4 Easy Tips to Transition Your Makeup from Summer to Fall

I love a crisp fall morning, rich auburn leaves, ankle boots, and a good aubergine lip as much as the next PSL Basic Bitch. (Except the irony in that is that I don’t like pumpkin or pumpkin spice lattes.) However, as much as I love an autumnal color palette, part of me is still clinging to the dewy, bronzed goddess glow of summer and it’s freckled, breezy, peach toned makeup trends. This summer showed so many fabulous makeup trends like sheer, lightweight foundation, Euphoria eye looks, and neon liner to name a few. How am I supposed to jump from that to the drama of fall? The answer is transitionally. In the coming weeks, we’ll talk more about reusing some of the summer makeup trends into the fall and winter, but today we’re specifically talking about crazy easy tricks and tips to transition your makeup from summer to fall.

Tip #1 | Manipulate your products to re-create that radiant, summer glow.

Glowing skin doesn’t tend to be the makeup look for fall. Instead, most people opt for a matter finish. But I love keeping my glow year-round. Summer heat is great for creating that natural glow (aka, sweat and oil production.) But when the temperatures start to fall, that luxury always starts to decrease. So you fake it.

| Skincare is key.

Getting your makeup to look effortless and not overdone starts with skincare, especially if you’re going for that natural radiant kind of look from summertime. Now is the time to start introducing peeling pads or other chemical exfoliators to your skincare routine. Not only will these types of products get your skin healthy, it’ll also help your makeup last longer through the day.

| Primers are kind of bullshit…

…unless you’re using proper skincare. There are tons of illuminating primers out there that I love, but I really think they do nothing for achieving a naturally radiance unless you’re putting in the work pre-makeup. Otherwise, the glow looks extremely superficial, in my opinion.

| Make your products work for you.

With proper technique, you can make your products work for you in almost every situation. I love keeping a glow to my skin all year, but in the fall and winter, I don’t like it to look as…erm…moist or wet as I do in the summer months. So I love to mix in a little facial oil or moisturizer in with a sheer, glowy foundation and apply all over the face. Then I like to apply something a little more velvety matte and full coverage toward the center/T-zone of my face.

My go-to foundations right now are the Pat McGrath Sublime Perfection foundation*, NARS Soft Matte Complete foundation*, and Rare Beauty Liquid Touch Weightless foundation*. I’ve found all three to be malleable so they can be manipulated in terms of finish and coverage by using some of the oil/moisturizer tricks above without losing any of the product’s integrity.

The Rare foundation is naturally more radiant in finish than the other two options, so it’s nice to combine with moisturizer to create a lightweight, more sheer formula, taking away a little of the coverage. Sublime Perfection from Pat McGrath is incredibly thin and also easy to sheer out. The NARS Soft Matt is a little thicker than the other two but just as versatile.

Tip #2 | Pair colorful, summery lids with berry lips.

If you’ve been around for a while, you know how much I love a good one shadow eye look. It’s easy, and I think it can look intricate without putting in any effort. Due to the natural shadow of our eyes, using one shadow can still have a multi-dimensional effect. Nodding to the colorful shadows, neon liners, and Euphoria vibes from summer, we can transition this to fall by using a few tricks.

We don’t have to forgo color in the fall in place of deep reds and oranges and purples. Today, I’m wearing a pastel purple all over the lid. How can we transition this to fall? Pop on a berry lip*! I thin the juxtaposition of a brighter, colorful eye with a deep fall shade on the lips is flattering, interesting, unexpected, and beautiful. The combination of summer trends and fall trends is quite literally what this post is about, transitioning.

Tip #3 | Focus on blush over bronzer.

If I have to choose between bronzer and blush, I’m choosing blush every time, even considering my love for a bronzed goddess look from summer. I just think bronzer is dramatic and often weighs skin down — not in a bad way, but the bronzey colors tend to add darkness to your skin. Whereas blush is great for lifting the face and giving it fresh life.

I still use bronzer in the fall, and in this transition from summer to fall, but I like to apply a very small amount to my cheeks before applying blush. Then I will add the blush on top; doing it this way let’s you add a contrast with that fresh pop of color in the forefront. I like when one element is gentle and effortless (bronzer) while the other is dramatic (blush.)

One of my favorite blush tricks, especially when I want to go in a glowy or monochromatic blush direction is to use lipsticks rather than powder blushes. I love the Revlon lipsticks* for this. They complement the skin and add a glow factor that is often unmatched.

Tip #4 | Keep the same colors, but transition the tones.

If you’re someone who loves color year round but maybe doesn’t like wearing statement lips, this tip is for you. Unlike Tip #2 which tells us to pair a summery eye with a fall lip, this tip is all about the eyes (though it can be applied to any color on the face.) For this, we’re going to keep our colorful favorites but subtly tweak the tones, which is such an easy way to transition your makeup from summer to fall.

For example: I love wearing purples — on the eyes, cheeks, lips. I think purples look good against my skin, year-round. In the summer, I tend to go for something bright — either pastel or saturated. But the purples I tend to go for in the summers have a lot of white in the formula, making them light and bright. In the fall, though, I may opt for something a little deeper, with a little more black in the formula to tint it down. A purple that leans more cranberry or something dusty is perfect for fall without compromising the love for color. Likewise you could swap out a bright candy apple red for something a little deeper.

Those are my best tips to transition your makeup from summer to fall. It’s quite easy to do and don’t require you to make any drastic changes in your makeup routine. Not the mention, you still get to use your current summer faves a little while longer. Do you have any tips to help transition your makeup from summer to fall? Or do you find yourself making any changes to your routine?

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You may also be interested in:

• The Best Hydrating Face Masks
• My Favorite Single Shadows for a One Shadow Look
• How to Wear Neon Makeup in the Fall