How to bring colour and freshness back to dull cheeks

The advisor compares the colour of the apple of the cheek with the rest of the face. A healthy cheek is slightly warmer and pinker than the forehead and jaw. When it matches or is greyer, the face looks tired. We also look at how the cheek catches light. Hydrated skin has a soft sheen on the high point of the cheekbone. Dull skin absorbs light instead.

Contour is the third element. A soft shadow beneath the cheekbone gives the face structure in photos, and its absence makes the face look flatter and wider than it is.

Smile lightly to find the apple of your cheek, then place the blush slightly above and behind it, toward the temple. Blush on the apple itself pulls the face downward, while blush lifted onto the cheekbone reads as youthful and lifts the whole face.

Liquid and cream blush sit inside the skin rather than on top of it, which is why they look like a real flush. Use one small dot per cheek, blend with a fingertip or a damp sponge, and add a second dot only if the first disappears. It is far easier to add than to remove.

Match the shade to the colour your cheeks turn after exercise, not to your lipstick. Cool pinks suit skin with pink undertones, peaches and corals suit warm undertones, and soft berries work for deeper skin tones without looking ashy.

A matte bronzer one or two shades deeper than your skin, swept from the top of the ear toward the corner of the mouth and stopping halfway, creates the shadow under the cheekbone that daylight would create on its own. Keep it soft. Visible stripes are the one thing that gives contour away.

For glow, a hyaluronic gel moisturiser under makeup plumps the cheek surface so it reflects light properly. Highlighter is optional and best kept to a small amount on the very top of the cheekbone. If the skin beneath is hydrated, you may not need it at all.