Getty / Source: PopSugar.com
Did you know that in Japan, geisha carefully select their kimono to reflect the season? For example, cherry blossom designs are worn only during the spring, while maple leaves are a popular autumn motif. The point is to enhance beauty by harmonizing one’s appearance with the natural environment. While most of us don’t wrap ourselves in ankle-length silks on a day-to-day basis, we’re actually following a similar practice when we try out a darker hair color or new, dramatic makeup for fall. Like the season itself, the newest hair and makeup trends are rich, dark, dramatic, and refreshing.
Enter Eclipting: “Contouring For Your Hair”
The biggest hair color development this fall—and possibly this year—is eclipting. Developed by haircolor guru and Aveda Global Artistic Director Ian Michael Black, eclipting is a technique that uses contrasting dark colors around the face to highlight your best features. It does everything from enhancing eye color to making the face appear slimmer. While eclipting is definitely the next evolution of balayage, the technique uses starker, more dramatic contrast. Think of it as contouring for your hair.
Source: Aveda
Cool Pastels
While rose gold has been the pink hue adored by celebrities, social media mavens, and everyone in between for a few seasons now, fall 2016 saw the warm, universally flattering hue shift toward a cooler tone. This new “dusty rose” trend is picked up by other pastels, like ash lavenders or cool denim blues. The result is vibrant, fashionable colors with a decidedly grownup feel-to the extent that one can feel like a grownup while rocking cotton candy-colored hair.
Bronde and Ronze
No, these aren’t the names of two matching French bulldogs (though how cute would that be)? Instead, they’re neologisms for two of the biggest hair trends of 2016. Bronde is a combination of blonde and brunette—it’s a cool, in-between tone that flatters a multitude of complexions. If you want to go darker for fall but not too dark, this is a great option. And if you’re already a brunette, bronde offers a way to switch up your look without the upkeep of a lighter blonde (note that in the photo below, Ciara’s roots make for a lower-maintenance look).
Getty / Source: PopSugar.com
Ronze is (you guessed it) a red-bronze, a la Joan Holloway of Mad Men. It’s rich and warm, like a ginger-spice latte for your hair. If any color complements fall foliage better, we haven’t seen it yet. Make sure to pick up shampoo and conditioner from Aveda’s Color Conserve line if you go this route—because red hair dye is a larger molecule that sits on top of the hair shaft, it will fade faster without the right products.
Goth Goes Glam
If there was ever a time to indulge your inner Goth, fall 2016 is it. Soft jet hair colors have replaced brunettes as the dark hue of choice, and from winged eyeliner to black lipstick, makeup trends are a total blackout.
Getty / Source: Vogue.com
In the photo above, the model has some serious lips and lashes in a bold, statement color (not to mention the elaborate ear jewelry). What keeps the look from getting overwhelming? A few things: the glossy, smoothed-down hair is one. Another is her clean complexion. You won’t see stripes of contour of bright blasts of highlighter here. Instead, the skin is a neutral canvas against which the eyes and lashes really shine.
The “No Makeup” Makeup Look
A nude face is always a good counterbalance to a strong eye and lip game, but this season, it’s a showstopper in its own right. Kim Kardashian claims she wore a bare face to Balenciaga and Alicia Keys recently stepped out with a no-makeup look. While it’s pretty likely that both stars wore lip balm, tinted moisturizer or a spray tan, curled lashes and/or lash extensions, that’s still a welcome change from makeup looks that require a rolling carryall of products and several YouTube tutorials to achieve.
Getty / Source: Cosmopolitan.com
Getty / Source: IntoTheGloss.com
For extra radiance, go for a run in the morning or book a custom facial at Scott J. The result is a pared-down fall beauty that’s all you—and what’s more beautiful than that?