Autumn is upon us and thus a new season for make-up. This season there is a return to the classics with beautiful full lips in rich shades of plum, red wine and burgundy. Gone is the super glossy look of summer and instead a sophisticated matte or creme finish is what your lips should be wearing.

Each month I plan to help you create some on trend and interesting looks which aren’t over complicated and are achievable. Drawing inspiration from styles that were present at London Fashion Week and forecasted trends for autumn I have put together a little tutorial for you to try at home and hope to offer you some helpful tips and advice!

Senior make-up artist at MAC Gordon Espinet (and make-up designer for Vivienne Westwood’s Red Label show) said at LFW:  “stick to one element, if you do an eye, stick to the eye. If you do a lip, stick to the lip. You really don’t want to overkill, this is a time of chicness and sophistication.”

The perfect flawless face

The Perfect Base

With this in mind I’ve completely stripped the face completely bare for my first look. Firstly, it’s all about getting a totally flawless base. On my model Nina I’ve used MAC Studio Fix Fluid which has a great matte finish at an affordable price. However, if  you are feeling flush and want to really push the boat out I would highly recommend splashing out on Creme De La Mer The Treatment Fluid Foundation – This product has an absolutely incredible silky finish, claiming to actually contain gemstones and a rare blue algae to add radiance and create flawless complexion!

To banish any dark circles I used Bobbi Brown’s Concealer kit. This product is one of my faves as it is yellow based and doesn’t leave a chalky like residue as most concealers tend to.  The kit also includes a sheer loose powder to ensure it stays put all day. Perfecto for post partying!

Bobbi Brown's Concealer Kit

I used a foundation brush 81464/02 from Charles Fox in Covent Garden for £19 but if you’re not in London another great brush which buffs to a flawless finish is MAC’s 188 Duo Fibre Face Brush (£24.50). If you’re on a tight budget and perhaps don’t want to go to the effort of having to  wash your brush regularly (which is necessary if you don’t want spots) I would suggest buying some no frills cosmetic wedge sponges. However I would recommend that you apply the foundation using your (clean) fingers and then blending with the sponge -  avoid actually applying it with the sponge as about 50% of the product just gets absorbed!

Money saving tip: Don’t want to spend on expensive brush cleaner? Gently wash your make-up brushes using baby shampoo and leave out to dry.

Getting Lippy

Bold, red autumnal lips

No eye make-up? No blush?? Am I mad? The answer is (hopefully) no. I’ve taken inspiration from many of the fresh looks at fashion week and keeping in mind what Gordon Espinet said I’m showing you how effective dramatic lips can be. I understand that this look is not to everyone’s taste but I am hoping that by showing you the key aspect you can either keep it simple like mine or slightly tailor it to your own taste by adding more blusher, bronzer or mascara

I think that the flawless complexion, bare eyes and bold lips create a really focused, full and fresh feel. When sporting a dramatic lip you run the danger of looking over made up in the daytime if you go too heavy with the rest of the face. This is a strong look but also very achievable and also time effective when dashing around before work!

So, after you’ve applied your base gently hydrate your lips with a touch of Carmex Lip Balm. This product is great because it will add moisture to the lip without too shiny a finish.

Next line your lips. I love MAC cremestick liner in Red Enriched for deep red wine lipstick shades or Velvetella for  more purpley/plum shades.

Plummy tones using MAC's Cyber

I used red lip colour Heatwave by Nars and MAC’s edgy deep purple Cyber. The red gives you a touch of 1940’s Hollywood glamour whereas the Cyber is very on trend with this season’s gothic/rock chick vibe (without being too OTT).

For a more affordable lipstick try Colorstay Ultimate Liquid Lipstick in Top Tomato, by Revlon.

Once you have applied the lipstick, for a more defined edge you can go back over with the liner and tidy up any mistakes by dipping a cotton wool bud in foundation or concealer and gently running it around the edges of the lip. For a longer lasting finish don’t forget to blot!

If you don’t want to bare it all on the rest of the face add a few lashings of mascara and a warm blush. I suggest using something quite understated like Clinique’s new Blushwear Cream Stick in Peachy or Shy Blush. Not only is this product lightweight but it’s also extremely easy to rub into the apples of your cheeks using your fingertips.

Using a large brush lightly sweep over your face to finish with a light sheer powder and voila! I’d recommend using Estee Lauder’s Aeromatte Ultralucent pressed powder because it gives a lovely airbrushed fresh finish.

Steps away from smoky perfection

The Big Smoke

In keeping with the rocky/gothic trend I decided to do a smoky look with a understated lip. This look is also very easy as often the smudgyness and rough around the edges look adds to the low maintainence “I’ve-been-out-partying-all-night” vibe.

For this look it is a good idea to apply the base AFTER you’ve done your eyeshadow as this allows you to clean up any loose shadow that may fall down your face!

First dip your eye shadow brush into a steely grey colour; I used MAC’s Silver Ring. Sweep it right across the lids starting from the around the inner tear duct out towards the end of your brow. I used MAC’s 213 Fluff brush but you can even use your fingers if you want a more smudgy look.

Next, load your brush with a black shadow such as Carbon by MAC which is particularly good as it is an intense matte black which blends well with the Silver Ring shade.  With small strokes blend in from the outer corner of the eye and stop roughly about a third of the way into the eye.

Outline the bottom of the eye using the Carbon colour and blend downwards for a smokey effect. I then used Benefit’s Bad Gal eyeliner as it is an excellent soft kohl (although iIm not sure the sheer size of it is really necessary…) and gently lined the lop and lower lids – including the inner water line. I then smudged the line using MAC’s 214 brush.

This season's sexy smoky eyes

I finished the eyes by putting several layers (about four coats on each eye) of mascara on the upper and lower lashes. I used Dior Show Blackout for this as it is quite thick in consistency and actually gets better the longer you have it, creating a real “false lash” effect.

I also filled in the eyebrows using a small angled brush (MAC 208) and used Charcoal Brown eyeshadow (also from MAC). Using eyeshadows is always useful to fill in brows because you get more for value for your money as you can still use it on the lids.

Other great little kits that you can get are Nars’ “Black Eye Kit” which contains a mascara, eye pencil, eye shadow duo and a cute little bottle of eye make up remover (perfect for cleaning under the eye after application or taking off at the end of the night). This is ideal if you don’t want to go to the effort of shopping around!

Nars' Penny Lane blusher

As Nina already had a natural pink tone to her lips I knocked out the colour using foundation and just finished with a dab of Carmex.

I finally finished the whole look by gently rubbing a nude pink blush on the apples of her cheeks (I used Nars’ Penny Lane). It’s important to keep the cheeks and lips quite muted and toned down otherwise you might look a bit cheap which is NOT what we’re going for! Cream blushers are great for this as they almost sink into your skin and look more natural than a powder.

Sweep some sheer powder on your T-Zone and you’re ready to rock!

If you have any questions or any looks that you would like me to do a tutorial on, get in touch with me at camila@runninginheels.co.uk.

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