Despite crazy Texas weather, fall has arrived! Along with pumpkin spice lattes and sweaters, fall brings a chance to change up your makeup look. Fall foliage and colder days mean your easy summer look just won’t cut it. I sat down with Dallas makeup artist Gabriella Jade to talk about simple ways to transition your makeup look without buying all new colors. She explained the best ways to take care of your skin to protect it from the biting wind, how to play up fall browns and reds without looking like you fell into a vat of dye and gave us some great tips and tricks for any makeup look. Best of all, she is available year-round for all your makeup needs.
The Natural Look
First, we went for a fully natural look. Gabriella Jade helped me bring out my natural assets with this perfect casual look. This would be my go-to look for day-to-day, classes, work-you name it.
To keep with the theme of fall colors, Gabriella Jade used darker browns and added a soft glow for some subtle shimmer.
- Foundation – BB cream, Light – Bobbi Brown
- Blush – Glow – Makeup Designory blush palette
- Eyes – Camel – Mac, Marina and Fifth Ave in the Anastasia Beverly Hills Master Palette by Mario
- Under-eye bags – Under Eye Brightening Corrector – Becca Cosmetics
- Lips – Madeleine – NYC butter gloss
I have blue eyes, so browns and purples really help accentuate them. Gabriella Jade also made sure not to use dark eyeliner on my eyes because they’re very small, so anything too intense would close them up even more. Every look she created utilized the natural color in my skin and eyes and built upon them so I still looked like myself, just better.
Day to Night Look
We built on that look by adding some glam, perfect for a day to night transition – when you don’t want to go full smoky-eye but still want to feel dolled up. Gabriella Jade went for a color scheme that played on the warm, cozy feeling of fall but still looked natural on my fair skin.
Here’s what she did:
- Under foundation glow: Watts up – Benefit Cosmetics
- Foundation: BB cream, light – Bobbi Brown
- Concealer – Fair 01 tube – Revlon Colorstay
- Blush – Glow – Makeup Designory blush palette
- Bronzer – Hoola lite – Benefit Cosmetics
“If you’ll be taking a lot of photos, make your blush more dramatic because the camera will tone it down,” she told me. “To make this look work for day and night, go for a darker lip with natural eyes. It keeps the drama up while making sure you still look like yourself.”
- Eye shadow – crease: Matte – Morphie, highlight: Beach Nectar – Becca with Chrissy Teigan, lid: Cool Beans – Violet Voss
- Brow bone highlight – Sand – Anastasia Beverly Hills powder contour kit
- Dropshadow (under eye shadow) – Lula – Anastasia Beverly Hills Master Palette by Mario
- Eyebrow – Lingering – Mac pencil
- Eyebrow gel – Anastasia Beverly Hills Clearbrow gel
- Lip – Vintage/retro – NYX liquid suede cream lipstick
When I asked her about the best products she used, she said “Anastasia Beverly Hills changed the makeup game. Her eyeshadows are extremely pigmented and all of her eyebrow products are amazing, especially the Brow Wiz eyebrow pencil. If you stick with Anastasia Beverly Hills, you’ll look like a goddess, guaranteed.”
Night Out Look
For a much more dramatic night-out look, Gabriella Jade simply used my second look, but added some darker eyeshadow to the lid and crease and a more intense shade to my drop shadow. She also added an eyelash strip.
Here’s what she added:
- Lid: Cranberry Splash by Violet Voss
- Crease: R U Kitten Me? By Violet Voss
- Dropshadow: Teddy Bear by Violet Voss
“If you can’t tell, Violet Voss’s Pro EyeShadow palette has every color you need, so you’ll never need another shadow palette.”
Basic Tips
- Once we finished the full-face looks, Gabriella Jade gave me some basic fall makeup tips so I could accomplish these looks on my own. Here’s what she had to say:
- Keep everything in warm tones – burgundy, deep gold, bronze, and navy.
- Add some drama with dark lips – more burgundy, nudes, and browns.
- In the winter, use more sheer foundations or just a BB cream, because you won’t be exposed to as much sun.
- For day-to-day looks, use single false lashes instead of a strip to keep the drama to a minimum.
- To prevent looking like a pale ghost during winter, use St. Tropez self tanner. Spray tanning is also an option because everyone loses a little, or a lot, of color during the winter season, and that’ll keep your glow going strong.
- The trends right now in highlighters are leaning toward more shimmer and less sparkle to keep you glowing without looking fake. Keep it subtle and peachy.
- To make your eyes pop, dark purples are all the rage right now.
While she was working, I took note of some of the products she was using and I had a few hands-down faves:
- Under Eye Bag fix: Under eye brightening corrector by Becca Cosmetics – I suffer from really big under eye bags. No matter how much sleep I get, they never seem to go away. I’ve tried everything from tightening and brightening face masks to other concealers and brighteners, but nothing has ever come close to covering them up until this product. Gabriella Jade told me it’s very full coverage, so I was ready to look painted, but it looked surprisingly natural, was totally weightless, and covered up my bags like nothing else. I went out and bought that product the same day.
- Under foundation glow – Watts up – benefit cosmetics – Glow is all the rage right now, and I’ve never been into it because it never looks natural to me. But this product is great because Gabriella Jade put it under my foundation, so it kept everything looking natural while giving me that lit-up look.
Gabriella Jade is also a licensed aesthetician, with a passion for skincare, so as an added bonus, she told me her favorite skincare products:
- Fave moisturizer: Embryolisse – “It’s great for winter and there’s no need for primer if you use this because it doubles as a primer.”
- Winter foundation: Too Faced Born This Way – “It’s lightweight but buildable”
Gabriella Jade talked me through the entire process while she was working, so here are the best tips and tricks I learned from her:
- “Always wet your beauty blender because if you don’t, the sponge will absorb more product than it gives.”
- “Do your eyebrows first because they frame your face, so they are critical to bringing the rest of your look together.”
- “If you’re gonna do a smoky eye, don’t wear eyeliner because it won’t make a difference so you’ll just end up wasting product.”
- “To make colors more pigmented, spray the setting spray on the brush before putting color on.”
- Make sure to bring your foundation all the way down to your neckline. The last this you want is to have one color on your face and another on your neck and chest.
- “If you’re having trouble with one section of your face, move on and come back, otherwise you’ll end up making it really intense and you’ll look like a monster.”
About Gabriella Jade:
Instagram: @_gabriellajade_
Contact her via Facebook @gabriellajadeMUA
Her portfolio is extensive, working on everything from avant-garde photoshoots to weddings, to daytime looks for business women. She can also take care of all your skincare needs from facials, to waxing, chemical peels, microdermabrasion, back facials and anything else you can imagine. She is also happy to come to your sorority house to teach you and all your friends how to get the best makeup look for your skin type and facial structure.
Her base rate for a full makeup look is $65 but varies based on group size, occasion, and seasonality.