THE AUTUMN EYE

Autumn is the perfect excuse to bring richer colour back into your makeup. Burnt oranges, warm browns and berry tones all come into their own at this time of year, and they’re some of the best shades for making green and blue eyes really stand out.

With James away in Dubai for Episode 36 of Makeup Live, Shaunna stepped into the studio to create a warm autumn eye on Bee. Shaunna has been part of MYKITCO for eight years, but outside of the brand she’s also been a bridal makeup artist for around 15 years, so this episode was a chance to tap into the techniques she uses on real clients.

Bee has smaller, slightly hooded eyes, which made this the perfect opportunity to focus on something we talk about a lot: scaling down your tools to suit the space you’re working with.

Start with cream colour

Shaunna started the eyes with Danessa Myricks Colorfix in Rustic, a rich burnt orange that became the base for the entire look. To apply it, she reached for the 223 – MY FLUFFY BLENDER, choosing a fluffy brush rather than a flat, dense shape. With a cream or liquid formula, you don’t necessarily need to pack the product onto the lid in the same way you would with a powder. The 223 allowed Shaunna to place the colour while simultaneously diffusing it towards the crease.

It’s also a great example of looking beyond what a brush is traditionally used for. A fluffy blender might immediately make you think of powder shadow, but with a cream formula like Colorfix, it gave Shaunna the movement she needed before the product set. Once the cream had dried down, she layered a lighter toasted-orange powder through the crease before adding deeper tones to build intensity. The approach was simple: get the colour on first, then manipulate it. Build your pigment and placement, then come back and perfect the edges afterwards.

Smaller eyes, smaller brushes

When you have less lid space to work with, brush size really matters. Bee’s eyes are slightly hooded and naturally smaller, so as the look became more detailed, Shaunna scaled down both her brushes and her movements.

Using the 251 – MY SOFT SMUDGE, she worked over the deeper berry liner, smoking the colour out while keeping it controlled and close to the lash line. With a larger brush, that same movement could quickly take the shadow higher or further out than intended. That doesn’t mean you need a completely different technique for smaller or hooded eyes; it’s about adapting the scale. Smaller brush, smaller movement, more control.

Wrap the colour around the eye

Once the colour was built across the lid, Shaunna took the same burnt-orange tones underneath the eye using the 241 - MY SMOKY CREASE. Taking strong colour underneath can feel intimidating, particularly on a smaller eye, but choosing a smaller brush gives you control over exactly where the pigment sits and how far you want to take it.

Shaunna then introduced a deeper aubergine-berry shade around the outer corner, wrapping it back into the liner. This added depth while keeping the burnt orange visible and really brought out Bee’s green eyes. For extra definition, she tightlined through the upper lashes, pressing and wiggling colour between the individual lashes to create depth right at the root without adding a heavy black liner.

The progression of brushes is important here too. The 223 – MY FLUFFY BLENDER gave Shaunna the movement and diffusion she needed at the beginning of the look, before she moved into smaller, more precise brushes as the detail increased.

Clean up afterwards

When you’re working with heavily pigmented shadows, fallout happens. Rather than constantly stopping to clean underneath the eye, Shaunna concentrated on getting the colour and intensity right first. Once she was happy with the placement, she reached for the MY SMALL HYGIENE BAG, keeping all of her essential hygiene and clean-up products close to hand.

Using micellar water and MY SMALL ‘ON POINT’ BUDS, Shaunna removed the fallout before sharpening the outer edge of the eye. The pointed shape makes them particularly useful for detailed clean-up because you can get right up against the makeup without removing more product than you intended. Shaunna’s tip was to clean back into the makeup rather than dragging away from it, helping to sharpen the shape without creating unwanted tracks through the surrounding makeup.

Once the area was clean, Shaunna went back in with concealer using the 700 – MY CONCEAL & BUFF. She packed the product beneath the eye before using the buffing end to soften everything back into the complexion. It’s a brush Shaunna particularly likes for concealer because she can build coverage exactly where she needs it, then buff it seamlessly into the skin.

For a working makeup artist, it’s also about speed. Having your hygiene essentials organised and within reach means you can clean, correct and move straight onto the next stage. The MY SMALL HYGIENE BAG is currently 40% off.

Keep the rest tonal

With so much warmth around the eyes, Shaunna carried the same colour story through the rest of Bee’s makeup. Rare Beauty Soft Pinch Liquid Blush in Love brought a warm, burnt tone to the cheeks, tying back into the oranges and berries around the eyes.

For the brows, Shaunna used a Makeup by Mario brow pencil to add definition while keeping the finish soft and natural. A pencil allows you to pinpoint any areas that need filling before brushing through the brows to soften the finished result.

For the lips, Shaunna used Morphe Lip Liner in Petal, concentrating the deeper colour around the outer edges before adding a lighter, sheer colour through the centre with the 500 – MY CLASSIC LIP BRUSH. She then went back in with the liner to softly blend everything together. Keeping the face within the same warm colour palette made the finished makeup feel cohesive without taking attention away from the eyes.

The finish: scale down, not the impact

The finished look was rich, warm and seasonal, with burnt oranges and berry tones making Bee’s green eyes stand out. But one of the biggest takeaways from Episode 36 was how much control you can gain simply by choosing the right-sized tools for the space you’re working with.

Start with the 223 – MY FLUFFY BLENDER when you need movement and diffusion, then scale down to the 251 – MY SOFT SMUDGE and 241 - MY SMOKY CREASE as your placement becomes more precise. If you’re working on smaller or hooded eyes, you don’t need to scale down the impact of your makeup. Scale down your tools, work in smaller movements and build the intensity gradually.

The Product Edit

Skin prep: REN serum and moisturiser, Drunk Elephant D-Bronzi Bronzing Drops, Drunk Elephant Triple Peptide Camo Drops

Eyes: Danessa Myricks Colorfix in Rustic, BPerfect Carnival Palette, Love Liner, 

Brows: Makeup by Mario brow pencil

Cheeks: Rare Beauty Soft Pinch Liquid Blush in Love

Lips: Morphe Lip Liner in Petal

MYKITCO : 223 – MY FLUFFY BLENDER, 251 – MY SOFT SMUDGE, 241 – MY SMOKY CREASE, MY SMALL ‘ON POINT’ BUDS, MY SMALL HYGIENE BAG, 300 – MY GROOMED LASH, 700 – MY CONCEAL & BUFF, 703 – MY SMOOTH & PERFECT, 500 – MY CLASSIC LIP BRUSH

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