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8 Best Fall Makeup Trends of 2025, Including Smudgey Liner and Satin Skin
Your black eyeliner from middle school is getting a much-needed upgrade.
You heard it here first, folks: Makeup is so back. Nearly every fall/winter runway show was filled with models coated in strong lipstick colors and smokey eyes. And now, our social feeds are starting to tell a similar story. "Bold makeup is getting bolder, and the clean makeup is getting more gorgeously finessed," says makeup artist Alex Levy. "We’re entering an era of diversification." Take this year's biggest fall makeup trends as the signifier. Grungey eyeliner, deep lip colors, bleached brows, and soft skin (courtesy of a medium-coverage foundation, not skin tint like the no-makeup-makeup days of the past)—the pendulum has most definitely swung.
Need some ideas? I polled makeup artists during NYFW last spring to get a head start on fall makeup trends, then connected with Levy to get a full slate of what we can expect this season. Take these trends as a loose guide to inform your fall beauty muses. "I’m hoping to see less stress on specific trends and more of an emphasis on elevating our natural beauty inclinations, whatever those may be," Levy adds.
Tight Lines
At Kim Shui, director of makeup artistry at MAC Romero Jennings came up with one look that would "look great on everybody," he told me backstage. The inspiration? Every "it girl" on your feed, but mainly, Gabbriette and Julia Fox (two bonafide MAC girls). "These girls always wear black eyeliner, so we wrapped black around the whole eye for a grungy look," he says. The trick here to getting a super-deep liner all through the waterline is using a kohl formula (Jennings used MAC's Eye Kohl in Smolder) that easily glides. Then, to smudge out the edges, Jennings paired the black liner with a bronze shade (MAC Eye Kohl in Teddy) for a more dimensional look.
BTW, "kohls smudge really easily, so you don't have to tug at the eye," he explains. But if you want them to last longer, pat a black eyeshadow on top to set (just like you do your foundation with setting powder).
Gilded Eyes
Although matte eyeshadows and skin are on the up and up, strategic placement of shimmer is gaining traction too, specifically in gilded shades like gold and silver. While Collina Strada is known for its artistic take on beauty, key makeup artist Dick Page created pockets of wearability throughout the looks for fall. Take this inner corner moment, for example. Just a quick swipe of an eyeshadow stick (Page used Ilia Eye Stylus Shadow Stick) is all you need, especially if you take the same approach with light skin and no mascara. The placement really helps add an editorial edge to this look, but for every day, opt for a metallic shade across your lid.
Blue Dream
It's not all about the neutrals. Of every shade I saw swiped across eyelids during fashion week, blue had the most bite. At Sandy Liang, the blue took center stage (there was barely anything on the models' skin or lips, and they even paired the look with a very un-done hair situation), making it immediately feel much more wearable than you'd expect. "I’ve been looking at a lot of '60s makeup references, a lot of Serge Lutens’ Dior beauty adverts, and at that time, color felt more in harmony with the whole face, rather than popped on at the end," Levy explains. "It was less accessory and more integral to the way people wore makeup."
Which is why this simple all-over look feels so cool right now. A blue liquid eyeshadow (likeTrixie Cosmetics' Play Pigment) goes on opaque and doesn't require a ton of building up to get color payoff. But if you want something less structured, try dusting a shimmery blue across your lids or even just your inner corners or lower lashline.
Maroon Accents
"I wanted the makeup look to be quite powerful, modern, edgy, and interesting," designer Christian Siriano told me ahead of his fall/winter runway show. "That's why the eye is sharp—I was really inspired by car design—specifically aerodynamic movement—and I wanted to have that feeling with the beauty." Makeup artist Vincent Oquendo recreated those geometric shapes in the clothes through the eyeliner shape here. But he made it feel more special by using a mix of maroon eyeliner (specifically Revlon ColorStay Liner in Mischief Maker) on the upper lids and black on the lower lash line.
Cool Down
Levy can see the push for cool-toned makeup plain as day. While some iterations take a very grunge approach (see: the grey and black eyes at Luar), others are more toned down. Peep the eyes at Tory Burch here, which feature a dusting of a cool-toned, matte-gray shadow all over lids. It's inherently a bit deeper and smokey than a standard brown, but feels cooler (pun unintended) and more 2025 than the former. If you're new to cool tones, grab a palette filled with them, like Hung Vanngo Beauty's Composed Cool Eyeshadow Palette, which features a mix of greys in matte and shimmer finishes.
It's All A Blur
It's official: We're moving away from wet, dewy skin. Don't get me wrong, though. There will always be a place for glass skin. But everything is feeling a bit more blurry and soft these days. Michael Kors's models featured very little makeup to put an emphasis on their cloud-like skin. Look for products that blur skin rather than mattify if you still want to look natural. Pat McGrath Labs new Longwear Blurring Setting Spray is a great add at the end of your routine to melt down any powdery residue on your skin and leave it looking soft.
Wine-Stained Lips
As if your For You Page didn't already convince you that we're in the era of lip stains, let's look to the runways, shall we? At Carolina Herrera, berry-toned lips coated in a wet-like gloss gave models a fall-esque look with only two products. It adds to that grungey feel we're seeing throughout makeup now, but looks just as chic on its own as it does paired with heavy liners and stark contour. And even better, you don't have to reapply a stain, even through sipping your pumpkin spice latte (sorry, had to!).
Bleached Brows
"There’s definitely been a lot of bleaching and general commotion for brows lately," says Levy. "Personally, I think a successful bleached brow is one where the color fades naturally into the skin, making brows camouflage into the face," he explains. Which is why we will always recommend heading to your salon to have a professional handle your brow-bleaching rather than trying to DIY at home. And don't let anyone tell you differently: Bleached brows look good on every skin tone.
Meet the experts:
- Alex Levy is a makeup artist based in New York, NY who has worked with Alex Consani and Lauren Chan, as well as for campaigns with Miu Miu.
- Romero Jennings is a makeup artist and the director of makeup artistry for MAC Cosmetics.
- Dick Page is a makeup artist who has worked on editorials and adverts for some of the biggest brands and publications since the 1990s.
- Christian Siriano is a fashion designer for his own namesake label. He's heavily involved in the makeup and hair curation for his runway shows and is currently a judge on Project Runway (which he won in 2007).
- Vincent Oquendo is a makeup artist based in New York, NY and Connecticut. He's also the host of Backseat Beauties, a show on YouTube highlighting the beauty routines of celebrities, makeup artists, and hairstylists.
Why trust ‘Cosmopolitan’?
Beth Gillette is the beauty editor at Cosmopolitan with seven years of experience researching, writing, and editing makeup stories that range from smudge-proof eyeliners to Euphoria makeup. She’s an authority in all beauty categories, but is an expert when it comes to makeup trends.
Beth Gillette is the beauty editor at Cosmopolitan, where she covers skincare, makeup, hair, nails, and more across digital and print. She can generally be found in bright eyeshadow furiously typing her latest feature or hemming and hawing about a new product you "have to try." Prior to Cosmopolitan, she wrote and edited beauty content as an Editor at The Everygirl for four years. Follow her on Instagram for makeup selfies and a new hair 'do every few months.
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