Good news girls, this year’s fall beauty trends are all about minimalism. With school starting back up, most of us don’t have the time (or energy) every morning to spend hours in front of the mirror piling on make-up. Fortunately for us, the trend this season is “no makeup” makeup. Designers from Marc Jacobs to Michael Kors showed us on their runways that when it comes to makeup, less is more. This au natural look is an easy way to look fresh and flawless without spending too much time or money on your beauty routine.
To achieve this season’s natural look it’s important to follow a good skin care regimen. This includes washing your face daily, exfoliating, moisturizing in the morning and at night and never, I repeat never, going to bed with your makeup on. Face cleansing wipes are a good idea to use before bed because they clean your skin and remove all of your makeup in one easy step.
As far as base makeup goes, you want to make sure you don’t use anything too heavy. For the makeup look this fall, you don’t want heavy powder, or oily foundations to sit on your skin and give you a cakey, overly made-up look. I suggest using Bare Minerals foundation or a light liquid foundation. Lighter foundations, such as the loose powder by Bare Minerals, will let your skin breathe and give the effect of a smooth, even skin tone.
After you’ve applied a thin, even base its time to move on to blush and/or bronzer depending on your skin tone. If you have fair skin, I suggest Nars blush in “Douceur” (pictured below). This blush is great for all skin tones, but brings the perfect combination of pink cheek color and warm bronze tones to fair skin. For medium to darker skin tones you will want to use soft rose-colored blush and/or bronzer to highlight the cheekbones. Both blush and bronzer should be applied sparingly and subtly.
For your eyes, it’s all about keeping it simple. If you’re going to class, keep the eyeliner to a minimum, using a pencil liner only in the outer bottom corners of your eyes. Next, sweep some mascara on your upper lashes and presto, you’re done! To easily transform this look for a night-out, try a smoky eye in either grey or brown. Grey eye shadow tends to work best for blue eyes while brown compliments brown and green eyes.
Another easy way to take fall’s minimalistic makeup from day to night is by adding some lip color. During the day, all you’ll need to complete this look is a tinted lip balm. Burt’s Bees and Rosebud make great, inexpensive pink tinted lip balms. But, if you’re planning on a night out you’ll want to add either a sheer lipstick or gloss in a rosy-neutral shade to compliment your cheeks. If you’re feeling especially brave, orange is the new red when it comes to lipstick this season, so choose a red lipstick with orange tones, otherwise a soft pink lipstick or lip gloss like Chanel’s Coco Shine lipstick in “Boy” is the perfect natural pink color.
If you’re feeling like you have a little extra beauty time to spare try finishing of this effortless makeup look by painting your nails a soft neutral tone. Polish in a neutral shade will add a sophisticated touch to your look.
The natural makeup look is not only in vogue this fall but it’s perfect for our busy back to school schedules. Whether you’re dashing off to a 9 a.m. class or getting ready for a night out with friends, this fresh, effortless make-up is sure to turn some heads.