Confession time: we’ve always been a little shy when it comes to blush. It’s just so easy to over-do. One wrong sweep is all it takes to go from natural glow to clown college candidate. But it turns out there’s absolutely no reason to fear peachy corals and deep wines. We pulled them off and you can, too. No, really, you can!

For our little experiment, we went for three bold shades in three different formulations: cream, pressed powder and loose powder. Then we chose Mandi, one of our Graphic Designers, to model them. Mandi happens to be ultra-fair, just to add one more layer to the challenge.

Our first pick was Youngblood Mineral Radiance in the shade Splendor. This pressed powder offers four shades of mixable and blendable mauve-hued colors to create a custom finish. It's highly pigmented formula can be mixed and matched to multi-task as an eyeshadow or even a highlighter for cheekbones. We recommend applying this product with jane iredale Rose Gold White Fan Brush.

This fan brush allows you to achieve the perfect whisper-light application of powder products. Its white bristles allow you to see just how much product you’ve picked up, giving you maximum control and a precise application.

Next up was Youngblood Pressed Mineral Blush in Temptress. This shimmery deep berry red caught our eye right away. Not only is it wildly different than the other shades in the line, it’s got fall written all over it (not to get ahead of ourselves or anything). The jane iredale White Fan Blush Brush came to the rescue once again.

For our last shade, we switched gears once again and picked up Youngblood Luminous Crème Blush in Tropical Glow, a bright peachy coral. This oil-free, lightly hydrating cream goes on sheerer than powder, but it has a subtle shimmer to it to create a youthful, dewy look. For this blush, just clean fingers provided the best application. We used dabbing motions to pick up a little color and then those same dabbing motions to place the color on the cheek and lightly blend.

Are you brave enough to try out a bold blush for yourself? Let us know in the comments below, or tell us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram using #LovelySkin!