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The Most Beautiful Ways to Face Fall

by Abbie Kozolchyk

In a fortuitous confluence, this fall’s biggest makeup trends happen to be eminently wearable—and achievable with our favorite clean beauty brands. Burnished and glowing with the occasional flair for the dramatic, these elements range from super subtle to peak autumnal splendor without ever going over the top. Whether you decide to incorporate one—or all four—we’ve got the recs to get you started.

Dewy skin

Also known as glazed skin (or dolphin skin, in the extreme), anything that falls on the dewiness spectrum is having a moment. Unlike the more classically autumnal matte face—which, to be fair, can be beautiful in its austerity—skin with a bit of radiance tends to give off fresher, more wellness-y vibes. See: yoga glow.

A few good choices: Westman Atelier Lit Up Highlight Stick acts as a spotlight for your skin for a bit of well-placed gleam; Lys Beauty Pressed Highlighter Powder is a beautiful brush-on alternative for anyone who prefers a powder to a stick; and Juice Beauty Stem Cellular CC Cream blends glowy but subtle all-over coverage with SPF 30.

Dramatic liner

Whether graphic and precise or soft and smudgy, black liner is, well…a defining characteristic of the season’s chicest eyes. Wherever your comfort level lies, there’s a formulation and technique that will work for you.

A few good choices: ILIA Clean Line Liquid Liner has a fine, felt tip for precision lining that won’t budge—come fall showers (or, honestly, downpours)—until you intentionally remove it; the sponge-tipped RMS Beauty Straight Line Kohl Eye Pencil in Black lets you go smoky or sharp with ease; and Rituel de Fille The Black Orb Enigmatic Kohl Eyeliner is the best choice for unrestrained drama and range of possibilities.

Sparkling lids

Whether neutral metallics or the entire Gem Encyclopedia’s worth of jewel tones, shimmer and sheen are conspicuously illuminating fall eyes, as if in response to the diminishing daylight. Go subtle with just a dot of shimmer at the inner corners, or go big with the full-lid sparkle effect. The (starry) sky’s the limit.

A few good choices: The shade So Pretty by Jones Road is, quite simply, celestial perfection, whether in velvety shimmer shadow form or as a liquid glitter Sparkle Wash; Roen Beauty 52° Cool Eyeshadow Palette gives you a quad’s worth of shades from which to create a look that’s equal parts glassy and smoky (and hot); the Johnny Concert Amplified Palette in Velvet is the quad to try for the season’s big, bold metallic jewel tones.

The glossy lip

Call them glazed, high-shine or—if you go all in on the look—vinyl. But whatever iteration you go with, glossy lips aren’t just pretty for fall; they come with the bonus benefit of countering the drop in relative humidity.

A few good choices: Tower 28 ShineOn Lip Jelly comes in both sheer and milky varietals, but either way, imparts equal parts moisture and gleam; Kosas Wet Lip Oil Gloss is beloved for bestowing plumpness and shine; and Supergoop Lipscreen Shine SPF 40 serves up sun protection in addition to gleam.

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