Blush is considered to be one of the makeup essentials. The right blush color can enliven your whole face even if you leave the rest of it completely bare.
Choosing the right blush color can be a tricky business. You are generally advised to get a color close to the one of your cheeks when they are naturally flushed. It’s a very good advice, but try taking it a little further and choosing the color that complements not only 
your skin tone, but also your hair and eye color too. For example, nobody naturally flushes with peach color on their cheeks, but this shade looks fresh on medium complexions. The most important part is to stay in your “color zone”, which means choosing the light blush shade if your skin is light and darker/richer shade for darker skin.
Always remember to match blush shade with the color of your lipstick.
If you prefer to wear as little makeup as possible (especially during summer time), you can apply blush first before any other make up, because very often that’s all you really need. For the not so brave - adding a coat or two of black mascara and lip gloss should be quite enough.
Blush application is a quick and easy deal: just dip your blush brush into the powder, blow off the excess, then smile and apply it on the apples of your cheeks.
In case you prefer cream or gel blush, you can either use your fingers to apply it or a sponge, whichever you feel more comfortable with.
To make your skin look sun-kissed in the summer, apply a little bit of bronzer on your cheeks, nose, chin, forehead, and then just a swipe of pink blush on top of it.
Don’t be tempted to experiment with the idea to use blushes in several ways to save some time: cheek stain as an eye shadow and lip color, for example. It’s almost impossible to pull off for anybody when your whole face is of the same color. It’s very hard for one product texture to satisfy all makeup needs.
There are times that is the only thing I wear on my face, especially in the summer. I do have to be careful of the shade, though, since I have some reddish tones on my face.
Anita, I hear you, have the same problem.