The Fall Makeup Trends of 2024 Are as Futuristic as They Are Moody

From left to right: Courtesy of Rowi Singh; Courtesy of Valentino; Getty Images: remaining images.

There was a time when one makeup trend ruled a season. We’d all be told to go out and buy blue eyeliner or break out our bronzers because it was the fall makeup trend (and yes, at one point, we were certainly guilty of making such commands here at Allure). But those times have gone the way of ankle socks and ’NSYNC—bye, bye, bye, that is—and in their place is a beauty world where anything goes.

Scroll through your social media, look back at the 2024 runways, heck, open Spotify (where two very different beauty influencers, Sabrina Carpenter and Chapelle Roan, are topping the charts), and you’ll see that there’s no one way to do your makeup. If there is one unifying message, it’s simply to embrace makeup to its fullest. “There’s so much to choose from these days,” says New York-based makeup artist Romy Soleimani, referring to the veritable cornucopia of brands and quality formulations available. “Everyone can take makeup exactly where they want to and anyone can be an artist.”

The makeup we saw at the fall shows and bubbling up on social media is proof of this creative freedom and desire to play. Backstage, makeup artists experimented with a range of aesthetics, from glamorous and goth to angelic and ethereal. Off the runways, beauty lovers continue to take inspiration from the Y2K era while simultaneously dreaming of what the future will look like. (Spoiler: it involves a lot of sparkle and intricate liner.) Celebrities are having fun with blush while their makeup artists are finding subtle new ways to highlight and contour.

At Allure, it’s no secret that we believe the word “trend” has little meaning in the TikTok era. It’s not about copying a certain look because you saw it on your For You Page, but rather doing your makeup in a way that makes you feel happy and joyful and the best version of yourself. But part of the fun of the changing seasons is having an excuse to experiment with new beauty looks—and who doesn’t love a little inspiration to get our creative juices flowing? So sit back, start scrolling, and discover the makeup looks, shades, and textures that have earned a place on our fall moodboards.

Meet the experts:

• Romy Soleimani is a New York-based makeup artist.

• Siddhartha Simone is a Paris- and London-based makeup artist.

• Raisa Flowers is a New York-based makeup artist.

• Violette is a makeup artist, founder of Violette_FR, and the creative director of Guerlain makeup.

• Dasha Taivas is a London-based makeup artist.

• Pat McGrath is a makeup artist and founder of Pat McGrath Labs.

• Vincent Oquendo is a New York-based makeup artist.

Cool-Toned Makeup

Like crop tops and capri pants, cool-toned makeup is having a major comeback—and it looks nothing like the icy shadows and lipsticks immortalized in many a Y2K yearbook photo. “I’m drawn to cool tones in makeup, especially gray,” says makeup artist Siddhartha Simone, who used soft gray shadow on the eyes at Kiko Konstadinov’s fall 2024 show. “I feel like these cool tones are literally cooler, more of the moment, than warm colors. This might be because they seem a bit unusual." Unusual, yes, but readily available: Huda Beauty recently launched the Huda Beauty Cream Obsessions Eye Shadow Palette in Greige, while MAC’s Lipstick Bringbacks collection saw the return of pale, frosty shades like Fleshpot, Haku, and Bubbles. (They sold out pretty quickly, but a scroll through TikTok reveals that Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in Skyline Pink is a good dupe for Bubbles, while Wet n Wild Silk Finish Lipstick in Cashmere is as close as you can get to Haku).

Simone prefers a sheer wash of gray across the lid, while makeup artist Raisa Flowers—who used the aforementioned Huda Beauty palette at LaQuan Smith—loves a dove gray or ash brown that looks bold and opaque against the skin. How you wear it is up to you, says Flowers, who suggests starting with an eye shadow primer to ensure a strong color payoff, especially on darker complexions. Then, “I’d say just play and see what works for you,” she says.

Cool colors aren’t limited to neutrals, either. “I love how this season’s cool tones capture the mystery and magic of nature,” says makeup artist Violette, who suggests dabbling in lilac. “Lilac complements every skin tone beautifully. I’ll apply a swipe of my matte Violette_FR Yeux Paint Nuage in Lilas across the entire eyelid for a stunning impact.” (Allure editors rave about the Ilia Liquid Powder Eye Shadow Tint in Aster, a lavender liquid eye shadow with a similar finish.)

If you need additional inspiration, London-based makeup artist Dasha Taivas suggests diving into a bit of makeup history. “I would say to borrow looks from the magic of Serge Lutens’s iconic images and their timeless style,” she says, referring to the moody campaigns of the makeup artist, perfumer, and photographer, which often featured smoky eyes in haunting charcoal, lavender, black, and blue.

Cream Obsessions Eye Shadow Palette in Greige

$32.00, Huda Beauty

Yeux Paint Nuage in Lilas

$32.00, Violette_FR

Liquid Powder Eye Tint in Aster

$28.00, Nordstrom

Cranberry Lips

Red lipstick will always have a place on fall runways and this year was no exception. Makeup artists took a more “film noir” approach this season, swapping classic crimson with reds that were deeper and darker and reminiscent of winter berries. “The moody, transitional energy of fall is perfect for a deep cranberry hue,” says Violette. With a heavy dose of black or brown swirled in, these vampy colors can be adapted to a wide variety of aesthetics. You can go more coquette by pairing it with blush and fluttery false lashes (see Sabrina Carpenter at Vogue World) or more decadent and glamorous by adding a ton of shine on top and pairing it with sooty, smoky eyes (like the models at Alice and Olivia's fall 2024 show). For these looks, Taivas likes a rich, creamy, matte formula like Lisa Eldridge True Velvet Lip Colour in Velvet Midnight. If you prefer a glossier finish, Revlon’s Super Lustrous Lipstick in Black Cherry is a TikTok favorite that will have many millennials and Gen X’ers revisiting their ’90s beauty routines.

On the other end of the spectrum, you can wear cranberry with very little other makeup. “Leaving the skin quite raw provides a nice, modern contrast to a matte berry lip,” says Simone, who did just that at GIADA’s fall 2024 show in Milan.

“I also think [the shade] is prettiest when the edges are slightly blurred, even over the Cupid's bow and into the corners of your mouth,” she adds. “When you leave the edges soft, the color looks more three-dimensional because it shows a different hue where it's more transparent.” Simone is obsessed with MAC’s Retro Matte Liquid Lipcolour because it allows her to create both a perfectly sharp shape or something soft and blurred.

True Velvet Lip Colour in Velvet Midnight

$25.00, Lisa Eldridge

Super Lustrous Lipstick in Black Cherry

$10.00, Ulta Beauty

Retro Matte Liquid Lipcolour in Carnivorous

$26.00, Nordstrom

Ultra-luminous skin

Glass skin, pearl skin, glazed skin… It doesn’t matter what you call it, the world’s obsession with a glowing complexion isn’t going anywhere. "After the phenomenal makeup of Pat McGrath for Maison Margiela back in February, every makeup artist and beauty lover is obsessed with skin that shines like porcelain," says Taivas. "It's a trend that will stay with us for a long time because no matter the season, it always looks incredible.”

The trick to translating glass skin into real life starts with having a diligent skin-care prep. Simone name-dropped Glossier Future Dew, Isamaya Beauty Skinlacq, and Weleda Skin Food as some of her luminous skin favorites. She often taps Skin Food on her cheekbones, bridge of the nose, and the middle of the forehead to create a reflective effect. Soleimani also prefers to highlight with skin care: “On myself, I love to use an eye cream, a night cream, or a touch of oil on the upper cheekbones. It feels like you’re caring for yourself and feeding your skin.”

Taivas says you can also use radiance-inducing makeup to achieve this look. Just make sure it’s formulated to enhance dewiness (rather than add shimmer). Her pick: “I like the Kevin Aucoin Glass Glow Liquid Illuminator because it literally looks like liquid glass on the skin and it’s so easy to apply,” she says. Apply it as a base, like a highlighter, or mix it in with your face or body cream.

Ultra-luminous skin isn’t solely about skin care and shiny makeup, however. “You need some balance, you don't want to be shiny all over your face,” says Soleimani. To avoid this, she recommends reaching for a soft-matte cream concealer to spot treat along the T-zone. The Nars Soft Matte Complete Concealer provides a gentle blurring effect and is flexible, so the product moves with your skin. “Using the right concealer can also eliminate the need for a lot of powder, which ensures you don't ruin all that hard work you’ve done with your skin care and highlighting.”

Skinlacq Triple Hyaluronic Glow Serum

$78.00, Amazon

Futuredew Oil Serum Hybrid

$30.00, Glossier

Skin Food

$19.00, Amazon

Glass Glow Liquid Illuminator

$35.00, Dermstore

Soft Matte Complete Concealer

$32.00, Nordstrom

Y3K beauty

Y2K nostalgia may still be going strong, but a fashion and beauty trend from Japan has many looking far into the future. The Y3K aesthetic imagines what fashion and beauty will look like in the year 3000, a bit like the beauty version of The Jetsons. “The style is inspired by the recent shift in reality we've all felt because of the rise of social media, Photoshop, and AI," says Jax Diaz (a.k.a., @cinnagal), a content creator obsessed with J-beauty, fashion, and pop culture.

The makeup is characterized by glitter or metallic eye shadows, unusual eye shadow shapes, and rhinestones. “People want to look like AI or an avatar,” Diaz adds. And we’re talking about a lot of people. Pinterest notes a 6,030% increase in searches for “Y3K outfits” in its summer 2024 trend report.

As the Y3K aesthetic is based entirely on your vision of the future, there are no rules. Grab your sparkliest, shiniest makeup and let your imagination run wild. The Best of Beauty Award-winning Half Magic Face Gems were made for this trend, as were Face Lace’s wide variety of decals, which you can still order off its website. (The brand, loved by Lady Gaga and Euphoria makeup artist Donni Davy, announced it would cease production in April 2024, so snatch them up while you can.) Rituel de Fille’s mesmerizing Metamorphic Highlighters are also destined for the future, giving the skin a sci-fi glow with shades like Chimera, an iridescent lime green, and The Faun, a spectacular holographic fuchsia.

If you need a little inspiration to get you started, we recommend checking out content creator Rowi Singh’s maximalist makeup looks and the boundary-pushing work of London-based makeup artist Kanako Shiraishi, who often incorporates unexpected 3D elements and graphic liner into her work.

Iridescent Sparkle Self-Adhesive Face Gems

$12.00, Ulta Beauty

Chrome Liners

$28.00, Face Lace

Metamorphic Highlighter

$32.00, Rituel de Fille

Flushed cheeks

“Everyone is blush-obsessed!” says New York-based makeup artist Vincent Oquendo—and he’s right. People are wearing it, talking about it, and buying it more than ever before.

Sabrina Carpenter and Hailey Bieber might have a little something to do with this year’s blush boom. So might all of the exciting new launches from the past few years. Oquendo keeps Patrick Ta’s Creme & Powder Blush Duo in his kit because they layer beautifully and have incredible weartime, while Carolina Gonzalez has been using the ultra-lightweight and ultra-pigmented Armani Beauty Luminous Silk Cheek Tint to create Carpenter’s signature rosy cheeks since the liquid formula launched in June.

It could also just be that people are finally discovering the power of a good blush. “I’ve always been a big fan,” says Soleimani, who created a gorgeous flushed look using Bobbi Brown Pot Rouge in Chocolate Cherry for Alejandro Alonson Rojas fall 2024 show. “It evokes energy in the skin and really makes you feel alive and look awake. I also think the more we avoid the sun, the more people are using blush to bring some color into their skin.” Blush—especially when it’s a cream formula that looks less cosmetic than powder—is another great way to achieve that covetable, glowing complexion everyone’s after, too.

We’re not going to tell you how to wear your blush. Gone are the days of only wearing it very strategically to enhance your face shape. “It really depends on the person,” says Soleimani. “Maybe you want to wear it high up or in the center of your cheeks. It’s about wearing it in a way that makes you feel most comfortable or fits best with your personality.” Oquendo learned this firsthand when working with Yara Shahidi for Saint Laurent’s fall 2024 show. “I did an uncommon blush look that was inspired by my favorite drag green, Kandy Muse, who has been wearing her blush very high up on her cheeks,” he says. “At first it felt a little out of character, but the final result looked so gorgeous.”

Major Headlines Double-Take Crème & Powder Blush Duo

$38.00, Sephora

Luminous Silk Cheek Tint

$39.00, Nordstrom

Pot Rouge in Chocolate Cherry

$36.00, Nordstrom

Gothic glam

Spring’s soft goth trend gets bolder and more glamorous for fall, with unapologetic eye and lip looks executed in pure black. Take the extreme rockstar wings at Versace or patent leather black lips at Valentino, both looks courtesy of makeup artist and self-titled brand founder Pat McGrath. “It’s about delivering divine glamor with a provocative edge,” McGrath says of the punk-inspired look at Versace, which she created with her PermaGel Ultra Glide Eyeliner pencil, black shadow, and liquid liner. These looks are extreme examples of the trend, which can be taken down a notch by shortening the wings (see: the models at Area and Jason Wu) or creating a more blended smoky eye effect (à la PatBo).

When it comes to what you should have in your kit, this look doesn’t require much. For the eyes, you need a good, long-lasting black eyeliner pencil (we like R.E.M. Beauty’s smudge-resistant Gel Pencil Eyeliner in Bardot for this) and a good liquid or gel eyeliner (Stila’s classic Smudge Pot, a longtime editor favorite, was used for the dramatic lids at PatBo). A multiuse black pigment, like MAC Paintstick in Black Black or Byredo’s Colour Stick in Destroyer, is also a good investment if you’re into this aesthetic. “I love Byredo’s Colour Stick because it’s a super-universal product that you can use on your eyes, your lips, or your brows—anywhere you want,” says Taivas.

PermaGel Ultra Glide Eye Pencil

$29.00, Nordstrom

Gel Pencil Eyeliner in Bardot

$19.00, Ulta Beauty

Smudge Pot

$20.00, Nordstrom

Paintstick in Black Black

$25.00, MAC

Colour Stick in Destroyer

$40.00, Nordstrom

Feathery fake lashes

False lashes made their triumphant return on the fall 2024 runways. They looked lush and feathery at Alice and Olivia and LaQuan Smith, clumpy and cloggy at Marc Jacobs, and painstakingly placed on the bottom lash lines at House of Aama and Giorgio Armani. “I personally started wearing false lashes again,” says Flowers, who relied on Huda Beauty lash strips for LaQuan Smith’s “office siren” makeup.

“I’m obsessed with lashes to the point where I can’t buy anymore right now. I probably own 400 pairs,” Flowers adds. Her favorites include the Dream Lashes from Katiely Beauty, which she uses on singer Coco Jones, and says have the perfect amount of fluffiness. She also likes the Rokael Beauty lashes in Moon Gleam, Luna, and Full Moon.

Of course, false lashes are notoriously finicky even for seasoned makeup wearers. It takes a ton of practice, admits Flowers, who, after years of applying them on models and on herself has a few helpful pointers: First, use a liquid eyeliner to draw a thin black line close to the lashes. “This hides the lash band,” she says. Second, make sure to wait 30 seconds to a minute to let your lash glue dry down before applying the strip. (Remember, you want it to be tacky, not goopy.) Lastly, she says to tilt the lash upwards as you place it down, ensuring the band lands directly onto your lash line. “You will probably have to move it until you get it into the right position, so do this before you press it onto the lashes,” she explains. “If it’s coming up at the sides, just take a Q-tip with some lash glue on it, let it dry, and place it in that area before sticking it down again.”

Hoodie Flares #25 Classic Lashes

$19.00, Huda Beauty

Dream Lash MM03

$18.00, Katiely Beauty

Moon Gleam Faux Mink Lash

$15.00, Rokael Beauty

Angelic eyes

We love the drama of a full-on metallic eye, but we’re also not opposed to doing less. Much less. On the fall runways, multiple makeup artists played with delicate flashes of silver, gold, and bronze on the lids that looked effortless and ethereal. “It brings light to the face just as a pair of dainty sparkly earrings would,” says Soleimani. At Ulla Johnson, she mixed Sisley’s Les Phyto-Ombres shadow with a professional mixing media and painted short brushstrokes at the outer corner of the eye. “It’s taking metallics back and bringing it to a place where it just glistens. It’s a little bit of something you see when you blink,” she explains.

We saw a similar glimmering effect at Philosophy's fall 2024 show, with the tiniest silver and gold dashes drawn along the center of the top lash lines and Cupid’s bow. “I wanted a ‘pop’ of light reflection,” explains Simone. “This wasn’t about approaching the metallic shades as actual makeup.”

Backstage, Simone used Kiko Milano Water Eyeshadow in gold and silver, but the easiest way to try this at home is with silver, gold, or bronze eyeliner pencil. Soleimani recommends Victoria Beckham’s Satan Kajal Liner, a creamy, easy-to-use formula that comes in a variety of sophisticated metallic hues. Apply them straight to the lids or scribble them on the back of your hand and rub that onto your lid with a finger, says Soleimani. “It can feel that nonchalant.”

Water Eyeshadow in Gold

$14.00, Amazon

Les Phyto-Ombres Eyeshadow in No.42 Glow Silver

$65.00, Dermstore

Satin Kajal Liner in Sea Grey

$32.00, Violet Grey

Satin Kajal Liner in Gold Lamé

$32.00, Violet Grey

Sculpting with light

On the runways and red carpets, makeup artists have been finding different ways to sculpt the face, and they’re doing it with light rather than shadow. The opposite of contouring, which uses darker shades in powders or creams to highlight the structure of your face, sculpting with light means bringing out your bone structure by adding light to the high points of the face, either in the form of shine, shimmer, or a concealer paler than your skin tone. The benefit of this technique? “If you’re able to play up the lighter parts [of the face], the contours will pull out naturally, which means you don’t have to apply as much foundation or complexion products,” explains Oquendo.

There are multiple ways to try this out. For the past two seasons at Schiaparelli, McGrath (who was the first person we heard describe the technique) layered her Skin Fetish: Divine Glow Highlighter, a powder formula, over the Skin Fetish: Highlighter + Balm Duo, which contains both pearlescent cream and clear balm. The shine sandwich gives the skin a “luminous, otherworldly effect,” she says.

Sculpting with light doesn’t require shimmer, either. Oquendo has been using the Hourglass Vanish Concealer on his celebrity clients to sculpt with light. “I contour very lightly with contour powders, but then I take a lighter concealer and apply it straight down the bridge of the nose with a fluffy brush, as well as on the very tip—like an exclamation point.” Then he sets under the eyes and cheekbones with the Laura Mercier Secret Brightening Powder for Under Eyes for an overall brightening and smoothing effect.

Skin Fetish: Highlighter + Balm Duo

$50.00, Nordstrom

Skin Fetish: Divine Glow Highlighter

$48.00, Nordstrom

Vanish Airbrush Concealer

$36.00, Amazon

Secret Brightening Powder for Under Eyes

$35.00, Nordstrom

Read more about this fall's biggest trends:

• Fall 2024's Biggest Nail Art Trends Are Bringing the Drama

• These Fall 2024 Nail Polish Shades Will Inspire You to Romanticize Your Life

• 30 Fall Hair Trends That'll Give You Main Character Energy

• 9 Nail Art Trends You’re About to See Everywhere in 2024

Now watch Cindy Crawford's 10-minute makeup routine:

Originally Appeared on Allure