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The Best Matte Blushes — At Every Price Point — For People Who Hate Shimmer

by Caroline Goldstein
Bustle/Amazon

Nothing personal, but I never want glitter, shimmer, or other light-reflecting particles in my blush. Give me a sweep of color to make me look alive — not like a disco ball — or give me nothing, I say. This is why tracking down the best matte blushes has been of great personal importance to me, and I’m thrilled to share six of them with you, my fellow shimmer-phobes.

Matte blushes can come in either pressed powder, loose powder, or cream formulations. But what they all have in common is a complete and utter lack of mica (or any other cosmetic-grade glitters), a finely ground silicate mineral that gives cosmetics a shimmery or sparkly effect. Matte does not equal flat, however: Many matte blushes have a satin matte finish, which enhances (or cheats) your natural radiance without the addition of glitter. That said, even the most truly matte blushes on this list are super blendable, so you’ll look awake and refreshed, and not at all like a Madame Alexander doll.

From a foolproof drugstore pick to a silky-smooth, all-natural pigment, scroll on to shop six of the best matte blushes you can get on Amazon.

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1The Best Premium Matte Blush

You may know LORAC best for their PRO Eyeshadow Palette, a cult-favorite among professional makeup artists and beauty influencers. But don’t sleep on the brand’s blushes! These Color Source Buildable Blushes are smooth, blendable, and very pigmented, so just a touch on your brush should suffice. Don’t let that intense pigmentation scare you off, though: Rave reviewers (of which there are many) confirm that these colors mimic shades that exist in nature. Along with Cinematic, the cool-toned plum brown pictured here, these paraben-free blushes are available in six matte shades on Amazon.

2The Best Drugstore Matte Blush

Drugstore brands tend to be where you can run into trouble on the blush front: Typically, the cheaper the blush, the gaudier the shade. Not so with these L’Oreal True Match blushes, which give you a subtle, natural wash of color — perfect if you tend to be a little blush-shy. Like the rest of the brand’s True Match range, the 10 shades here are labeled according to undertone, so finding a match without swatching first is a much less risky proposition. Pretty, dependable, easy on the budget, free of glitter — there’s not much not to like about these $8 blushes.

3The Best Shade Range

If you’re feeling a little adventurous, go for these NYX Sweet Cheeks Matte Blushes. There are a few natural-leaning shades here, but I’d experiment with some of the range’s left-of-center offerings, like Silence is Golden, a goldenrod yellow; Boom & Bloom, a deep, vampy plum; or So Taupe, a cool-toned gray-brown that can also work as a contour powder for fairer skin tones. If you’re not quite sure what to do with yellow blush, that’s totally fine — you can use any of these creamy pressed pigments as an eyeshadow, instead.

4The Best Cream Matte Blush

A total makeup-world classic, these Stila Convertible Colors can be used on your cheeks, lips, or eyelids for a pop of creamy (but matte!) color. If you see a hint of radiance in here, that’s not down to the addition of mica or cosmetic glitters — that's the butters and oils in the formula, which lend the pigment its supreme blendability (and your skin an endorphin-hit glow). Get these multitaskers in six, floral-inspired shades on Amazon.

5The Best Matte Blush Made With Clean Ingredients

These HAN pressed blushes are among the few cosmetics in the industry that are truly as natural as the brand claims them to be. The formula is made up entirely of plant- and mineral-based ingredients — like rice powder instead of talc, argan oil and shea butter for richness and blendability, and a mix of antioxidant-rich fruit extracts in lieu of preservatives — and there isn’t a single synthetic additive to be found. They deliver on quality and longevity, too: One Amazon reviewer said a sweep on their cheeks lasted all day in the summer heat (without air conditioning, no less).

6The Best Matte Loose Powder Blush

If you have easily irritated or breakout-prone skin, or a condition like rosacea, a mineral blush, like this Alima Pure Loose Mineral Blush, might be your best option. Mineral powders create a feathery-light veil over your skin, so they won’t clog your pores; and these Alima blushes are free of common irritants like parabens, phthalates, and dimethicone, so they’re safe for people with very sensitive skin. Also, this ultra fine, oil-free pigment delivers an even silkier, more natural flush of color than you’d get from a pressed powder, so it’s virtually impossible to veer into clown/pageant queen territory.