For someone who is nutty about blush like I am, it’s only right that I talk more about its basics. This will be specially useful for those who would like to step into the world of rouge but aren’t sure how to.

Enjoy!

Rouge: French for red

Back in the day, blush (or blusher) wasn’t known as such. It was known as rouge. In fact, up to this day, my mother doesn’t call blush BLUSH. She still refers to it as rouge.

As popular as blush now is to give an appearance of youth and radiance, it didn’t always start this way. In fact, it has quite a history. In Ancient Egypt, both men and women wore rouge in addition to the heavy kohl makeup on their eyes. It didn’t start off as powder but a thick paste that can be made from things like strawberries, red fruits and vegetables. When it came to powder, it was finely crushed ochre. In ancient Greece, wealthy elite women whitened their complexion with chalk or lead face powder (which was extremely dangerous) and painted their cheeks with a paste of crushed seeds and berries.

Rouge has seen a rise and decline throughout the years. With the rise of Christianity came the decline of rouge. It was deemed as too promiscuous with new strict dress codes and behaviour. Come the Middle Ages, women went back to blush by regularly bleeding themselves to obtain a pale complexion and then put a mixture of water and strawberries on their cheeks for a soft rosy colour. Queen Elizabeth embraced the rouge and so did plenty of women. After the French revolution, it declined again as makeup was seen as extravagant and improper.

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I often get questions via email about products for sensitive skin and what ingredients to avoid. Now even though I get the occasional bouts of sensitivity on my cheeks and flare-ups, I don’t actually have sensitive skin. My skin can take chemical peels, microdermabrasion and heat treatment to a certain extend without any issues at all. I’m not allergic to any particular cosmetic ingredient (touch wood!). I’m not really the person to ask when it comes to sensitive skin.

So I’ve enlisted the help of LeGeeque to write a bit about sensitive skin. She has sensitive skin and even though it’s not very severe, her skin does react to a lot of beauty products, has a strict regime and knows what she can or cannot use. She’s definitely a better person to ask. 🙂

Over to you, LeGeeque!

My journey with sensitive skin began when puberty has long left me. Unlike teenagers with raging hormones getting breakouts, my battle with acne would have been better classified as battle with adult acne! I was about 19 when I first had my acne attack. It was then that after a massive amount of trial-and-error as well as consultations that I learnt about what my skin disagrees with.

My version of sensitive skin is rather simple and straightforward. I get tiny red bumps on my skin the moment something I use my skin does not agree with. If I persist, the red bumps will continue to flare up to be big angry bumps. I’m extremely envious of people who can try a myriad of products and the worst that can happen is, “Oh, it turned my skin oily and my makeup slides off.”

The only way to stop it from getting worse is to completely stop and pare my skincare back to its bare minimal. After cleansing, I use toner, one serum and one moisturiser for nights with added sunscreen for day. Eye cream is non-negotiable and will always be in my routine.

That might seem the regular amount used by most but here’s what I usually use to keep my skin hydrated:

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{ 1. Anna Sui Magenta-Multi Printed Silk Square Scarf | 2. Peter Thomas Roth Mega-Rich Body Lotion | 3. Burberry Leather Touch Screen Gloves | 4. Country Road Intarsia Spot Knit | 5. Elemental Herbology Facial Souffle | 6. Jeffrey Campbell France Suede Boots }

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