Lisa Eldridge, celebrity makeup artist and founder of her eponymous makeup brand, says this sort of makeup maximalism and dramatic styles will always thrive on social media. But there’s something about blush that provides a form of escapism and fun that we can look toward in real life, too. “Blush will always be one of the most joy-sparking parts of makeup application,” Eldridge says.
“It’s about finding joy in the ritual of beauty,” adds Pat McGrath, celebrity makeup artist and founder of PatMcGrath Labs. At Vogue World 2025: Hollywood, McGrath transformed a handful of models into French Revolution-era doyennes, vibrant pink cheeks included. “After seasons of minimalism, people are craving artistry again.”
The Lore
With its dreamy Rococo style influence, we often idealize Marie Antoinette’s beauty routine. “There’s a deep romance to Rococo beauty,” says McGrath. “It’s fantasy, femininity, and rebellion all at once.”
But Antoinette’s actual regimen was unsurprisingly quite extensive. Eldridge calls Antoinette’s infamous toilette ritual (which includes cleansing with the “Eau Cosmetique de Pigeon,” made from the juice of water lilies, melons, cucumbers, lemons, and stewed pigeons; toning with an astringent made with grapevines called “Eau des Charmes;” and a signature face mask made of two teaspoons of cognac, one third a cup of dry milk powder, lemon juice, and one egg white) and makeup routine a “complex political performance.”
By the time she made it to cosmetics, blush was applied for a few reasons. Smallpox (and its complexion-ruining effects) was running rampant in the 18th century, and women were trying to find ways to hide the dark marks and scars left on their faces. To do this, they turned to cream white powder for full face coverage, adding on faux beauty marks called mouches in cute small shapes such as hearts, moons, and stars, and the heavy, vibrant blush. For those of the higher class, Eldridge says that the color red was also an important symbol to the aristocracy; it indicated their status and that blush was applied in huge, precise, and vibrant circles.
By the 1780s, beauty trends started to move towards more natural-looking makeup. Eldridge says that leading up to her execution, Antoinette used her powder sparingly and that bright rouge on her cheeks was less prominent. “She was inadvertently shedding all her outward symbols that signaled her status and disrupted the system of Versailles,” Eldridge says.
What is “Marie Antoinette Blush?”
Back in the modern world, McGrath describes “Marie Antoinette Blush” as a focus on that very same opulent, romantic flush. “Delicate yet dramatic. Refined, yet full of life,” she says. “It’s not a contour moment; it’s a bloom of color that radiates from the center of the face outward, like candlelight or porcelain.”
