Meaning of “ein blühendes Aussehen”

Question

Blühend has different meanings:

1. it can describe the beauty of nature (prosper, in full bloom)
2. it could be used metaphorically, like in this sentence "Er hat eine blühende Fantasie".

On Duden I saw that this adjective can though also refer to the beauty and the appearance of a person:

• ein blühendes Aussehen haben
• sie sieht blühend aus

What does it refer to exactly?
Is it saying that the person looks good and attractive? In which way though? Would it be appropriate to say it about a boy? Or is it typically just for women?

Answer 1

As a native German I've never heard someone say "Sie/Du sieht/siehst blühend aus". I'm pretty sure if you say this phrase to someone, they would be pretty confused (boy or girl). I'd suggest using something like "Sie/Er sieht blendend aus" (blendend = blinding).

Answer 2

As far as I know it's a way to say that someone looks quite good in an attractive way. So a man would usually use it when talking to a woman. But I haven't used that phrase in my entire life (note, that I'm a native speaker) and there are many other ways to say something like this. For example use instead of "Sie hat ein blühendes Aussehen" something more common like "Sie ist sehr attraktiv", "Sie sieht sehr gut aus" or "Sie hat ein wundervolles Aussehen / Äußeres".