What’s happening in Makeup for fall?

Few women will be lying on black eyeliner in the densely cubist, boundary-breaking forms it took on fall runways. Happily, there are other, more wearer-friendly changes to note in fall makeup. Here’s an overview.

A rougher, less classical look

"Pretty" isn’t what’s happening. Think "interesting,” offbeat," "raw." This doesn’t necessarily imply hard-edged: rosy pink lips and a return to blush soften the edges of the season’s hallmark, black eyeliner.

A bit of exaggeration

The idea now isn’t to achieve perfection; it’s to push the envelope towards what looks arty and experimental. But you’re not arty or experimental, or at least can’t be every day at 7:23 a.m.? Gotcha. For most of the universe, being arty and experimental can mean something as simple as trying eyeliner in a thin line on your lower lid instead of your upper. Or skipping eyeliner and mascara completely and wearing glossy gray shadow all over your lid, with rosy brown lips and tinted cheeks. Or smudging soft shadow in a line around your whole eye, with sheer pink lips.

The point: start to let go of ideas about what’s right and wrong, acceptable and not in makeup. Stretch a bit; get dramatic with one element --- and play!

Now read the article "Four Fast Makeup Updates" for specific tips on steering your look in fall’s new directions.

Four Fast Makeup Updates

Here’s the how-to you need to segue into fall’s new makeup looks.

1. Black eyeliner

If you only change one thing, it should be to try out black liner. The one to go for is a liquid and the easiest to use is Hydro Liner Liquid Gel Eye Pencil. It gives you the control of a pencil with the look of a liquid.

The ways to use liner this fall are innumerable, and you can certainly make up your own. Some suggestions:

• Wear it dramatically heavy, extended beyond your eye on the top lid, in a thicker, squared-off swath than you would if doing a ‘60s look.
• Try a thin line under your lower lashes, with no liner on top, instead using a glossy grey eye shadow to highlight your upper lid.
• Smudge liner in a smoky rim around your eyes.
• Do a thin line on your upper lid and a fine line of white under the lower lashes to open up the whole eye.
  

2. Eye-softeners: smudged shadow, hints of pink

You can soften the look of black liner (or replace it) by smudging soft powder color around your eyes. Silvery grey picks up on one of fashion’s key colors, but you can introduce more color if you want to --- say, a brownish pink.

3. Rose-colored lips

The fastest makeup update is a new shade of lipstick and we’re into a decisively rosy moment --- last year’s wine, plum and burgundy shades with a sense of humor, lightened up. What’s interesting and fun about this change is that pink is typically spring shade, so inherent in its use for fall is the element of surprise that so exemplifies what this fall’s makeup is about.

Think pinker via sheer, glossy or matte finishes; no single one dominates. If outright pink isn’t your thing, look for a neutral variation that melds pink with brown, or a formulation that goes on like a juicy stain rather than opaque color.

Here are some of right-on pinks:

• Moisture 15 Satin Smooth Lipstick in PORCELAIN PINK and ROSE FREEZE.
• Beyond Color Triple Benefit Lipstick in SHELL.
• Perfect Wear Lip Color in SHIMMER PINK and ROSEBERRY.
  

4. A new touch with blush

Blush was never really out, but the neutral craze has kept it out of the foreground. Now blush is outspokenly back, again with pink as the news making (but not "must") shade.

As with eye color there are new ways to think about blushing:

• For everyday, try placing blush up higher, closer to your eyes, and extend it across the tops of your cheekbones.
• Wear sheer, rosy pink blush with smudged-gray eyes. The idea here is to look frankly un-neutral, though with a sheer blush and powdery eye color, the colorful effect will be subtle and wearable.

Ready to play? Try True Color Powder Blush in ROSE LUSTRE. Its translucent, natural-looking color is long-wearing.