The Meaning Behind Addison Rae’s “Times Like These” Blush

Money is everything, but not everyone knows how to use it. In Addison Rae’s case, however, she’s got the legal tender and the taste level, another example of which can be seen in a very deliberate, very telling makeup choice in her just-released “Times Like These” video from the Gesamtkunstwerk that is Addison.

In the scene in which Ms. Y2Chaotic gets ready with her girls, a second lead emerges: Armani Beauty’s new Luminous Silk Cheek Tint in the shade Magnetic Mauve, which gets her own close-up and a cameo, doe-foot applicator out, in the red hand mirror. (An aside for more face credits, all from Armani Beauty: Luminous Silk Foundation, Luminous Silk Concealer, Eye Tint Long-Lasting Liquid Eyeshadow in Frost, Vertigo Lift Mascara, and Prisma Glass Lip Gloss in Clear Shine.)

The blush, which is a 2025 NYLON Beauty Hit List winner, could be thought of as another symbol of the pop tart’s talent in CCO-level decision-making: Objectively, purple worn on the cheeks is more “editorial” than pink. (There’s no artist credited for the tonal mauve-on-lilac look, but Mother Pat McGrath created the double cat eye for the cover, which at least informed the beauty direction for the rest of the project.) But simultaneously, this detail — no doubt selected after a Swiftian level of consideration — might be a reflection of what the coolest and most stylish among us are already doing, as is the album itself. Katie Jane Hughes recently applied Cloud Paint in Wisp over my Isla Mujeres/Coachella/Stagecoach tan at a Glossier event. We gave our club-entry stamp of approval to Covergirl’s blush stick in Sweet Violet.

Proximity to luxury also factors in here — she’s got the coin to drop on a $39 tube of designer pigment — but in context of the father-finger-pointing, introspective track, the product might ultimately function as the instrument of a young woman coming to grips with and finding power in the fact that she’s being perceived. Like a skimpy dress or bleach-blonde hair, a fancy purple blush could turn an unnamed “you” on — but after a few dabs and a long look in the mirror, it could also steer her back to the road on which she’ll realize her full potential.