Clean-girl aesthetic, step aside: Makeup is back! After seasons of sheer skin, brushed-up brows and barely there color, fall 2026 is making the case for beauty that feels fun again. Smoky eyes are back with a softer, more lived-in finish, lips feel deeper and intentionally blurred, and eyeshadow has reclaimed its place as the main event. On the Prada, Schiaparelli, and Tory Burch runways last March, models were sent down the runway heralding the season’s new mood, with eyes darkened, blurred, and deliberately imperfect—the kind of smoky makeup that only gets better after a few hours of wear or, dare I say it, the following morning. The season’s new beauty shorthand? Smudgy, sexy and slightly slept-in.
For celebrity makeup artist Hung Vanngo, whose talented hands have graced the lucky faces of Jennifer Lopez, Anne Hathaway, Selena Gomez, and more, the modern smoky eye is less about mastering complicated technique than knowing how to layer a few well-chosen shades. The timing is fitting; for his eponymous beauty line, Vanngo is launching a 20-shade palette built around natural smoky-eye tones, ranging from soft neutrals to deeper, more sultry browns. Despite experimenting with plenty of color throughout his career, he says most consumers still gravitate toward shades that feel familiar and easy to wear. His foolproof approach begins with four colors arranged from light to dark—sweeping the lightest around the brow area, blending a medium tone back and forth through the crease, and pressing the darkest shade along the lash line. For an even simpler version, Vanngo suggests using one brown across the lid, adding a second through the crease and smoking the same color beneath the lower lashes. “It doesn’t have to be perfect,” he says. In fact, that’s precisely the point.
Mascara, however, remains nonnegotiable. Vanngo recommends finishing the look with generous coats on both the upper and lower lashes to give the eyes definition without making it feel overly polished. Lining the waterline is optional, but for added depth, he suggests pressing a black or brown pencil along the inner rim and softly smudging it into the lash line. The effect is sultry rather than severe—and, true to the season’s mood, all the better when it looks a little lived-in.
For those less inclined to break out a full palette, fall’s smoky eye can be even simpler. Cream shadows and swipe-on sticks lend themselves particularly well to the season’s deliberately imperfect finish—scribble on, blend with a finger, and resist the urge to overwork it. Laura Mercier’s cult Caviar Stick is a longtime favorite for the one-and-done approach, particularly in toasted browns and taupes, while Charlotte Tilbury’s new Exagger-Eyes Shadow Stick offers an equally effortless shortcut. The goal, after all, isn’t a perfectly blended smoky eye—a little smudge is part of the charm.
The return of makeup, however, doesn’t necessarily mean the return of a full-coverage complexion. If anything, the season’s more expressive eyes and lips feel freshest against skin that still looks decidedly like skin. Rather than masking every imperfection, keep the base sheer and strategic. Vanngo advises not to overdo the prep either: reach for a simple serum, like SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic, followed by a light hydrator, like Laneige’s Balance Mode Shine Control Moisturizer. His newly launched Red Carpet Skin Luminous Longwear Serum Foundation follows the same less-is-more philosophy. Available in 38 shades with a natural finish, the lightweight formula is designed to give skin polish without disguising it. “It feels like a serum but acts like a foundation,” says Vanngo, who recommends starting with only a tiny amount and adding more only where needed. It’s perhaps the best thing to come out of the clean-girl years; we may be ready to wear makeup again, but we’re not giving up real-looking skin.
Fall’s lips are loosening up, too. Rather than a sharply drawn, perfectly symmetrical pout, the new finish is perfectly imperfect—color that feels softer around the edges and way less precious. When the eyes are the focus, Vanngo recommends playing down the lip with an easy pink, whether warmer or cooler depending on your complexion, pointing to Charlotte Tilbury’s cult Pillow Talk Lip Liner as a tried-and-true option. “There’s no wrong or right,” says Vanngo. And perhaps that’s the most compelling part of fall’s return to makeup. After years of perfecting the art of looking like we’re barely wearing any, we’re finally having a little fun again. Smudge the shadow, blur the lipstick, and don’t worry too much about getting any of it exactly right.
Jenna Rennert
