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Using your lipstick as blush is the best time- and money-saving hack

Fact: TikTok is brimming with beauty hacks. Skin slugging, contour hacking, hair flossing – turn your eye away from the Gen-Z platform for one minute, and you’ll miss a flurry of viral tips and tricks promising to streamline your beauty routine.

So much choice, however, can often leave me with inevitable overwhelm. And more often than not, I'm left with nothing more than an overly ‘slugged’ complexion and all out of dental floss.

One hack I came across the other day, though, piqued my interest. Simply because, it was so easy. Scrolling on Instagram I came across influencer and MUA, Katie Jane Hughes, using a bright red lipstick as her blusher. A far cry away from the more ridiculous blush hack – using your lipstick all over your face to create a blush effect– this hack involves applying your lipstick as normal, then using your blush brush to dab the extra formula from your lips onto your cheeks. It really works, too.

'Applying lipstick as blush is not too dissimilar to applying a cream blush,' says MUA and founder of @sculptedbyaimee, Aimee Connolly. 'Although, usually a lipstick will have slightly more pigment to it, so it's a good idea to start small and gradually build it up to your desired intensity.'

A quick tip, she tells me, is to ensure you don't apply too much product. 'Swatch the lipstick on the back of your hand first before transferring it onto the cheeks with your fingers.'

'This will help it to blend into the skin more seamlessly and give the most natural finish. Just remember, less is always more!' A classic satin finish is the best for a natural result, she adds, as this won't appear too dry or shiny on the skin or you could try using a dewy coloured balm, too.

As a cream blush wearer through and through (I have more than I’d like to admit), I’d never even thought to try this before. But for the last few weeks, I’ve been using my lipsticks– a dark chocolate brown; a burnt red; and coral hue–in place of my blusher. As I’m rushing out the door, I simply add a flush of colour to match my lipstick. It’s by far the easiest hack I’ve learnt on TikTok and one that I’m actually going to extend to my routine from here on out. More pigment than your average cream blusher; less money spent on two separate formulas.

Here are my favourite lipsticks to nail the hack: