A Flurry of Fall Color

WRITTEN BY Lesley Holland Downey

After a long summer of doing basically nothing to myself besides sunscreen, mascara and lipgloss, I get excited about cooler temps, fall clothes and best of all, new beauty items. Here are some of the ones that I am loving this month.

Nails

Essie’s Fall 2014 collection called Dressed to Kilt is like the Farrow and Ball of nail colors…rich hues that are never just one color. (Is it gray, blue or green? Or is it somewhere in between?) I have fallen in love with a few of these, and would like to own all of them. I’m obsessed with Fall In Line, a greenish gray that is perfection. The Perfect Cover Up is a rich peacock blue, so chic peeking out of open-toed booties. Take It Outside is the best fall/winter neutral—a perfect alternative for the standard nude manicure. I love the pinky red creme Dressed To Kilt as a more ladylike look for those of you who can’t do the blues and greens.

OPI’s In the Cable Carpool Lane is a gorgeous plum tone for toes or fingers that I spied getting a mani/pedi recently. Deep, rich and luscious, it made me want to change what I had picked immediately.

While most nail trends are for young girls, Armani’s Color Me Loud nail colors have a formula which dries to matte without multiple steps. Check out #724 and #624 for a rich velvety finish.

Chanel’s Fall Colors left me swooning because I love deep tones for toes, but I prefer a nude on my nails (less maintenance! I’m all for that). Check out Secret for your fingers and Orage for your toes, both with that Chanel luxe look.

I am a sucker for all things pirate and skull-related…so I loved that I was instantly drawn to OPI’s Skull and Glossbones on a friend’s nails without even knowing the name. The color is a mid-toned sage/gray that is tastefully edgy.

Nars 3.1 Phillip Lim are for the fashion forward of you out there. The colors are divine and anything but subtle tones of plum, midnight blue, hunter green and orangey red, just to name a few. My favorites were Dark Room, Hell-Bent and Shutter.

Lips

Urban Decay’s line of Naked Glosses are just gorgeous. I tried Beso and then couldn’t stop staring at myself in my rearview mirror —it was a deep, plummy-mauve that felt divine. Another great one from Urban Decay is Revolution Lipstick in Liar. This color is a pinky-nude and it feels like butter on with less gloss and more pigment than Beso. Nudes are highly subjective though—so keep trying to find one that makes you look polished—not sickly.

Susan Posnick’s lipsticks are among my favorites because of the colors, the creamy texture and the genius packaging which has a magnetic closure on the cap. No more bits of grime on your new lipstick when you unearth it from your purse! NYC is the fall go-to color for me.

Estee Lauder’s Aerin collection of wearable, real-life color is the perfect antidote for a busy, makeup-phobic woman. The Rose Balm lipstick in Perfect Nude and Liebling caught my eye as wearable, go-to lip colors for every day.

Clinique’s Black Honey is one of those colors that literally anyone can wear. It looks deep in the tube but is sheer, moisturizing and natural on the lip.

Tory Burch’s beauty line is understated and elegant, with colors like Son of a Gun and Call Me just waiting for you to slick on for a subtle hint of color and shine. These are great for those of us who think we should have lipstick on but really would rather wear balm.

Eyes

Laura Mercier’s Caviar Sticks are one of my favorite eye products—easy to apply, stays put and looks great. I was thrilled by handful of new shades like Moonlight, Burnished Bronze, Copper and Gilded Gold which are tastefully metallic and eye-opening.

Dior’s 5 Couleurs Shadow 056 Bar features whisper-soft tones of taupe, pink and silver, along with a deep tone for liner or creating a smoky eye.

Chanel’s Eyeshadow Les 4 Ombres Tissé Vendôme and Tissé Vénitien seemed splurge worthy, with four colors in a variety of finishes in one compact. Lisa Eldridge, makeup artist for Chanel, posts videos on the website that make using these shadows totally approachable.

Face

Even though I’m writing about Fall Colors, I can’t resist talking a little bit about skincare, because it is THE most important part of looking good. Summer takes a toll on your skin. October is the perfect time (according to my esthetician Angie) to start working on exfoliation and attacking the pigment that popped up over the warmer months. Exfoliate with a product like Retamax from Zo Medical (the MD behind Obagi’s newest line) and Dr. Dennis Gross’s Alpha Beta Peel Pads, de-pigment with Skinprint’s Cleartone Boost (which you can spot apply to dark areas) and moisturize with a rich product like my favorite, Alchimie Forever Kantic + Intensely Nourishing Cream. I am a big believer in heading to a skin care professional’s office regularly. (See my article starting on page 60 in the September 2013 issue.)