Shh… Do you hear that? Wait — let me open up my window so it’s easier to hear.
That rustling sound outside? That’s the sound of fallen leaves from the old oak tree blowing in the wind. Haven’t heard that sound in a long, long time…
It’s even a little chilly out today. I noticed it earlier when I took Tabs outside for his walk. That crunch-crunch-crunch of brown and yellow leaves under our feet, the crisp edge in the air — you know what’s up! Fall is back.
And as the seasons change, so does my makeup. I’ve been wanting to wear more fall-ish looks lately, like this little number with plum, beige and peach.
A few weeks ago I was all about dewy finishes and glow, but now I’m really interested in mattes, I think because they just seem polished and appropriate for this time of year.
From start to finish, assuming everything goes well and I don’t get distracted by, oh, say something like Friday Night Lights, this look normally takes me about 15-20 minutes. This time took a little longer because I wanted to snap these pics for a tutorial.
If you’re looking for a new fall makeup look for work or school, I hope you give this one a try, and if you do, let me know how it goes. 🙂
First, before we get started, let’s round up all of the tools and products we’ll need… Brand-wise, I mostly used products from MAC, Becca, Burberry and Hourglass here, but of course, you can swap out any of these things for similar colors from other brands.
Makeup
- MAC Prep + Prime Natural Radiance: A face primer
- MAC Face and Body Foundation in C5: A sheer-to-medium coverage liquid foundation
- MAC Eyeshadow in Concrete: A taupe-brown eyeshadow to fill in your brows
- MAC Paint in Sublime Nature: A beige cream eyeshadow with a satin finish
- MAC Eye Kohl in Prunella: A shimmery plum eyeliner
- MAC Eyeshadow in Sable: A bronzy golden plum eyeshadow with a shimmery finish
- LORAC Pro Mascara: A black lash-lengthening and thickening mascara
- MAC Select Moisturecover Concealer in NW25: An under-eye concealer
- MAC Careblends Pressed Powder in Medium Dark: A pressed powder (used to set your foundation and reduce shine)
- Becca Mineral Bronzer/Illuminator in Serrana: A warm matte bronzer on one side of the pan, and a neutral shimmery peach highlighter on the other
- Becca Mineral Blush in Flowerchild: A shimmery golden peach blush
- Burberry Lip Mist in Copper No. 02: A creamy copper lipstick
Tools
- Hourglass Foundation/Blush Brush No. 2: A domed foundation brush
- MAC 266 Small Angle Brush: An angled eye brush
- Sonia Kashuk Lash Curler
- MAC 239 Eye Shader Brush: An eyeshadow brush with a flat head and a rounded tip
- MAC 217 Blending Brush: A fluffy eye brush with a domed head
- MAC 224 Tapered Blending Brush: A tapered eye brush
- MAC 129 Powder/Blush Brush: A domed face brush
- Burberry Beauty No. 01 Angled Brush: An angled face brush
Next, using the Hourglass Foundation/Blush Brush No. 2, I prepped my skin with primer (I’m using MAC Prep + Prime Natural Radiance) before applying MAC Face and Body Foundation in C5 all over my face, and where I felt I needed extra coverage, like on my chin (dumb-@ss hormonal breakouts!), I applied a little more, pressing the product into my skin with the brush.
Then, I filled in my brows with a MAC 266 Small Angle Brush and MAC Eyeshadow in Concrete and curled my lashes with the always reliable Sonia Kashuk Lash Curler.
Next up — eyeshadow! I spread MAC Paint in Sublime Nature all over my lids with a finger. It served as a base for the next eyeshadows layered on top, helping them stay put and intensifying their colors.
Here, I lined my upper lash lines with MAC Prunella…
…and softened the edges with the MAC 239. I repeated that a couple times until I was happy with the plummy intensity.
To bring out even more of the purple, I loaded the same MAC 239 brush with Sable Eyeshadow, and patted it on my upper lash lines, directly on top of the smudged liner.
When I reached the outer corner (the side closer to my ear), I stopped, took a look at my lower lash line, and tried to picture an imaginary curve extending along my lower lash line up to my brows. There, I placed the brush head at a 90-degree angle to my lids.
Then, I pulled the brush head back across the lid toward my nose, stopping near the halfway mark to distribute the shadow and begin to shape the outer V.
After repeating that once or twice, I took the brush to the outer corner once again, flipping it so that the rounded edge rested in my crease. I rocked the brush back and forth there to add even more color and further define the V.
Next, I softened the edges of the V, running a MAC 217 over the outer half of the lids.
That’s a pretty good place to stop, but I usually like a little more oomph when I wear this look, so I lined my water, and upper and lower lash lines with Prunella before gently buffing my lower lash lines with the remaining product on the MAC 239.
After that, I treated my upper and lower lashes to two coats of mascara. 🙂
A quick swipe with the foundation brush I used earlier below my eyes wiped away any fallout. Then, it was time to clean up the edges a little…
After that, I applied MAC Select Moisturecover Concealer in NW25 beneath my eyes with the included doe-foot applicator, blending it in with a MAC 224.
I like to run the 224 along the outer corners of my shadow to define the edge of even more, so I did that here…
For my skin again, to set my foundation and reduce shine, I patted MAC Careblends Pressed Powder in Medium Dark on my forehead and down my nose with a MAC 129 Powder/Blush Brush.
Then, to give my cheeks some definition, I swiped Becca Mineral Bronzer on my cheekbones with a Burberry Beauty No. 1 Angled Brush.
After that, I patted one or two layers of Becca Flowerchild Blush on my cheeks using the same MAC Powder/Blush Brush I used earlier…
Next, with the tip of the angled face brush I used for bronzer, I applied the highlighter from the Becca Bronzer duo on my upper cheekbones.
Two layers of Burberry Lip Mist in Copper No. 02 applied directly from the tube wrapped up the look. 🙂
The MAC Marilyn Monroe Collection
What do you get when you combine an iconic, sultry siren of the silver screen, MAC makeup and glamour?
Answer: MAC Marilyn Monroe.
The 29-piece release ravishes North American MAC locations and maccosmetics.com beginning October 4 (coming to international locations some time that month) with new and re-promoted pieces for eyes, lips, cheeks and nails, all of it dressed to the nines in special red, white and black packaging.
MAC loaded the collection with lip products designed to re-create Marilyn’s signature pout, and along with looking forward to the lipsticks, I’m also pretty jazzed about the Beauty Powder in Forever Marilyn ($28) — a sheer pale peach highlighter — and the two Powder Blushes in pale coral Legendary and neutral pinkish beige The Perfect Cheek.
I can’t wait to see these pieces in person! That packaging sure looks cute…
The entire MAC Marilyn collection includes…
LARGE EYE SHADOW ($21 U.S./$25 CDN each)
How to Marry: Soft white (Veluxe Pearl)
Preferred Blonde: Pale champagne beige (Veluxe Pearl)
Silver Screen: True silver (Veluxe Pearl)
Showgirl: Dark blue grey (Veluxe Pearl)
BROWN FINISHER ($15 U.S./$18 CDN)
ClearMASCARA ($20 U.S./$23.50 CDN)

False Lashes Extreme Black: BlackEYE KOHL ($15 U.S./$18 CDN each)

Fascinating: Intense matte white
Smolder: Intense black SRPPENULTIMATE EYE LINER ($18.50 U.S./$21.50 CDN)
Rapidblack: True blackPENULTIMATE BROW MARKER ($18.50 U.S./$22 CDN)
LIPSTICK ($16.50 U.S./$20 CDN each)

Pure Zen: Frosted warm nude (Cremesheen)
Scarlet Ibis: Bright orange red (Matte)
Love Goddess: Mid-tone pink red (Satin)
Charmed I’m Sure: Dark true red (Matte)
Deeply Adored: Deep scarlet (Matte)DAZZLEGLASS ($21.50 U.S./$26 CDN each)

Phiff!: Sheer yellow peach (Frost)
Little Rock: Soft sheer white with pearl (Frost)LIP PENCIL ($16.50 U.S./$20 CDN each)
Beet: Vivid reddish-pink
Redd: Clearly red
Cherry: Vivid bright bluish-redBEAUTY POWDER ($28 U.S./$34 CDN)
Forever Marilyn: Sheer pale peach highlighterPOWDER BLUSH ($22 U.S./$26.50 CDN each)
Legendary: Pale soft coral (Satin)

The Perfect Cheek: Neutral pink beige (Matte)NAIL LACQUER ($17.50 U.S./$21 CDN each)
Rich, Rich, Rich (OnlineExclusive): Glittery gold (Pearl)
Vintage Vamp: Rich deep retro wine (Cream)
Stage Red: Dark berry red (Cream)
Flaming Rose: True Red (Cream)

Kid Orange: Coral (Cream)
LASH ($16 U.S./$19 CDN)
35 Lash
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
P.S. Hope you had a terrific Tuesday. Mine was a’ight, but I’m really, really sleepy. I didn’t conk out until 2 a.m. last night/this morning.
You guessed it — Friday Night Lights. 🙂
Phyrra says
I really like your style of tutorials! Also, I like to use the 224 to blend under the lid as well.
Karen says
Ya know, I love that brush too. Have you ever tried the 217 for under eye concealer? It’s also great, too.
Phyrra says
I have not! I’ll have to see if I can find a CF version of the 217. I have 2 of the 224 because I love it so much 🙂 It’s my perfect blender.
Hannah says
I’m going to a sneak peek party for the Marilyn line next week! This only made me more excited!
Karen says
NICE!!! Where is the party?
Hannah says
The Houston Galleria MAC store
Nina says
Hey Hannah! Im going to that store/party too!
Hannah says
oh fun! I’m going at the 8pm slot. Hope to see you there!
Nina says
That would be great! 🙂
Karen says
Aww, I wish I was in Houston!
Tracy@Beauty Reflections says
Flower Child blush! SO PRETTY!
And I love Burberry Copper lip mist too! So easy to wear!
Karen says
Flowerchild is one of my fave Becca products! Have you tried her bronzers? They’re great too.
Anna says
What a gorgeous look! I want to go out and get Prunella now and try it!! 🙂
Rae // theNotice says
Gorgeous! I love your tutorials, Karen — they’re so easy to follow, and being able to see each shade as it’s added in is super-helpful, too. 🙂
Ankita@corallista says
Lovely look! Sable is one of my favorite MAC eye shadows and I often wear it over smudged plum liner!
Jennifer says
Beautiful look!
Heather says
Lovely look! I’ll try this tomorrow! Any chance of these tutorials coming out in video format?
Line S says
Wow, I love this look and your useful tutorial.
You are so beautiful!
Do you like the brushes from Burberry?
Would the Becca bronzer and Flowerchild blush suit a pale blondie??
I love Becca beachtints and creamblushes, but I havent tried their mineralblushes yet.
Dea says
What a nice look, I really like plum on you!
Those Marilyn pieces will be sold out veeeery fast, I’m sure!
Hannah says
Definintely going to try this make up look out soon, especially love the eye make up for this time of year!
Sunny @ Mostly Sunny says
Ahhh I love this tutorial! Prunella looks so good on you! I really need to check it out soon!
Kim says
This was a great tutorial! My very simple makeup routine has been a bit frustrating lately. I use UD Eden as a primer but, by early afternoon, there’s barely a trace of my UD Whiskey liner on my upper lids. Actually, scratch that – the center of my upper lid is almost bare at 9 AM. Any ideas? Maybe I should set it with powder shadow?
Joanna says
I love these new tutorials you’ve been doing Karen! I usually never comment even though I’ve been visiting your site regularly for the past few years now (I’m just quiet!) but I just wanted to let you know that I love the updates. I think these are actually more helpful for me than watching a video because I like seeing the still close-ups rather than pausing/rewinding/etc.
Have a great day! ^_^
Jessica says
My favorite look from you, hands down!!! Love it girl!
Christine says
Thank you Karen! I was doing my makeup this morning and actually thought “I wonder how Karen applies under-eye concealer”. Now I know! Hooray! 🙂
Shaylee says
Gorgeous look! I seriously wish I could walk my cat.. He loses his mind with a harness on, goes into an alligator death roll to get out of it haha
Nina says
Gorgeous look – so fresh and natural but with enough oomph!
I have a 4 item list for Marilyn —
Scarlet Ibis: Bright orange red (Matte)
Love Goddess: Mid-tone pink red (Satin)
Silver Screen: True silver (Veluxe Pearl)
Showgirl: Dark blue grey (Veluxe Pearl)

Lets hope I stick to that. Im going to the launch on Tuesday because I couldnt bear if I missed out on anything!
Christina says
What a great look! Coincidentally, I’m wearing the same color combo right this minute, albeit a bit smokier and intense. I just feels so fall appropriate. 🙂
Thanks for the tutorial!
musical says
Thank you for the tutorials, bella! I wear the plum liner (Rockstar by UD) with Sable combo all the time. It’s just so pretty!
You do the best eye looks!
Kiss & Make-up says
Lovely, as always 🙂 Lately when I’ve been doing my make-up in the morning, I find myself constantly thinking: “Keep your face straight girl! Don’t pull all those weird faces! If Karen can look gorgeous doing her make-up, so can you!” lol 🙂
Becca @ The Beauty Sample says
*sigh* I am so in love with those Burberry Lip Mists–they’re gorgeous! And I REALLY need to get Becca Flowerchild blush already. I am always hearing about it but still haven’t gotten around to purchasing one.
Nadege says
I can’t wait to get my hands on Prunella! It’s because of you why this is #1 on my wish list! lol
Noelle says
Can you recommend a cheaper dupe for the Burberry Lip Mist in Copper? $30 is a little expensive since I seem to always loose my lipsticks.
christine says
I absolutely love these step-by-step posts! This look is gorgeous on you!
Christiana Mercier says
I love how clear the step by step instructions are………
Emme says
I always come back to this post. Some of my fave products and you just look so beautiful.