Carrie Bradshaw's blusher is surprisingly affordable and will boost January skin in an instant

Turns out not everything Carrie wears is ultra-expensive...

And Just Like That scene
(Image credit: HBO Max)

Since the Sex and The City reboot And Just Like That aired fans of the show have been obsessing over Carrie's style and beauty secrets and contemplating how to recreate them at home.

From learning tricks to emulate Carrie Bradshaw's hair, to her brilliant hat collection, there's certainly a lot of style inspiration throughout the new shows. 

But in what might come as a surprise to plenty of Sex and the City fans, the blush that Carrie wears in the reboot of the series is actually an affordable one.

Flush balm, by Merit  comes in five different shades and will bring you one step closer to dressing like Carrie Bradshaw herself. 


Flush balm, $28 | Merit
was $28 now $28 at MERIT

Flush balm, $28 | Merit

A cream tint that melts into skin for lit-from-within color that stays flush all day.

Sherri Berman Laurence, the head of the makeup department for And Just Like That, told Harper's Bazaar which products are used on each character to afford them their always talked-about looks.  

She specifically told the outlet that Carrie is always "fresh-faced" and her approach to makeup should "look easy." To achieve that essence, the makeup guru makes use of a contouring palette by Tom Ford called Shade and Illuminate, a bunch of cream blushes from Stila, Koh Gen Do's moisture foundation, Milk Makeup's lip and cheek sticks, and, of course, the Merit cream blush in shade Cheeky.

In terms of texture, the small-but-mighty product isn't a powder but it also isn't entirely liquid. Think of it as something in-between that you can just throw in your bag and re-apply throughout the day.

In case you hadn’t heard of the brand Merit until now, it's a relatively young company with a focus on minimalist beauty with products that aren't too complicated to use.

Interestingly enough, as over-the-top, expensive and sometimes too out-there as Carrie's fashion sense is, her makeup is always toned down, opting for the traditional over the more unconventional. Which is why using a brand like Merit to get her into character makes total sense.

Curious about the products used on the other women of the cast? Sherri reveals that some of Miranda's favorites include the Pat McGrath eye shadows and AKT Therapy Elemental Sun Balm. Charlotte, on the other hand, often dons the Kosas lipstick in rosewater.

Anna Rahmanan

Anna Rahmanan is a New York-based writer and editor who covers culture, entertainment, food, fashion and travel news. Anna’s words have appeared on Time Out New York, the Huffington Post, Fortune, Forbes, Us Weekly, Bon Appetit and Brooklyn Magazine, among other outlets.