Elle Fanning Has Blush Blindness (and She’s Not Afraid to Say It!)—This $13 Product Is Key

Elle Fanning is known for her elegant, sophisticated style—it’s no wonder she’s portrayed royals like Maleficent’s Princess Aurora and Russian empress Catherine The Great—yet her sartorial choices also tend to include a wink of playfulness. Her beauty looks, she tells me, totally fit in with that aesthetic. “I love Grace Kelly. I love that classic look,” the 26-year-old star says over Zoom as she preps for L’Oreal Paris’s Women of Worth event. Think: a sleek cat-eye (which she wears now), fanned-out lashes, and a velvety-matte red lip. As for the extra touch of whimsy? Fanning loves blush—and lots of it. “I have blush blindness for sure,” she laughs. “More, more, more—there can never be enough!”

For those who haven’t yet come across the TikTok term, “blush blindness” refers to the inability to tell when your natural flush has become… a bit overkill. As the tidal wave of blush trends—”sunburn blush,” “boyfriend blush,” etc.—starts to settle, people are beginning to realize just how much rosy pigment they’ve really been applying.

Yet Fanning regrets nothing; in fact, she tells me blush is, hands down, her desert island beauty grab. (To which I say: Same here!) “I like it over the bridge of the nose, that little sunburn look,” she adds. “I love blush. I always have.” Add a dusting of faux freckles to the equation, and you’ll nail Fanning’s glowy take on classic, “Grace Kelly” glam. Below, discover the products she swears by for every step.

Of course, we have to start with blush. “I like a real peachy blush,” Fanning says. “L’Oreal has some really great ones that have a shimmer in them as well… something that’s more on the coral side I think works for me.” I’d say Apricot Kiss is the perfect peach with a soft, powder texture, or for more of a dewy shine, opt for the coral liquid number below.

“The Lumi lotion is something that I use a lot because I love a dewy look as opposed to matte,” says Fanning. For what it’s worth, WWW editors are also huge fans of that skin-luminizer. It’s a cult-favorite for a reason!

When it comes to eye shadow, Fanning adores these easy-to-use shadow sticks. “[It’s] good if you don’t want to put [a lot of] eyeshadow on. It’s a nice contour to give [the lids] some definition.”

“I love my nose,” Fanning tells me when I ask her about her favorite feature to enhance. Usually people respond with the eyes, cheekbones, or brows—but honestly, I love her answer. That said, she isn’t a huge fan of nose contour. “I have tried,” she caveats. “It looks a little wrong on me.”

Instead, she’ll enhance her nose with a swipe of blush (duh) across the bridge, and a smattering of faux freckles. “Years before it became a trend, my makeup artist and I would always add little freckles. We used an eyebrow pencil, and we would add them over the makeup looks. It gives you a youthful glow, and makes it not look like you’re wearing so much foundation,” she says.

In terms of the specific product she uses, any eyebrow pencil will do. “It’s all about the color. Any brown pencil will work, but find the right shade that works for you,” she shares. This $11 eyebrow pencil above comes in 10 shades, so it’s a pretty safe bet.

Yes, Fanning loves her dewy looks, but that doesn’t mean she forgoes setting powder. Say it with me: Powder is essential for balanced makeup looks! “I have realized the value in powder a little more than I used to. I mean, I was—and I still kind of am—anti-powder. But then there are times I’m like, ‘Okay, you just look a little bit too shiny,'” she says. She compares it to hairspray—too much of it can make strands look stiff, but it can be necessary for an immaculate look. “Powder makes things really precise,” she adds.

When it comes to classic “Grace Kelly” glamour, we of course can’t forget about a bold red lip. Fanning specifically adores a matte finish for events, as it typically lasts longer than a glossy pout. “A big, glossy lip can look amazing, but that’s a little hard for a night out. It kind of bleeds out. But a real matte, bright red is super fun and always looks good,” she notes. “And then you don’t need to do an eye—just the red lip and naked everywhere else I think looks good.”

For this event, though, Fanning keeps her lips a neutral pink in favor of a sharp, elongated cat-eye and rosy flush. She might call it “blush blindness,” but I’d say it looks pretty damn angelic.