When it comes to makeup, fall 2024 is not exactly a subtle or understated season. It’s all dark smudgy eyes, bright crimson lips and feverish cheeks, a mashup of ’90s nostalgia with a touch of the wide-eyed ’60s and punk ’80s. Here’s what you need to go from ladylike swan to sultry rockstar.
Smoky Shadow
This season it’s all about the smoky eye, a look that’s a little messy, a little rock ’n’ roll and seemingly effortless. Use layers of dark, smoky, earthy tones of brown, grey and black to create a sultry, lived-in look with more than a nod to ’90s grunge. Soften it up for day then, for evenings out, go deeper, darker and sparklier. Pair with skinny, natural-looking brows.
Try: Diorshow Mono Couleur, Charlotte Tilbury Luxury Palettes, MAC Dazzleshadow Extreme.
Black Eyeliner
For everything from ladies-who-lunch elegance to doll-like drama to hard-core grunge, the essential tool for fall is a black eyeliner. (If in doubt, a subtle cat eye will take you almost everywhere.) We especially like the versatility of today’s intensely pigmented, easy-to-apply and long-lasting gels, which can produce either a sleekly defined line or a perfectly smudged one.
Try: Gel eyeliners from Bobbi Brown, MAC Cosmetics and Laura Mercier.
Lush Lashes
Everyone in fashion was talking about the 1960s-inspired doll-like makeup at the Marc Jacobs show, where giant fake lashes were coated in black nail polish for a super-spidery look. Too much for you? For more accessible drama and volume, get out the lash curler, invest in some volumizing mascara and start practising your falsie-application technique. Try: Lilly Lashes or Ardell Duo Professional falsies; Too Faced Better Than Sex, Tarte Maneater or Estée Lauder Turbo Lash mascaras.
Simple Beauty
Of course, the season’s punk/grunge/doll-like drama isn’t for all of us. You may just want to look like yourself, but a tiny bit more polished. Consider a capsule collection of balanced, semi-matte foundation, glossy nude lips and barely-there eye makeup by a brand known for its cruelty-free and sustainable practices. Now that’s beautiful.
Try: The refillable capsule palette by Victoria’s own Elate Beauty, which can be filled with 16 pressed powders, including Brow Balm, Blush Balm in Wonder and Pressed EyeColour in Earthen.
Rosy Cheeks
We’ll all be wearing a healthy glow this fall, swirling blush on the apples of our cheeks and sweeping it right up to our temples. Think pink and girlish, and channel the doll-like 1960s and wholesome 1970s. The look isn’t as “glazed” as it was in spring, but more natural and semi-matte, thanks to the technically advanced new cream and liquid blushes.
Try: Charlotte Tilbury liquid blush, MAC Cosmetics Glow Play Cushiony Blush, Nars The Multiple.
Bright Red Lips
Fall’s power suiting demands an equally powerful lip, and that means all the saturated hues of crimson and scarlet, for day or night, casual or dress-up. A red lip suits fall’s retro vibe as well as it does the season’s cheeky “mob wife” esthetic, and is both classically cool and shockingly modern. Matte, glossy, ombré, orangey-bright or dark and wine-soaked — it’s all in style right now.
Try: Nars Powermatte Lip Pigment Liquid Lipstick in Light My Fire, MAC Cosmetics Retro Matte Liquid Lipcolour in Feels so Grand, Rouge Dior Forever Transfer-Proof Lipstick in Forever Dior.
