Just over a month after its premiere, I’ve been bringing up Wuthering Heights to any friend willing to indulge me. This isn’t an invitation to spar over whether adaptations should cleave more faithfully to the text; whether you skew more literary snob like me, or are a full-on Emerald Fennell adaptation apologist, there’s one point of consensus: Wuthering Heights was a visual feast. What I didn’t anticipate was the aftershock—specifically, the fervor surrounding Margot Robbie’s Catherine Earnshaw and her now-viral blush. It feels safe to assume Emily Brontë couldn’t have anticipated her anti-heroine inspiring a beauty trend 200 years later (among other things, of course). And yet here we are, talking about Wuthering Heights blush.
I clocked it myself at Vogue Book Club’s screening of the film. In an 18th-century makeover reveal, Robbie’s Earnshaw steps down from a horse-drawn carriage, with her berry-stained cheeks set against a crimson petticoat. It was the kind of detail you register instinctively—the saturation of it, the romance—before the next scene pulls you under. At the time, I noted it and moved on, with plenty more scenes to digest. A week later, I found myself seated across from a friend, the designer Kim Shui, at a cozy Greenwich wine bar. She barely had time to settle into our corner table before asking, with urgency, “Have you tried the Wuthering Heights blush? I need it!”
The product in question, I discovered, was Chanel’s N°1 de Chanel Lip and Cheek Balm in the shade Berry Boost. In an interview with Allure, BAFTA-nominated hair and makeup designer Sîan Miller (aka the brains behind the beauty looks in Wuthering Heights) revealed it was her go-to for whenever Cathy was at Wuthering Heights, later switching to berry-toned shades of Merit’s Flush Balm (a more semi-sheer finish) when at Thrushcross Grange to juxtapose the more elaborate costuming.
Chanel N°1 De Chanel Lip and Cheek Balm
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- Why We Love It: When the clean N°1 de Chanel collectsion debuted in 2022, this multipurpose balm quickly became a fan favorite for its many uses. Four years later, its risen to Internet virality—now know as the secret to Catherine Earnshaw’s flush in Fennell’s 2026 adaptation. Enriched with red camellia oil, the buttery lip and cheek pigment melts into the skin, leaving a flush of color with restored plumpness and dewiness.
- Editor’s Experience: “Determined to learn what all the fuss was about with this multipurpose balm, I sauntered downstairs to the beauty closet where one sat on a shelf (seemingly awaiting my trial), and took it back to my desk for some experimenting. A tap on my lips and a swatch on my hand were my first steps—I was particularly impressed by the color payoff and how, even after washing my hands, the tint remained (so yeah, this is long-wearing). The texture is a bit sticky, though blends out with ease for soft edges and a natural finish. (I’ve come to guess the texture aids its staying power.) A tap on my cheeks convinced Kiana Murden, Vogue’s beauty shopping editor, to try it out on herself—she had forgotten how much she liked it. Several compliments later, we’re both sold. I’ve never seen her throw a product in her bag so quickly.” —Conçetta Ciarlo, beauty shopping writer
- Key Ingredients: Red camellia oil
- Finish: Dewy
- Shades: nine
- Size: 0.23 oz.
The online fervor only intensified when celebrity makeup artist Pati Dubroff posted a tutorial detailing how she crafted the cheekily named Brontë blush for Robbie at the film’s LA premiere. For this look, she blended the blush in the same color used in the film, layered with the shade Red Camelia (a vibrant tomato red). Suddenly, the look had a name, a how-to, and a shopping list. But what makes Chanel’s formula so singular in achieving the look? It’s balmy texture and highly pigmented color payoff, which Chanel makeup artist Tasha Reiko Brown previously referred to as a “highly blendable, dewy cream,” perfect for creating a watercolor effect. The multipurpose product taps onto cheeks and lips with ease, all while boasting an antioxidant-rich, 97% naturally derived formula.
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Of course, this trend isn’t happening in a vacuum. Romantic beauty is in full bloom again—an aesthetic revival that feels in step with Hollywood’s renewed appetite for period drama, from Bridgerton to the forthcoming adaptation of Jane Eyre. Aside from the heightened emotion, elaborate costuming, and candelit interiors, these protagonist female leads often sport a shared makeup look: just bitten lips, and flushed cheeks suited to a woman of the Georgian era. The placement though is also in opposition to the higher, snatched looks we’ve come to know in modern makeup trends—as Dubroff explains in her tutorial, blending on the apples of the cheek and a bit lower is key. The result is a more naturally flushed, windswept look, in line with the boyfriend blush trend. Looking to create the Brontë blush yourself? Shop our favorites, below.
