells a Liquid Blush (£22) every nine seconds. A spokesperson at Patrick Ta Beauty shared that, in their first week of release, three new blush shades racked up sales revenue tenfold of that for the entire category last year. According to Saie Beauty president Lucy Ruehlemann, the brand’s Dew Blush (£20), launched in 2021, has risen to number two in terms of global franchise purchases, up 170 per cent year-on-year with continuous triple-digit growth — one Dew Blush is sold every 30 seconds. Beauty brands are riding the wave to expand their selections. Hourglass, Morphe and Live Tinted introduced their own liquid iterations in July, while Bieber’s Rhode launched into the category with its Pocket Blush (£24) at the start of this summer; a post promoting the blush at the end of July saw double the brand’s average social media engagement. As a category that has witnessed persistent consumer demand both in search and on TikTok — #blush has accumulated over 350 million posts on the platform compared to other complexion categories including #highlighter and #bronzer, at 238,900 and 118,200 posts, respectively — the blush evolution is proving to be more than just a trend. However, for brands to keep up with the changing consumer behaviours and needs of this category, Stylus recommends key advancements based on shopper habits and attitudes: a larger focus on skin-first ingredients, customisation, expanding texture styles and even considering climate-specific formulas. Make it fruity Consumers are purchasing makeup products with skincare benefits in mind. Explored within the Vogue Business Beauty Trend Tracker, the search data reveals an increased demand for brands to strike the perfect balance between skincare and makeup as consumers continue to place emphasis on their skin barrier needs. New innovation goes beyond traditional active ingredients such as niacinamide and squalane, expanding to formulas that consider fruit extracts as natural and upcycled alternatives. “Fruit extracts are surfacing in blush products for their ability to gently nourish and rejuvenate the skin — meeting the skincare-makeup hybrid uptick,” says Maya Regan, assistant beauty trends editor at Stylus. Stand-out products already occupying the space are Anastasia Beverley Hills’s Blurring Serum Blush (£30) available worldwide, including at Selfridges and Harrods, which is enriched with pomegranate peel extract to help soothe irritation and reduce redness, along with Haus Labs’s Color Fuse Glassy Blush Balm Stick (£30), stocked by Sephora and online, which utilises the hydrating and plumping properties of goji berry in its serum-based, high-pigment blush. “Our customers love products that combine skincare and makeup qualities,” says Kulfi founder and CEO Priyanka Ganjoo. “In our Mehndi Moment Blush ($28), we have added amla [Indian gooseberry] extract, which is a super antioxidant used in South Asian households. Additionally, many of our customers have dry skin due to the climate, so we wanted to include an ingredient that helps with moisture, which is where the hibiscus extract comes in.” Customise it Customisable blush shades will be a key category advancement for 2025. This summer’s early indicator is the online virality of #sunsetblush. It first circulated in April following TikTok creator Alissa Janay’s video (now at 9.5 million views), which displayed two liquid blush shades and a gold highlighter dotted along the cheekbones and blended to create a custom gradient effect. “This trend has literally taken over the internet,” stated makeup artist Nikkie de Jager, aka Nikkie Tutorials, in one of her videos. But how can brands pull it off? Companies have largely found it challenging to scale product innovations to meet the consumer’s personalised needs, as highlighted in the innovation chapter of the Vogue Business Beauty Index. For Regan, makeup brands can overcome this by “exploring colour complementary ranges and styles that blend seamlessly for personalised colour play”. For now, it looks like promoting multiple shades to be used at once. Glossier’s Cloud Paint range (£22) allows shoppers to customise their makeup looks through a paint-like formula with shades that can be mixed and blended depending on the makeup mood. French makeup artist Violette Serrat, founder of her eponymous beauty brand Violette_Fr, takes customisation a step further in her blush formula. “The Bisou Blush (£37) features different marbled pigments to deliver a multidimensional colour play for its customers,” adds Regan. This premise presents the opportunity to play with colour, while packing products as a stick for ease of application when on the go. Make it functional Innovation is front and centre of category advancement. For blush, Regan predicts it will play out in a blush’s ability to adapt to the wearer’s skin needs or environment. “Multi-textured products that apply and set in two different finishes, like cream to powder, are gaining popularity for their moisturising formulations yet comfortable and long-wear, powder feel,” she says. Products such as Elf Cosmetics’s Putty Blush (£7) and Senna’s Cream to Powder Blush (£16) start as cream-based formulas before drying to semi-matte powder finishes that offer light and buildable colour for their customers. How can brands advance this formula? Regan says Chinese beauty brand Florasis is one to watch for its technological advancement. “Its Peony Dream Cream Blush (£22) available online, applies as a blendable cream with hydrating argan oil before drying down to a powder finish. The blush locks in the skin’s moisture while repelling water (and sweat) meaning it’s long-lasting and can withstand daily interactions.” A limitation is the blush only comes in one shade. For brands to win, they must balance the technology alongside shade variety and colour payoff. Innovation in formulation should extend to consider the climate the wearer is in. According to the UN, today, 55 per cent of the world’s population lives in urban areas, a number that is expected to reach 68 per cent by 2050. Inner city and urbanised living will have an impact on consumers who shop for their beauty products. “Blush with cooling properties are also seeing rising demand. The uptick speaks to the growing needs due to climate change and increasing temperatures. Brands ought to consider light textures that feel refreshing on the skin,” says Regan. For example, Elf Cosmetics’s Daily Dew Stick (£8) combines glycerin, snow mushroom extract, butters and synthetic mica to refresh and moisturise skin, while providing a cool feeling on application. Milk Makeup’s Cooling Water Jelly Tint (£22) “is a long-lasting and cooling cheek and lip stain with a hydrating bouncy jelly texture. Its notable developments speak to the demand for climate consideration, multi-functionality and high performance,” she adds. Beauty’s slept on blush for too long — as the trend continues in new forms and formats, customer expectations will only get higher. Comments, questions or feedback? Email us at feedback@voguebusiness.com.

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