Hiya everyone, I’m extremely excited writing this post because the leaves are turning red and autumn officially starts on Sunday! I absolutely love autumn, it’s the one season where I don’t crave any other time of year, it makes me feel cozy and warm and ready for Christmas! Okay, it’s too soon to talk about the C word but it is most definitely not too early to discuss the makeup trends for this autumn. I’ll hold my hands up, usually I could not give one about whatever trends are happening, I just grab my warm-toned eyeshadows and my dark berry lipstick and I am on my way. This year, however, I thought I’d turn a new leaf (haha!) and take note of what’s in as the cool kids say – it’s hard to believe I’m 21, I know. In this post, I’ll be giving you the 411 – someone please stop me – on what’s in beauty this season and because I’m extra nice, I’ll also be recommending both drugstore and high-end products for each trend. So, grab yourself a cup of tea, put on your favourite item of knitwear and relax …
- Illuminator
So, according to my research, dewy skin is in this autumn, which is great news for me and my seasonal dry skin! I love a radiant foundation look, so much so I’ve dedicated an entire blog post to achieving the ‘glow from within’ we all so desperately crave – or is that just me? Like with all great things, a solid base is needed for a glowing make-up finish, I find an illuminating cream or serum under my foundation normally does the trick! This autumn I’ll be using my NIOD Photography Fluid (£20, Cult Beauty) as a primer underneath my foundation. Now, I know what you’re thinking, the price tag is extreme BUT I’ve had my bottle for at least three months now and we’re still going strong – much to my debit card’s delight. If you’re still not convinced it’s worth the splurge, I’ve recently purchased a cheaper alternative – B. Cassie Lomas Sheer Liquid Illuminator (£9.99, Superdrug). The own brand illuminating cream essentially performs the same task as its significantly more expensive counterpart, but sadly, not as well. I know, we all love a drugstore dupe but on this occasion, you really do get what you pay for (sobs silently).
- Low-Coverage Foundation – eek!
After an illuminating cream, we’ll of course be needing a foundation and light coverage would appear to be the way to go this autumn. Models – who have more knowledge of current trends than I – have been seen sporting a hardly there foundation finish recently, which makes me slightly anxious as, like many of us, I’m all for that full-coverage lifestyle. However, this is a trend inspired post and I will try and remain fully committed to the cause. Luckily for me, the theme of radiance continues with foundation this autumn which made it ever so slightly easier for me to sacrifice my coverage. But my oily-skinned pals need not fear, I have found a semi-matte foundation for you that will give you an on-trend glow whilst never budging – don’t say I never treat you! The amount of ‘trendy’ connotations already mentioned in this post makes me feel quite the opposite but I have collected this information from reliable sources, I promise!
Anyway, back on track, I’ve recently started using L’Oreal Paris True Match Perfection (£9.99, Superdrug) which I love and had to mention. This magical witchcraft foundation somehow provides light and full coverage, how?? Basically, it provides an airbrushed yet natural glowy canvas which is what we’re after! A similar foundation for my fellow Sahara Sisters – we’re all friends here, we can embrace our dry skin together – is Revolution’s Pro Foundation Drops (£7.00, Superdrug). Revolution is killing it in all departments lately but this foundation is a game changer for autumn, it’ll give you that dewy, just returned from a brisk walk around my stately gardens glow.
3. Blush > Contour
Up until recently, I hadn’t touched blush since my Steps days – to be perfectly honest, I used enough back then to last me a rather colourful, mainly hot pink lifetime. However, in my last blog post, I was forced to face my fears as I created a tutorial based on my first ever makeup look on record – a very frightening prospect, I know. But to my utter surprise, I actually liked the blush, it was maybe even my favourite part of the otherwise questionable look, the blush made me look healthy and not like a deranged escaped clown. My discovery couldn’t have come at a better time as models and in-the-know YouTubers have personally informed me, via my browsing of the internet, that flushed cheeks are in for autumn. My prayers have been answered, my farmers’ pink cheeks are finally a beauty staple to be put on display in all their glory!
If you aren’t, like me, blessed with ‘just-finished-rolling-my-face-in-the-snow-skin’ – you poor thing – I have the solution! Revolution’s Peach Kiss is technically a highlighter (£5.00, Superdrug) but after receiving this as a gift and quickly realising it is waayy too dark for my skin, I thought I’d experiment. It turns out this highlighter works amazingly well as a radiant yet subtle blush on fair to tan skin – and would be gorgeous as a highlight on deeper skin tones! My second option is also a highlighter, it’s the pink-toned shade in the Revolution Soph X Highlighter Palette (£8.00, Superdrug). This highlight/blush literally makes you look as if you have a beaming light coming out of your face, in a good way, it blends so beautifully with any upper cheekbone highlight and completes any autumn look seamlessly.
- Bold Eyeshadow
One of the reasons I love autumn is because of all the warm eyeshadow looks! I love my mulberry reds and coffee-coloured browns so I was initially disappointed when I realised this year the focus is on bold, colourful eye looks. One shade which continually jumped out for me was yellow, a colour many of us tend to shy away from. I was put at ease slightly when images showed the bold colour being applied to the eyelid rather than as a broader transition shade. Luckily for me, I actually happened to come across a Jeffree Star tutorial completely by chance which included a beautiful yellow from the Juvia’s Place eyeshadow palette (£20.00, Beauty Bay). In the tutorial, the yellow was placed on the eyelid alongside a warm brown transition shade and I had the epiphany that bold colours can be worked into a warm overall eye look – duh!
So, now we know we don’t have to make up our eyes to resemble an actual rainbow, let’s talk through our bold shadow options. The first product I have to mention is the Revolution Ultra Colour Explosion palette. I am absolutely gutted that neither Revolution nor Superdrug sell this palette as an individual item but Christmas is just around the corner – kind of – and the I know for a fact the palette is included in Revolution’s Twelve Days of Christmas gift-set. But if like me you just can’t wait till Christmas and end up buying all your ‘presents’ in September, Manny MUA’s Life’s a Drag Palette has plummeted in price to £22.19 on Beauty Bay. Life’s a Drag provides a variety of bold shades but unlike our drugstore option, it also provides neutral and warm shades which would usually be associated with autumn – maybe Manny was trying to inform us of the A/W trends before his demise, so sad ….
- A Berry Lip!
Of course I couldn’t write a post about autumn without mentioning the importance of a berry lip! Now, some of you may be wondering ‘what the hell is a berry lip, Hannah?’ Well, think cold December day in the forest where you somehow stumble across the most delicious, juicy berry which is flourishing in spite of all of its surrounding fauna being very much dead. I really should write perfume descriptions, shouldn’t I? Anyway, find yourself a lipstick, or gloss, that makes you think of that divine, inviting, sumptuous fruit you found in the forest and you’ll have discovered your perfect berry lip, congratulations! Now on to the important information, dark berry lip shades are very much in the spotlight this autumn – thank you, makeup gods – to be honest I think we’ve all just established at this point nothing says autumn like a sexy dark lip. In fact, the berry lip is so widely loved that I can guarantee every well-known makeup company now has at least one currant-inspired shade. Despite their popularity and widespread manufacture across a multitude of companies, I have managed to source two berry-coloured lip products from the same brand! Yes, of course it is Revolution, again. I apologise, I’m obsessed with this brand and their products and thought it would be better for me to include lipsticks I’ve tried and tested and really love.
The first item is actually a lip gloss – which I’ve also heard are very in season, FYI – and it is the Revolution Nudes Collection Gloss in the shade Boudoir, this lip gloss is £3.00 from Superdrug! It is probably the cheapest and yet the most comfortable gloss I’ve ever worn and it has no overpowering odour which is a big pro for me. If you’re sticking with matte this year – I admire your commitment in these cold months – I would highly recommend the Revolution Pro Supreme Matte Lip Pigment in the shade Sixth Sense. Sixth Sense is a gorgeous dark berry shade which would look perfect matched with any cable-knit jumper this autumn – I know, I’m glaringly basic, someone please send help (and a Starbucks, taa).
I know that was a long one so if you’re still with me, a massive well done to you. Through writing this post I’ve realised following beauty trends really isn’t as scary as I initially thought and I hope you now see that too and go forward confident in your ability to create contemporary looks. Equally, you could just do whatever the hell you like, to be quite honest, this is makeup and there are no rules which I think is one of the best things about it. I think from now on I’ll be incorporating a bit of both into my makeup routine and if you’d like to see how, feel free to come back next Thursday to see my step-by-step autumn makeup tutorial. Comment below which of the products I’ve talked about you’d like to see included next week and let me know your favourite thing about autumn so we can share the leafy love!
Thank you so much for reading,
Hannah x
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