7 Cruelty-Free Makeup Looks for Fall

Fall is a time for flannels under pleather jackets, drinking oat milk lattes while crunching fallen leaves, and moodier makeup to match the waning daylight hours. But this season’s trends contain a few surprises that reinvent fall’s penchant for smudged eyeliner, cooler tones, and vampy red lips. Things are a little more playful, borrowing from the ’60s, ’80s, ’90s, and the Y2K era. Below, we’ll go through 7 cute fall makeup looks and the clean, cruelty-free, and vegan products that will help you achieve each look.

7 cruelty-free fall makeup ideas

Many of the looks below are a testament to the fact that trends never truly disappear—they evolve. While the trends are clearly paying homage to bygone eras, at the same time, they are moving forward into their next iteration.

Bleached eyebrows were another trend that we noticed is alive and well but unfortunately, home bleaching kits are often made with an ingredient on Kinder Beauty’s “no” list: sodium lauryl sulfate. Abbreviated as SLS, this ingredient is used as a detergent in personal care products and is known to irritate sensitive skin.

But, apart from not being able to rock the alien eyebrows look, fall’s biggest makeup trends are easily recreated with clean, cruelty-free, and vegan beauty products. Here are seven looks that are ready to make their season premiere after dominating fall fashion weeks earlier this year.

Barely-there, dewy foundation

As the weather cools, a more au naturale interpretation of Hailey Bieber’s “glazed donut skin” will be everywhere. What does that mean? Instead of going heavy on the foundation, opt for something that’s on the sheer side, like a tinted moisturizer, BB cream, or CC cream. Ilia’s Super Serum Skin Tint SPF 40 comes in a range of 30 shades that provide light, dewy coverage. It may not completely cover up “imperfections,” but who doesn’t have those?

If you plan on going outside, don’t forget to start with sunscreen. The sun’s rays can damage your skin even in fall and winter.

That radiant, glow-from-the-inside look is still in, so dab a liquid or cream highlighter like Tower 28’s SuperDew Highlighter Balm, on the high points of your face—your cheekbones, nose, cupid’s bow, chin, and brow bone—as well as the inner corner of your eyes to give your skin that dewy finish.

Bold, graphic eyeliner

Dramatic, graphic eyeliner is all over social media, many thanks to its presence on fashion runways across the world. But, this high-fashion, futuristic look—a reinterpretation of lid-framing eyeliner à la Twiggy—is easier to pull off than you think with the help of a liquid or brush-tip eyeliner, like Glamnetic’s Magnetic Liner Pen. There’s plenty of room to play with style here. You can simply frame your eyes or add a pop of neon eyeshadow to your lids for a bold cyberpunk-esque look.

Smudged, grungy eyes

The I-woke-up-like-this eyeliner of the grunge era is enduring.

This smoky look is easily achieved by using a kohl or a pencil liner with soft, smudgeable texture, like 100% Pure’s Creamy Long Last Liner in Blackest. It contains jojoba oil, mango seed oil, and chamomile butter for a smooth application. Use it to draw a medium-weight line all around your eyes and then use a smudge brush to blur the edges. Your eyeliner should be thick enough to make a statement without treading too far into raccoon-eyes territory.

Give this ’90s-inspired look a modern spin by highlighting the corner of your eyes with a light metallic color or adding a sheer wash of a neutral, shimmery shade to your lids. Imperfection is the name of the game with this look, so don’t stress about not having clean lines. You almost want it to look like your makeup is melting off your face. The spirit of grunge lives on!

Candy-red lips

Red lips will always be a symbol of glamor and sophistication. When we’re in fall, we usually tend to see intense shades that tread on the darker side, like maroons and burgundy. But, bright red is queen this season.

Traditionally, red lip lipstick is made with carmine, an ingredient derived from cochineal insects. But, don’t worry. Carmine may still be around, but there are plenty of vegan lippies out there.

Opt for a candy apple red with a matte or semi-matte finish, like Johnny Concert’s Maudit liquid lipstick in Cherry Red or PYT Beauty’s Sorry Not Sorry in Rorange. If your lips are the focal point of your look, a swipe of sheer gloss can really make your lips pop—kind of like red patent leather. It does wonders with dewy skin and a swipe of shimmery eyeshadow.

Bright blush

Over the summer, it was all about sunburnt blush. But in fall, rosy draped blush that looks like it hopped right out of the 1970s will have its moment in the spotlight…again. Seek out warm-toned or deeper-colored blushes for the colder, darker months, such as terracotta, dark peach, and copper family. For bold colors, use a highly-pigmented blush like MOB Beauty’s Blush, which has a matte finish. For something on the subtler side, use a cream or gel blush, Juice Beauty’s Phyto-Pigments Last Looks Cream Blush.

Metallics

Metallics are back again, in shades of gunmetal, silver, white, blue, green, champagne, and more. If you have a fear of metallics because of the shimmer bombs of the late ’90s and early 2000s, fear not. This look has evolved, too.

Rather than use an opaque shade, opt for colors on the frostier side for a throwback to the Y2K era. Sticking to just one color will prevent the look from overwhelming your eyes, so you can feel at ease calling attention to your facial features with a dewy highlighter. A cruelty-free eyeshadow palette with multiple options to choose from so you can experiment with different colors.

Full eyebrows

Bushy-browed people who remember the pressure to overpluck in the ’90s can breathe a sigh of relief that natural-looking, full eyebrows are here to stay. For those Brooke Shields brows, use an eyebrow kit that comes with a spoolie for brushing, small scissors for trims, and tweezers for stray hairs.

A precise brow pencil or gel, such as Ecobrow’s Defining Crayon, will help add the appearance of volume where hair is sparse. Use a brow gel like Kosas Air Brow, which contains biodegradable plant fibers to add fullness.

While there is no solid evidence behind this claim, people have used castor oil as a hair growth remedy for years. Look at a tube of eyebrow growth serums and chances are, you’ll find this vegetable oil towards the top of the ingredients list. You can use pure castor oil, like B. Well’s Organic + Cold-Pressed Castor Oil, as a home remedy. Using a spoolie, brush a small amount of castor oil onto your eyebrows, then massage it in.

Final thoughts

This year’s fall makeup trends are adventurous, glowy, colorful, and inventive. Thankfully, clean beauty has evolved beyond the natural and earth tones of the past to include options for the brave and the bold. Now is the perfect time to stick the tip of your shoe outside of your comfort zone. Have fun with it.