I look forward to autumn makeup every year. There’s a richness, a deeper colour palette and an overall polish that feels very welcome as we pull on our coats and boots to face the colder weather. But this year, the vibe feels very different. The cumulative effect of our routines having been relatively minimalist for a couple of years, and our resulting desire for ease and effortlessness, has delivered autumn collections not of velvety jewel tones, but of subtle, wearable nudes. I’m unexpectedly keen.
Chanel, in my view, has delivered the best. The house’s autumn collection was created after an extended trial by its fleet of professional makeup artists, working with every skin tone to create a broad “tone on tone” colour palette of fleshy, natural hues. The idea here is that every single colour of lipstick, nail polish and foundation already exists naturally in some skins and will always flatter, never jar. There’s a collection of Rouge Allure lipsticks (£35 each), that combine vibrant colour with melty lip balm that will feel extremely comfortable on wind-chapped lips and are a cinch for even the lipstick averse to wear.
I have had on À Demi-Mot, a brownish rose shade, for most of the summer and I’m sticking with it.
Alongside those, there’s a beautiful new range of blushers (Water Fresh Blush, £42) that provide a complementary flush of good health in an easy fingertip smear.
Or if you prefer something creamier, Laura Mercier’s new Tinted Moisturiser Blush (£25) is as it sounds – subtle, moist colour that can be smooshed on inexpertly like face cream for instant perk.
If you’re game enough to lighten up your base too, then run – don’t walk – to your nearest e.l.f. counter for the bargain product of the season. Halo Glow Liquid Filter (£14) is effectively a bottle of instant good lighting for when skin looks flat and knackered. You can stroke it over makeup on to cheekbones for a fast glow, but I prefer to use it all over my bare face, as I would a foundation, and top up where needed with a smidge of concealer (the new Modern Radiance Concealer, £22, from Vieve, is non-cakey, terrific on all skin types and caters for all tones). It gives a fresher, almost no-makeup look without going the whole hog,
And when you do want to add a proper foundation, the Halo Glow doubles up as a priming, light-reflecting underlay.
