Fall Makeup for Every Color Season: 12 Looks From Golden Hour to Rainy Days

Fall makeup does not have one mood. Some days the leaves are lit gold and the light glows straight through your foundation. Other days it is overcast and drizzling and everything wants to go quieter and cooler. This guide gives you one complete fall makeup look for each of the 12 color seasons, tagged by the fall mood it fits, with exact shades for eyes, liner, cheeks, and lips.

Every look below has a detail that goes far beyond a standard nude lip: an unexpected color pairing, a duochrome topper, or a liner swap that beautifully shifts how the whole eye reads. Each comes with a labeled palette so you know exactly what to reach for, and a full step-by-step you can follow start to finish.

Most fall guides hand everyone the same burnt-orange smoky eye and the same oxblood lip. A rust that makes one person glow can read greenish and tired on someone with different coloring. Matching the mood and the exact shade to your own color season is what makes a fall look actually work on you.

Jump to Your Season

All twelve looks, with the fall weather each one belongs to. Find your season in the left column and go straight to that look below.

Twelve looks sit on a spectrum from sunny golden hour to gray rainy day, and your color season tells you which end of it your palette was built for.

The Two Moods of Fall

Fall brings a change in the weather and two distinctly beautiful atmospheres. There is the warm and golden fall, with crisp, colorful leaves covering the roads, the comforting glow of a fireplace, and the rich sweetness of hot chocolate. Then there is the mystical and moody fall: an otherworldly, nostalgic feeling of heavy mist rolling over deep green pine trees, cool mountain air, and waterfalls. It is that magical, Twilight-inspired hoa hoa hoa season that feels entirely unique.

Both moods are captivating, and we have paired these fall atmospheres with the color seasons that naturally share their essence. You do not have to limit yourself to just one aesthetic, though: a Spring can wear a misty, moody look by adapting the vibe with colors from her own seasonal palette, and a Summer who wants that cozy hot-chocolate feeling can get there by choosing shades that flatter her cool undertone. The secret to looking radiant is avoiding a direct copy of a look built for a different season just because you like its mood. If you want an atmosphere outside your natural coloring, translate that feeling into your correct shades: a warm rust eyeshadow that makes one person glow will always look tired and out of place on someone with a cooler complexion.

Fall runs from sunny golden hour to gray rainy-day hoa hoa hoa, and both ends of that spectrum have a look built for your coloring.

A Quick Word on Color Seasons

The twelve-season system categorizes natural coloring by three main qualities: warm or cool, light or deep, and soft (muted) or bright (clear). These three qualities combine to create the twelve seasons that sit under the four families you already know.

You might not be entirely sure which season is yours. Skim through all twelve descriptions below: the one that feels most harmonious to you is often a great starting point. Traditional color analysis with draping fabric against your bare face in natural daylight, covered in the color analysis guide, is the best way to know for certain.

Warm against cool, light against deep, and soft against bright are the three qualities that place you in one of the 12 seasons.

Fall Makeup for the Spring Seasons

Spring coloring is warm and clear, with a brightness that holds even in October. These three looks sit on fall's sunny end, from a crisp warm-sage afternoon to a full marigold glow. The warmth stays, and the color stays clear and light rather than deep.

Light Spring: Sage & Honey

Fall mood: crisp, bright afternoon.

Lightness leads your coloring ahead of temperature. You likely have light golden skin, light warm eyes, and hair that catches the sun. Darkness is what works against you here: a dark shade can easily make light eyes vanish. Your best approach is warm color kept light in value.

Most fall guides hand a Light Spring the exact same beige-and-peach look. Your seasonal colors hold soft warm greens too, though, and green is pure fall. This is a light-value warm sage eye over a honey base, a faded-leaf color that stays airy instead of heavy.

Try this look

1. Fill the brows in a light golden brown, kept within a shade or two of your own hair, since anything deeper outweighs the whole face. Two finishes work: brushed across and softened for a smooth, quiet brow, or swept up at the front for a fuller, feathered one. Pick whichever suits your face, and keep the edges feathered either way rather than drawing a hard outline.
2. Over your primer, wash warm honey shimmer #E5C893 across the whole lid with a soft brush, taking it a little above the crease so there is no hard edge where it stops. This replaces the neutral base for this look, and it is what makes the green above it read warm. Please be sure not to skip this step, because sage laid straight onto bare skin turns gray.
3. Press clear warm sage satin #B5B96F onto the mobile lid with a flat brush, patting rather than sweeping so the color stays clear instead of scattering. Keep it strongest across the outer two thirds and let it thin toward the inner corner so the honey still glows through there. This is sunlit sage, light and clear in value. If it starts to look heavy, stop, because you have enough on.
4. Blend light olive-tan matte #C6A868 softly through the crease with a small fluffy brush, using tiny circles along the crease line to bridge the green into the honey. You are softening an edge rather than building depth, so one light pass is usually the whole job.
5. Take a small brush and carry the warm honey around the inner corner and along the inner half of the lower lash line, so the gold wraps the eye instead of the green stopping dead at the corner. Keep it to a whisper, so it reads as warmth rather than a second line of color.
6. Line the upper lash line with light olive satin #A8A55E instead of brown or black. Press it into the lash roots and wiggle it between the lashes rather than drawing a line on the lid, so you get a fine dark root rather than a visible stripe. A green-toned liner on light warm eyes makes the iris pop, and olive gives you definition without the weight a black line would put on your coloring.
7. Curl your lashes and add one coat of brown mascara, never black. One coat is enough here, because black lashes against this much light color read as a separate, heavier look sitting on top of a soft one.
8. Build warm apricot satin #E8A074 on the cheeks in light layers, blending back toward the temple rather than laying it on in one pass. The warm peach cheek keeps the whole face from tipping cool.
9. Finish with a light melon lip #E08C68 in a lightly glossy or sheer satin finish, which suits light coloring better than a matte. A matte flattens light coloring and makes the lip look drier than it is. A light warm coral-melon is perfect for fall without the depth of a brick or berry that would overwhelm you.

Light Spring wears fall as a warm sage eye over a honey base, with a green-toned liner most fall guides never offer this coloring.

True Spring: Golden Maple

Fall mood: warm, golden light.

Warmth leads your coloring and clarity comes second. You are warm and clear, sunny rather than earthy or spiced, since the spiced register belongs to the Autumn season. Your golden depth is beautiful and real, though it is a depth of color rather than a depth of value. Rust and brick are two shades that can easily dull your natural glow.

This is the fall look with absolutely no brown in it. Every shade here is a clear golden orange, from marigold through to bright gold, and the deepest point on the eye is still a lit-up amber. The beautiful twist is a marigold halo ringing the whole eye, so the gold lid sits perfectly lit in the middle of it.

Try this look

1. Fill the brows in a clear warm golden-brown, neatly groomed but soft at the front, and keep it lit rather than ashy, because a cool-toned pencil reads gray on you. Two finishes work perfectly here. You can brush them across and soften them for a smoother brow, or sweep them up at the front and feather them for a fuller one. Pick whichever suits your face best.
2. Pack golden-copper metallic #D98B41 across the lid, tapping it on with a flat brush or a fingertip so the metallic stays vivid. Take it right down to the lash line and up to the crease. We recommend keeping it dense, as a thin layer of this lit copper might read a bit dusty.
3. Build marigold-amber matte #D97B22 through the crease, then diffuse it upward toward the brow bone until it fades out with no visible edge, and carry it outward past the outer corner. Let it get saturated rather than dark. Your richness comes from clarity, and taking the orange high and wide is what gives the look its size.
4. Deepen the outer corner with a touch of deep marigold matte #BE6B1A, melting its top edge into the crease. You are adding a little weight where the eye ends rather than carving an outer V. This is the deepest point in the whole look and it is still a lit gold, so it is best to skip anything deeper and avoid rust entirely.
5. Here is the twist, and it is a halo of color rather than a bright spot: carry the marigold-amber around the outer corner and along the outer two thirds of the lower lash line with a small pencil brush, so the orange rings the eye completely, above the crease, around the corner and underneath. The gold lid then sits lit in the middle of it.
6. Press bright gold metallic #F5C63F into the inner corner and along the inner third of the lower lash line with a damp fingertip or a damp flat brush, taking it out until it meets the marigold coming the other way. This is the brightest point in the look, and it is what keeps the inner eye open rather than closed in by the surround.
7. Tightline the upper lash line with a warm golden-bronze pencil or gel, pushed up into the lash roots so it reads as density, with no line visible anywhere. Curl your lashes and add two coats of warm dark brown mascara. Skip brown-black, which drags the eye cool.
8. Apply clear apricot satin #F0925A to the cheeks, blending back toward the temple.
9. Finish with a warm poppy lip #E2563A in a satin or lightly glossy finish. Either line and fill it for a defined edge, or press it on and blur the edge with a fingertip for a softer one, then blot and reapply. It should look lit from within. A brick or a russet here is what tips this whole look into Autumn.

True Spring wears fall as a marigold halo around a golden-copper lid, clear fall color with no brown anywhere in it.

Bright Spring: Amber Ember

Fall mood: crisp, bright afternoon.

Clarity leads your coloring ahead of temperature. You are clear first and warm second. That clarity is exactly what lets you easily carry a cool-edged accent as your season gracefully flows toward Winter. Muted palettes can quickly dull your complexion, so what you truly need is a warm and clear spark.

This is a crisp bright-afternoon look. The beautiful twist is a warm amber lid grounded by an unexpected deep-red outer corner. It looks just like the last ember of a bonfire.

Try this look

1. Fill the brows in a clear medium-warm brown with a cleaner edge than the other Springs. Your contrast carries the definition, and the shade still has to stay warm and clear. Two finishes work: brushed across and softened for a smooth brow, or swept up at the front and feathered for a fuller one. Pick whichever suits your face.
2. Pack amber-gold metallic #CF9236 across the lid, dense and vivid, taking it right up to the crease and around the inner corner. We want to prevent the color from looking dusty. If the shadow looks at all flat in the pan, simply press it on with a damp flat brush or a fingertip rather than sweeping it dry.
3. Blend vivid burnt-orange matte #B85F1E through the crease first. This acts as a gorgeous bridge between the amber and the red. Keep it vivid rather than earthy, because a dusty rust is one shade that can easily dull your glow. Then take it above the crease and diffuse it upward toward the brow bone until it fades out with no visible edge. That gentle diffusion above the crease is exactly what gives the look its beautiful size.
4. Here is the exciting twist. Press an ember-red matte #BE2620 into the outer corner and outer V, keeping the core saturated by blending only its edges. Take the outer edge high and outward, past the outer corner toward the temple. This allows the red to beautifully soften into a halo rather than sitting as a block of color. Then carry it softly along the outer two thirds of the lower lash line with a small pencil brush.
5. Optionally, press a little of the amber-gold into the inner corner and smudge it gently along the inner third of the lower lash line, so the red has somewhere warm to fade into instead of stopping abruptly.
6. Line the upper lash line with clear-navy matte #1A4A73. Start thin at the inner end and keep it pressed tight against the lashes so no bare skin shows between the line and the lash roots, then build it through the outer third so the weight perfectly lands where the eye ends. Finish with a short flick at the outer corner, following the angle of your lower lash line upward. Keep the flick small. A long wing would compete with the red rather than beautifully frame it. Let the navy seamlessly meet the ember at the outer corner rather than stopping harshly against it.
7. Curl your lashes and add two coats of black mascara. Work the wand gently into the roots first so the density sits right above the navy.
8. Apply a warm-coral satin #E87F5E to the cheeks. Blend it back gently toward the temple to keep the face fresh and lifted.
9. Finish with a clear warm-red lip #C33A2A, lined and filled fully so the edge stays crisp against this much color on the eye. A satin or lightly glossy finish suits you better than a matte, which would flatten the clarity you depend on. Warm and cozy, and still throwing off light.

Bright Spring wears fall by swapping the usual brown outer V for a real ember-red, with a clear-navy liner that answers the brightness this season flows toward.

Fall Makeup for the Summer Seasons

Summer coloring is beautifully cool and soft with a hazy quality to it. This is where fall goes gorgeously gray and moody, perfectly capturing the misty hoa hoa hoa end of the spectrum translated into cool and dusty tones.

Light Summer: Heather & Denim

Fall mood: soft, overcast light.

Lightness leads your coloring ahead of temperature. You are soft, cool, and low in contrast like early morning mist. Heavy or warm shades can easily read as a smudge on your delicate coloring.

Think of frost on the last heather of the year. Most fall guides leave you with beige because they assume fall always means warm. Fall has a stunning cool half, though, full of frosted berries, bare branches, and heather going over. The exciting twist here is a soft denim-navy rising out of the lash line into the outer corner, giving a quiet and elegant look something beautiful to focus on.

Try this look

1. Fill the brows in a soft cool taupe-brown, light and blurred at the edges, since hard lines and warm browns both read too heavy against your gentle contrast. Two finishes work perfectly here. You can brush them across and soften them for a quieter brow, or sweep them up at the front and feather them for a fuller one. Pick whichever suits your face best, and gently keep the edges soft either way.
2. Gently wash a frosted-heather satin #C0B6C6 across the lid with a soft brush and no hard placement. It is a gray with a violet cast, which is exactly what keeps this seasonal rather than generic.
3. Blend grayed plum-rose matte #C2A0AC through the crease along its whole length, then diffuse it upward above the crease until it fades out with no visible edge, letting it carry over the outer corner too. It will sit above the blue you are about to place, which is what keeps the two from turning muddy where they meet.
4. Lightly press a frosted-lilac shimmer #CDBFDC into the inner third of the lid and the inner corner. That one cool sparkle against the gray is the perfect detail that keeps this from looking flat.
5. Here is the exciting twist, and it beautifully belongs on the outer third of the lid rather than along the lash line. Press a soft denim-navy matte #51668E into the outer corner with a small smudge brush, keeping the densest part right at the lash line. Then gently lift what is left up and outward in a soft triangle toward the tail of the brow, letting it sheer as it rises. We recommend leaving the inner half of the lash line clear of it entirely. Keep the blue below the plum-rose and let the two meet rather than blending them together, because blue worked into mauve can easily turn gray.
6. Gently smudge a little of the frosted-heather along the lower lash line with a small brush, kept soft with no defined edge, and let the navy beautifully wrap around the outer corner to meet it.
7. Curl your lashes and add one coat of soft cool-brown mascara. We suggest avoiding black, as it would sit on your delicate coloring like a harsh line drawn on top of the look.
8. Lightly lay a cool soft-pink satin #E2A9B4 on the cheeks with a gentle hand and plenty of diffusion at the edges.
9. Finish with a soft plum-rose lip #B0788A in a creamy or lightly glossy formula to keep it beautifully hydrated rather than flat. This one shade is what makes the whole look read as October, where a plain rosy mauve might feel seasonless.

Light Summer wears fall elegantly as a soft denim-navy triangle lifting out of a frosted-heather lid. It is cool color with enough beautiful shape to carry a low contrast face.

True Summer: Rainy Slate

Fall mood: gray rainy day, peak hoa hoa hoa.

Coolness leads your coloring and softness comes second. You are beautifully cool and hazy rather than clear. Your coloring is medium in darkness, so you can easily go darker and moodier than a Light Summer.

Think of a gray, drizzly, and beautifully cinematic afternoon. The exciting twist is a wet spruce-green sitting gently in the outer corner. It mimics the gorgeous color of pine in the rain. This is worn elegantly against slate and blended until it reads as atmosphere rather than a harsh shape. It is genuinely different from every sharp-edged fall look out there.

Try this look

1. Fill the brows in a cool ash-brown, groomed with softly finished edges. A golden or reddish cast can easily fight the beautiful coolness the whole look is built on. Two finishes work perfectly here. You can brush them across and soften them for a smoother brow, or sweep them up at the front and feather them for a fuller one. Pick whichever suits your face best.
2. Gently wash a cool-slate satin #8F9298 across the whole lid as your base. Take it right up to the crease so there is no bare skin left for the pewter to sit on later. A gray base is exactly what beautifully stops the shimmer above it from looking like it is floating.
3. Here is the exciting twist. Softly build a dusty-spruce matte #3C534E into the outer corner and outer crease. Then gently carry it up and outward past the crease toward the tail of the brow, letting it beautifully thin as it rises so the whole outer half of the eye reads as a soft cloud. Beautifully blend every edge until it looks just like weather. A grayed-green against slate is wet pine rather than plain rain, and it is a gorgeous shade most guides never hand a Summer.
4. Lightly sweep a frosted-pewter shimmer #C3C0CA across the mobile lid over the slate, like rain sitting on a paving stone. We recommend stopping short of the spruce at the outer corner so that corner stays beautifully dark. Keep it broad rather than a single point of sparkle. Press it on gently with a flat brush so it does not scatter into the spruce.
5. Softly smudge a soft-charcoal matte #3F3E45 into the upper lash line with a smudge brush, then keep blending gently until the line dissolves into the smoke above it and no harsh edge is left anywhere. You should ideally not be able to say exactly where the liner ends.
6. Take the faintest trace of the same charcoal gently along the lower lash line, soft enough that it reads beautifully as shadow, and let it fade out before it reaches the inner corner. Then lightly touch a little of the dusty-spruce into the very outer end of it, just the last few millimeters, so it meets the spruce above and the outer corner closes seamlessly.
7. Curl your lashes and add two beautiful coats of cool-charcoal mascara.
8. Softly sweep a cool-rose satin #D98A9B across the cheeks for a gorgeous windblown flush.
9. Finish with a dusty-berry lip #9C5566 in a soft satin or matte leaning finish. Keep it wonderfully comfortable rather than dry, with the edge left a little soft rather than sharply lined. Collar up, umbrella out, and entirely at peace.

True Summer wears the gray rainy-day mood of fall directly. A wet spruce-green in the outer corner beautifully turns a slate smoky eye into atmospheric weather.

Discover Your Perfect Eye Look

Get your first AI-personalized look in under 5 minutes.

Soft Summer: Fig & Fog

Fall mood: soft, overcast light.

Softness leads your coloring ahead of temperature. This is exactly why you read as a cool neutral rather than decisively cool. High chroma can easily overwhelm you, and a beautifully muted palette is your greatest strength.

Think of a dark and overcast fog. The exciting twist is a storm-slate sheen veiled gently over a dusty fig lid. It creates a gorgeous blue-gray light sitting on a mauve base so the eye beautifully shifts between the two as it catches the light. Soft seasons carry grayed blues better than anyone, and it is a stunning shade most guides never offer.

Try this look

1. Fill the brows in a grayed taupe-brown with no warmth in it, brushed up and feathered at the front. From the arch outward you have two beautiful options: keep it soft and blurred the whole way for a hazier brow, or give the tail a defined shape with the lower edge diffused rather than drawn sharp. Both options work beautifully. A golden or reddish pencil can easily fight the gorgeous coolness the rest of the look sits on.
2. Gently wash a grayed-mauve satin #A68A92 across the lid in a soft finish, ideally avoiding any sharp sparkle, taking it right up to the crease so the shades above it have something to sit against.
3. Softly blend a cool mauve-taupe matte #77666D through the crease, then carry it upward well above the crease, thinning as it rises, so the whole socket reads as haze rather than a defined line. Beautifully soften every edge until nothing has a harsh boundary. We highly recommend keeping it cool, since a warm taupe is one thing that can easily turn this look muddy.
4. Gently press a plum-brown matte #5F4750 into the upper lash line with a small brush, pushing it into the roots so it reads as depth rather than a drawn line, and carry a little of it around the outer corner.
5. Softly smoke the same plum-brown along the lower lash line with a smudge brush, keeping it soft and taking it far enough in that the eye reads enclosed rather than open at the bottom, and let it beautifully meet what you brought around the outer corner. Curl your lashes and add two coats of brown mascara.
6. Here is the exciting twist. Gently veil a storm-slate metallic #90AAB2 over the inner half of the lid with a fingertip. Leave the grayed-mauve showing on the outer half. Keep it sheer enough that the mauve still reads through it and inside the crease shading, so it lands as cold light on the lid. A grayed blue laid over dusty fig is what gives a muted eye something to shift against. Muted coloring wears an antique, neutral-cool metallic beautifully, while a warm or bright one overwhelms it.
7. Lightly lay a soft mauve-pink satin #CF9AA2 on the cheeks. Blend it softly to a whisper so it beautifully echoes the eye rather than competing with it.
8. Finish with a soft-fig lip #96626B in a creamy or lightly glossy finish. The cheek and lip stay in one beautifully muted family so the slate on the eye is the only thing that steps out. The fig tone is exactly what pulls the whole face into fall.

Soft Summer gracefully wears fall as a storm-slate sheen over a dusty-fig lid. It is a gorgeous grayed blue laid on mauve so a muted eye has something beautiful to shift against.

Fall Makeup for the Autumn Seasons

This is your home turf. Autumn coloring is wonderfully warm and rich, effortlessly spanning colorful leaves in the sunshine through to fireside darkness. The entire fall color palette was practically built with this gorgeous coloring in mind, and the only adjustment is keeping some luminosity so the final look never flattens.

Soft Autumn: Dusty Harvest

Fall mood: crisp, bright afternoon.

Softness leads your coloring ahead of temperature. Your coloring is warm, and being muted comes first. A full-saturation rust is simply too much, so a softly muted but warm approach is the ideal target.

Think of a crisp harvest afternoon. The exciting twist is a dry-olive lid lit seamlessly from underneath. The eye stays completely suede matte on top with olive resting over clay. A fine line of lit gold gracefully runs along the lower lash line well above it in value, so the light effortlessly comes from below instead of from the top of the lid. It looks just like moss and bracken with the sun coming in sideways.

Try this look

1. Fill the brows in a muted golden-taupe brown, softly filled with feathered edges. Keep it warm but dusty since a saturated brown is slightly more than your delicate softness wants. Two finishes work perfectly here. You can brush them across and soften them for a smoother brow, or sweep them up at the front and feather them for a fuller one. Pick whichever suits your face best.
2. Gently wash a dry-olive matte #92997D across the whole lid, flat and matte, taking it right down to the lash line. Olive is a gorgeous shade most guides never think to hand an Autumn, and putting it on the largest surface of the eye is the only placement where a muted green still reads as a color rather than as a harsh contour.
3. Softly blend a muted-terracotta matte #B06F4C through the crease, then carry it upward well above the crease toward the brow bone and outward past the outer corner, letting it effortlessly thin as it goes so it fades out with no harsh edge. Build it gently in thin passes for that flawless suede matte finish rather than laying it all on in one heavy application.
4. Deepen the outer corner with deep moss-brown matte #605943, softly blending the top edge and delicately carrying a thin line of it under the outer third of the lower lashes. We highly recommend keeping it gentle. It acts as shadow rather than color, and the olive above it should stay the main focus you see.
5. Here is the exciting twist. Smoothly lay a lit soft-gold metallic #DCAF66 along the lower lash line with a damp flat definer brush, from the inner corner out to about two thirds. Let it seamlessly meet the moss-brown where it starts. Keep it a perfectly soft diffused band rather than a harshly drawn line, with the edges blended down into the skin. It must sit clearly lighter than the lid or it will not catch the light at all. This is exactly the reason a metallic is used here. Please ensure you keep the lid itself fully matte. Lighting the eye from underneath instead of from the lid center is what makes this read as considered.
6. Gently run a soft bronze-brown along the upper lash line. Keep it barely there and seamlessly pressed into the roots rather than drawn as a harsh line. Curl your lashes and add two flawless coats of brown-black mascara.
7. Lightly sweep a muted soft-peach satin #D29474 across the cheeks for a dried-leaf glow kept dusty rather than bright.
8. Finish with a terracotta-nude lip #B07156 in a creamy or lightly glossy formula.

Soft Autumn wears fall elegantly as a matte olive lid lit seamlessly from underneath by a gold lower line. This gracefully puts the shine exactly where nobody expects it.

True Autumn: Pumpkin & Clove

Fall mood: warm, golden light.

Warmth leads your coloring and softness comes second. You are warm and muted, and rich rather than clear. This is the beating heart of the fall color palette. Every pumpkin-spice cliche exists because of your gorgeous natural coloring.

Think of the sunniest look inspired by colorful fall leaves. You will use pumpkin in the crease and clove in the outer corner. The exciting twist is a duochrome finish: a burnt-pumpkin on the lid that shifts to a gold-green sheen in the light so it is never flat.

Try this look

1. Fill the brows in a warm medium-to-deep brown with a chestnut cast, filled to natural fullness. This is the season that carries a genuinely warm brow without it going orange. Two finishes work perfectly here. You can brush them across and soften them for a smoother brow, or sweep them up at the front and feather them for a fuller one. Pick whichever suits your face best.
2. Gently pack a golden-copper metallic #C17B32 across the lid, tapping it on with a flat brush or a fingertip so the metallic stays vivid. Take it all the way to the lash line, and we recommend keeping it dense, since a sheer pass will not hold up against the depth going around it.
3. Softly blend a burnt-pumpkin matte #A8531C through the crease and outer third, genuinely rich, and you can take it at full strength. Carry it a little above the crease and outward so the top edge fades into skin rather than stopping in a harsh line.
4. Flawlessly smoke the outer V with a clove matte #5D3742. Melt its top edge seamlessly into the crease. Then delicately run it along the whole lower lash line from the outer corner right through to the inner one, deepest where it meets the outer V and softer as it travels in. It is a deep spiced plum rather than another brown, and that spiced note is what stops the whole eye being one long slide of orange.
5. Here is the exciting twist. Lightly press a gold-green duochrome #9A8A3A onto the center of the lid with a damp fingertip, gently pressing rather than buffing so it lays down flawlessly opaque. The unexpected green flash as the light shifts is exactly what makes this look so memorable.
6. Elegantly line the upper lash line with a warm chocolate-brown, softened into the lashes rather than sitting on top of them. Curl your lashes and add two flawless coats of brown-black mascara.
7. Lightly sweep a warm-terracotta satin #C96A40 across the cheeks for a spiced flush.
8. Finish with a warm-russet lip #9C4327 in a creamy satin or lightly glossy finish. It effortlessly captures the whole season in one face.

True Autumn wears fall flawlessly as a gold-green duochrome flash over copper. The clove outer corner elegantly keeps the whole eye from sliding into one orange.

Dark Autumn: Smoked Chestnut

Fall mood: moody, after dark.

Darkness leads your coloring ahead of temperature. You are warm and dark first. This is exactly what you share with your Dark Winter sister season. You effortlessly handle the darkest and richest end of the palette.

Think of a warm evening after dark. You will build an oxblood smoke under espresso with a bronze metallic liner struck directly over the black so the smoke has a hot edge running through it. It looks like a fireside at midnight rather than a flat brown smoky eye.

Try this look

1. Fill the brows in a dark warm-brown close to espresso, filled and defined. You have the natural darkness for a strong brow, and keeping it brown rather than black keeps it warm. Two finishes work perfectly here. You can brush them across and soften them for a smoother brow, or sweep them up at the front and feather them for a fuller one. Pick whichever suits your face best.
2. Softly wash a rich-chestnut satin #7C4A2C across the whole lid as a dark and warm base, taking it right down to the lash line. This stays the surface you see across most of the lid, so we recommend gently building it until it reads flawlessly solid rather than sheer.
3. Layer oxblood matte #632A24 through the crease and outer third, smoking it into a soft, sultry shape, then carry it up above the crease and outward past the outer corner so it fades into skin with no edge. Wine rather than brown is what makes this sultry, and it must go down before the espresso or the darker shade will easily swallow it.
4. Gently darken with an espresso matte #3E281A into the outer V and the darkest part of the crease. Blend its edge seamlessly into the oxblood rather than laying it heavily over the top.
5. Lightly take a brown-black matte #33241A into the very outer edge of the crease for drama, melting it seamlessly into the espresso. Then softly line the upper lash line with it and gently smudge the edge soft so it reads as smoke rather than a harshly drawn line.
6. Carefully run a thin line of the brown-black along the lower lash line, kept tight to the roots. Then softly smudge the espresso over and beneath it with a small brush, softening downward gracefully into the skin. The two together are what make the lower line read thicker and softer than a liner alone, and it flawlessly widens toward the outer corner where it meets the smoke above.
7. Here is the exciting twist. Gently lay a dark-bronze metallic #6A481F as a fine line directly over the liner on the upper lash line, using a damp flat definer brush or a liquid metallic straight from its applicator. Keep it short and concentrated through the middle of the lash line rather than running it the full length, and effortlessly keep it narrow enough that the brown-black still shows beneath it. Struck metal over darkness is the twist, and it does far more than a shimmer in the middle of the lid.
8. Curl your lashes and add two flawless coats of black mascara, or lashes for the evening. If you prefer a waterline, a soft brown-black on the lower waterline effortlessly darkens it further. However, the look is perfectly complete without it.
9. Lightly sweep a dark-terracotta satin #A85436 across the cheeks to keep gorgeous warmth in a dark look.
10. Finish with a chestnut-oxblood lip #6E2E28 in a creamy or lightly glossy finish. It is wonderfully dark, warm, and enveloping.

Dark Autumn wears fall elegantly as a bronze line struck over black liner inside an oxblood smoke. This reads far richer than a flat brown smoky eye.

Fall Makeup for the Winter Seasons

Winter coloring is cool and bright, high in contrast and striking. These three looks own fall's crisp, jewel-toned end, from frosty cold-snap brights to moody after-dark drama.

Dark Winter: Black Cherry

Fall mood: moody, after dark.

Darkness leads your coloring ahead of temperature. You are dark first and cool second, and muted or warm shades can easily fog your intensity. Cool dark browns and burgundies belong in your palette because Dark Winter sits beside Dark Autumn as its sister season and tolerates the faint touch of warmth True Winter would refuse. Every version of them stays cool since a warm brown will wash you out.

Think of a moody evening after dark that feels cool and dangerous. The exciting twist is a cool-cocoa and burgundy smoky eye paired with a genuine black-cherry lip. It is the ultimate meeting of grunge and femme fatale.

Try this look

1. Fill the brows in a dark cool-brown or a soft black, filled and clearly shaped. Keep it blue-based since a warm espresso brow can easily undo the coolness the rest of the look is holding. Two finishes work perfectly here. You can brush them across and soften them for a smoother brow, or sweep them up at the front and feather them for a fuller one. Pick whichever suits your face best.
2. Gently wash a cool-cocoa satin #4E3B3D across the lid as your base, taking it right down to the lash line. Every shade on this eye reads blue-red rather than golden.
3. Softly layer a dark cool-burgundy satin #6A2839 through the outer third and up into the socket, then carry it above the crease and outward past the outer corner so it gracefully fades into the skin with no harsh edge. Burgundy inside a cool-brown smoky eye is the exciting fall twist, and laying it down before the darkest shade is exactly what keeps it visible.
4. Carefully take the same burgundy along the whole lower lash line from the inner corner right through to the outer corner. Smoke it downward gently into the skin rather than keeping it tight to the lashes. It should seamlessly meet what you brought around the outer corner so the eye reads fully enclosed on all sides.
5. Gently build a cool brown-black matte #2A1F21 into the darkest part of the crease and the very outer corner. Blend its edge downward into the burgundy rather than heavily over the top of it. This keeps the eye from turning into another charcoal-and-black repeat.
6. Elegantly line the upper lash line with a true-black matte #161318. Keep it close to the lashes and smudged softly at the outer edge, and tightline the upper waterline as well.
7. Curl your lashes and add two coats of black mascara, or lashes for full drama. If you prefer a waterline, black on the lower waterline pushes this fully into evening. However, the look is wonderfully complete without it.
8. Softly sweep a dark berry-rose satin #A5495F across the cheeks to keep the finish cool.
9. Expertly line and fill the lips with a black-cherry shade #5C1E2C in a matte and fully saturated finish. Only your unique coloring can carry this level of drama so effortlessly.

Dark Winter wears fall elegantly as cool burgundy smoked inside cocoa and black. This is answered by a black-cherry lip, creating the fullest cool-toned drama in the entire lineup.

True Winter: Frosted Cranberry

Fall mood: crisp, bright afternoon.

Coolness leads your coloring and clarity comes second. You share your coolness with a True Summer without its haze, and that gorgeous brightness is what separates the two. Warmth reads as off on you, so your fall season is cold, crisp, and jewel-bright.

Think of crisp cold-snap brightness and the frosty edge of fall. The exciting twist is frost worn as a full sheet. You will use icy silver laid across the entire lid over pewter rather than just dabbed in the inner corner, accompanied by a crisp cool smoke holding the outer corner. A cold pine green holds the crease, and a bright cranberry lip answers it. It is pure frost, pine, and berries with no warmth anywhere.

Try this look

1. Carefully fill the brows in a cool dark-brown through to black depending on your hair, cleanly defined with a crisp edge. Please ensure there is no warmth in the brow, just as there is none anywhere else. Two finishes work perfectly here. You can brush them across and soften them for a smoother brow, or sweep them up at the front and feather them for a fuller one. Pick whichever suits your face best.
2. Gently pack a frosted-pewter shimmer #A9A6AD across the lid. Keep it clean and cool with no warm cast, taking it right down to the lash line.
3. Softly build a cold-pine matte #0C593B across the outer third of the lid, through the crease and into the outer corner, carrying it up above the crease so the top edge gracefully fades into the skin. Then smudge it along the whole lower lash line, inner corner right through to outer, deepest where it meets the outer corner. A cold blue-based green is one saturated shade you can wear with no trace of warmth entering it, and it must go down before the charcoal or the darker shade will easily bury it.
4. Deepen the very outer edge with cool charcoal matte #403F47 for a crisp, defined smoke, blending it into the pine rather than over the top of it.
5. Here is the exciting twist. Lightly press an icy-silver metallic #DFE0E6 across the rest of the mobile lid with a damp fingertip or a damp flat brush rather than pointing it solely at the inner corner. This ensures that portion reads as one clean sheet of frost. Stop where the pine begins, and gently re-press the outer corner if the silver has softened it.
6. Elegantly line the upper lash line with a cool-black matte #17161B, keeping it precise and clean. Then run the same black along the lower lash line, keeping it tight to the roots so the pine sits around it rather than over it. Curl your lashes and add two flawless coats of black mascara.
7. Lightly sweep a cool-raspberry satin #C65478 across the cheeks for a gorgeous cold-air flush.
8. Finish with a bright-cranberry lip #A81F38. Keep it clean and saturated with a blue undertone in a satin or lightly glossy finish. Expertly line and fill it fully so it gracefully answers the frost on the eye.

True Winter wears fall flawlessly as frost worn in full. A sheet of icy silver over pewter, cold pine in the crease, and a bright cranberry lip answering it create the ultimate cold weather look.

Bright Winter: Electric Plum

Fall mood: crisp, bright afternoon.

Clarity leads your coloring ahead of temperature at the highest contrast of all twelve seasons. Muted palettes are your absolute kryptonite, and vivid color is precisely what you need.

Think of the boldest look on a jewel-bright clear day. The exciting twist is a bright forest-green run along the whole lower lash line under a vivid amethyst lid. You get berry above and dark leaf below, creating two jewel tones at full volume that only your unique coloring can carry.

Try this look

1. Fill the brows in a cool dark-brown or black, crisply defined. Your contrast is the highest of the twelve seasons, so a soft faded brow can easily look unfinished next to the lid. Two finishes work perfectly here. You can brush them across and soften them, or sweep them up at the front and feather them. Pick whichever suits your face best, and keep the shape clean either way.
2. Gently set an icy lilac-white matte #DCD9E4 across the lid so the jewel tone reads clean. A muted gray-mauve base can easily dull the clarity you depend on.
3. Gently pack a vivid-amethyst shimmer #8A35A6 through the mobile lid and toward the outer corner, keeping it saturated and clear rather than blended into a fog. Press it on with a flat brush, or use a damp brush if the shade looks weak dry, building it until the color is flawlessly solid rather than sheer.
4. Deepen the outer V with deep plum matte #4D2554 for shape, blending only its top edge so the lid stays vivid. That blended edge is all you want above the crease. The plum itself stays nicely concentrated in the corner rather than spread across the socket.
5. Here is the exciting twist. Run a bright forest-matte #086829 along the whole lower lash line from the inner corner to the outer corner with a small pencil brush, keeping it as a clean line rather than smudged up onto the lid. Green under a purple lid is a striking pairing a Bright Winter can wear at full strength, and it is exactly what makes this read like a hedgerow in October. If you can see green peeking above the lash line, that is a great sign it has gone a bit too far.
6. Elegantly line the upper lash line with a black matte #141116, drawing it close to the lashes and building it slightly thicker toward the outer corner so the line ends with gorgeous weight. Curl your lashes and add two flawless coats of black mascara.
7. Lightly sweep a bright-rose satin #D84F77 across the cheeks to keep the face wonderfully cool and fresh.
8. Finish with a vivid-magenta lip #CB207F, lining and filling it fully rather than sheered out so it holds its stunning clarity. If magenta feels like a step too far, a bright cool-red can do the same job with slightly less volume.

Bright Winter wears fall brilliantly as forest-green under an amethyst lid. These are two jewel tones at full volume that only the highest-contrast coloring can successfully carry.

Adapting These Looks to Your Eye Shape

Every look above can be easily adjusted for your unique eye shape without changing a single shade. Your seasonal palette remains perfectly matched, and only the placement shifts. Almost all twelve looks diffuse color above the crease and work the lower lash line, and these are the two primary areas where eye shape makes the most difference.

If you have not yet figured out your shape, the eye shapes guide walks you through identifying it in a mirror, and the eyeshadow placement guide covers the underlying zones referenced in the instructions below.

Almond. Lid space and crease are naturally balanced, allowing you to apply everything exactly as written. This is the baseline shape the tutorials above are described against, making it the standard reference point for all other adjustments.

Round. Concentrate the above-crease diffusion and outer-corner shading toward the outer third, pulling them slightly outward rather than packing color evenly across the lid, which can make a round eye look rounder. Keep lower-lash-line work limited to the outer half. True Spring's marigold halo and Dark Winter's full lower line require this adjustment most, since both ring the eye entirely.

Hooded. Take the above-crease color higher than the photos show. Anything placed directly inside the crease disappears the moment your eye opens, so find where your lid folds while your eyes are open and blend just above that line. Keep metallics and frost low on the lid near the lash line so they still catch the light. True Winter's sheet of icy silver and True Autumn's duochrome both work much better pressed into the visible strip under the fold than across the entire lid.

Monolid. Skip the crease entirely and build your color in horizontal bands from the lash line upward, keeping the shades darkest at the lashes and letting them fade as they rise. Colored lower lines translate exceptionally well here, making Bright Winter's forest green and True Winter's pine worth borrowing in your own seasonal shades.

Upturned. Your outer corner naturally lifts, so embrace and follow it. Extend your outer-corner shading and any liner along that natural angle rather than fighting it, and keep the lower lash line lighter so the lift remains the focal point you notice first.

Downturned. Take your outer-corner diffusion upward instead of following the natural downward slope, aiming it toward the tail of your brow. Keep lower-lash-line work lightest at the outer end, as added weight there can pull the eye down further. The eyeliner by eye shape guide covers this specific flick angle in greater detail.

Protruding. Favor matte and satin finishes, and where a look calls for a metallic on the center of the lid, move it to the inner corner instead. Soft Autumn's fully matte lid with the light underneath is the easiest look here to wear exactly as written.

Close-set. Keep the darkest shade at the outer corner and carry it outward, while keeping the inner corner light. Where a look places color along the entire lower lash line, fade it out before reaching the inner third.

Wide-set. Bring your color inward instead. Start your lid shade closer to the inner corner, take any lower-lash-line work all the way in, and skip extending liner or shading past the outer corner.

Deep-set. Keep the darkest shade close to the lash line rather than high up in the crease, where your natural bone shadow already does that work. Place your lightest or most metallic shade directly on the center of the lid so it comes forward.

The palette stays exactly the same while the placement shifts. If a look does not sit right on your features, adjust where the color goes before changing the color itself.

Ten eye shapes and one set of palettes mean your season decides the shades while your eye shape decides where they land, ensuring every look above works successfully on every eye.

Between Two Seasons? Quick Tiebreakers

1. Warm versus cool: Do gold or silver tones flatter your complexion more? Gold naturally pulls toward Spring and Autumn, while silver leans toward Summer and Winter.
2. Deep versus light: Is there a strong contrast between your hair, skin, and eyes, or does everything blend gently together? High contrast leans toward Winter or Dark Autumn, whereas low contrast leans toward Summer or Light Spring.
3. Soft versus bright: Do you look best in dusty, muted shades or clear, saturated ones? Muted points directly to the Soft seasons, while vivid tones point to the Bright ones.

These three questions serve as quick supporting checks. Draping fabric against your bare face in natural daylight remains the definitive test, settling any close calls between neighboring seasons.

When in doubt, try the muted version of a look before attempting a bright one. It is always far easier to intensify a soft look than to rescue a face overwhelmed by a too-vivid shade.

Use gold versus silver, contrast level, and muted versus clear as quick checks, then confirm your final answer by draping in daylight.

Frequently Asked Questions

Fall makeup encompasses a complete spectrum of weather, ranging from sunny golden leaves to the cozy and overcast hoa hoa hoa atmosphere, paired with every unique variation of natural coloring. Find the look that resonates with you, gather the shades that match it, and treat yourself to a warm cup of coffee or tea. The leaves are already turning outside.

The hex values throughout this guide serve as on-screen reference points for shade family and finish rather than an absolute guarantee of how a product will look on your skin. Appearance varies depending on individual complexion, undertone, and lighting. We always recommend testing a shade against your own skin in natural daylight before committing to a purchase.

Find the look tagged specifically for your color season, pull the matching shades, and wear fall proudly in the custom shade guide that was built specifically for your coloring.

Discover Your Perfect Eye Look

Get your first AI-personalized look in under 5 minutes.