Re-vamp your look: luminous skin, smoldering eyes and lush, berry-stained lips all glamorize fall. Here, how to make the season's new look work for you

Shape, Sept, 2004 by Jacqui Stafford

Set aside your summer sheers and barely there colors. This fall, sexy makeup is back with a fresh, sophisticated twist that pairs perfectly with the sumptuous velvets and tailored tweeds of the season's fashions. The themes: deep berry and wine hues mixed with a bit of sheen in autumnal shades of plum, chocolate and indigo. Hair offsets makeup's sophistication by looking just a bit mussed, but always in a deliberate way. Best of all, these trends are easy to duplicate--thanks to the simple tips detailed here. Try just one or two to get this season's polished glamour.

Nude and Improved

Luminous, even-toned, healthy-looking skin never goes out of style, and this fall it's the ideal counterpoint for the more intense colors on lips and eyes. If you've been treating your complexion well, a dab of concealer over redness around the nose and mouth plus a dusting of loose powder will suffice. Or apply one of the newest high-tech foundations to control oily areas and moisturize dry ones for slightly more coverage that produces a satin-smooth finish. The products you need: Kevyn Aucoin Sensual Skin Enhancer ($42; kevin aucoin.com), a concealer available in 16 shades; Prescriptives All Skins Powder ($26; gloss.com), available in six hues to match most skin tones; Chanel Double Perfection Creme Poudre ($42; gloss.com), a skin-perfecting cream foundation; L'Oreal Cashmere Perfect Soft Powdercreme Makeup ($12.70; at drugstores), a liquid foundation that dries to a soft, powdery finish; or Cover Girl Fresh Complexion Pocket Powder Oil Control Foundation ($8.50; at drugstores).

Smoke Gets on Your Eyes

The smoky eye is a classic look for fall, but this season, instead of achieving the effect through application techniques (charcoal liner smudged all around the eyes), the right look is created with the hues of the liners and shadows themselves. Let eyelids smolder in shades such as warm bronze, amethyst and inky blue--all with a slightly iridescent (never matte) gleam. All it takes is a single brush of color across the lids or under the eyes or a touch at the outer corners. Seasonal color favorites: Estee Lauder Pure Color EyeLiner ($22.50; estee lauder.com) in Plum Cassis, a metallic mauve; Nars Single Eyeshadow ($18; nars cosmetics.com) in Cyprus, an antique bronze; M.A.C Eye Shadow ($12.50; mac cosmetics.com) in Purple Haze, an intense purple; and Clarins Colour Quartet for Eyes ($36; clarins.com) in Nude Shimmers, a copper, metallic mauve, peach and taupe.

Berry Good Lips

Berry- or plum-stained matte lip color is an understated complement to fall's sumptuous styles. But instead of swiping color onto lips straight from the tube (or using a lip brush), dab it on with your fingers for a less precise, slightly irreverent approach for daytime. For a more formal evening look, first fill in the entire lip using a nude-toned lip pencil (which helps to prevent darker lip colors from bleeding), then top with one of the new lustrous shades showing a hint of metallic sheen.

Seductive lip options: Dior Lipliner Pencil in Linen, a nude ($22; sephora.com); Avon My Lip Miracle in Berry Delight, a reddish berry ($8; 800-FOR-AVON); and Clinique Color Surge Lip Lacquer DemiMatte Metallic in Burgundy Bronze ($13.50; clinique.com).

Primped and Improper

Think rumpled imprecision when it comes to fall's best-tressed heads; the look juxtaposes well with the season's more sophisticated fashions. The best styles--like casual updos with a decidedly severe side part and a few wispy tendrils--add loads of texture. Color-wise, move toward rich, wash-in shades plucked from a chocolate box, like statement-making walnut, mapled honey or cappuccino. Hair essentials: Bumble and bumble Thickening Spray ($19; 800-7BUMBLE), sprayed onto towel-dried hair before styling to increase volume; John Frieda Brilliant Brunette Satin Shine Finishing Creme ($5.50; 800-521-3129); and Matrix Biolage Earth Tones conditioner color glosses in Copper or Natural Brown ($15 each; matrix.com).

Nail Envy

With all the makeup drama going on above the neck, nails look best this season when kept on the more muted side, rather than fighting for attention. Keep them well-maintained--whether you prefer barely there nude shimmers or more-traditional rich fall shades. For do-it-yourself manicure and pedicure tips and the best hues for fall, see page 86.

HAIR: CHRISTOPHE SALUZZO FOR BUMBLE AND BUMBLE/CLOUTIERAGENCY.COM.

MAKEUP: KAREN KAWAHARA/CLOUTIERAGENCY.COM.

MANICURE: LISA POSTMA FOR O.P.I./CELESTINEAGENCY.COM.

STYLING: DINAH ERASMUS.

Photography by Amy Neunsinger