Nude Awakening: How to Pull Off Fall's Neutral Makeup Trend

You're about to get a whole lot more comfortable being naked in public. With a neutral palette of beige, bronze and greige hues, Burberry artistic consultant Wendy Rowe shows off soft yet strikingly powerful looks on actress Haley Bennett. Give them a try in our step-by-step guide—we know you can bare it.

Coppery Eyes (on Bennett above)

The tricks: A nearly naked face can use a bit of definition with some well-placed eyeliner. Blend an onyx gel above the top lash lines (MAC Cosmetics Fluidline in Blacktrack, $16; maccosmetics.com), and sweep a kohl pencil (Kevyn Aucoin The Eye Pencil Primatif in Basic Black, $26; barneys.com) over lower ones, says makeup artist Wendy Rowe. To make sure it “doesn’t look too hard,” dust brown shadow (Guerlain Écrin 4 Couleurs Eyeshadow in Les Sables, $63; neimanmarcus.com) over the liners, she says. A sheer veil of subtly shimmering bronzing cream (Burberry Fresh Glow Luminous Fluid Base in Golden Radiance No. 2, $48; nordstrom.com) gives your skin a glow “as if you’ve been sunning on a terrace all afternoon.” Finish off with a nude polish (Zoya Nail Polish in Chantal, $9; zoya.com).

Statement Brows

The tricks: Powders, gels, waxes—here is Rowe’s definitive word on the matter. “Pencils (Dolce & Gabbana Shaping Eyebrow Pencil in Stromboli and Soft Brown, $45 each; saks.com) look the most realistic,” she says. (Use one in a shade slightly lighter than your strands). “You don’t want a solid block of color; just fill in between the hairs with an angled point until brows look thick.” Then run a spooly brush through hairs to create natural-looking shadows. Offset your bold arches with dewy skin (Burberry Fresh Glow Luminous Fluid Base in Nude Radiance No. 1, $48; nordstrom.com), and skip the mascara. “Leaving lashes bare makes you look younger, more innocent.”Pair the look with bold nails, like Essie Nail Polish in Don’t Sweater It, $9; essie.com.

Bronze Shadows

The tricks: If you know your way with bronzer, you may never need the help of a plumper. “You can sculpt eyes and make them look bigger, and deepen your cheek-bones,” Rowe says. Take a light brown powder and dust it over the hollows of your cheeks and along the sides of your nose and “enhance shadows where they naturally fall.” Trace highlighter (Charlotte Tilbury The Retoucher Conceal & Treat Stick in Fair No. 2, $32; charlottetilbury.com) over the tops of your cheeks and down the center of your nose. Rub a bronze cream (RMS Beauty Buriti Bronzer, $28; rmsbeauty.com) along the lower lash line and over the sockets, and finish with blush (Burberry Light Glow Natural Blush in Earthy No. 7, $42; nordstrom.com) and a hint of brown eyeliner (Dior Diorliner in brown, $34; dior.com) across the upper lashes.

Toffee Lips

The tricks: “Neutral tones don’t have to be versions of brown,” says Rowe. “They can be gray, black, even light pink.” Go for a sheer wash of elephant gray on lids (BareMinerals 5-in-1 BB Advanced Performance Cream Eyeshadow Broad Spectrum SPF 15 in Elegant Taupe, $18; bareminerals.com), she says, then add a light layer of mascara (Bobbi Brown No Smudge Mascara, $25; bobbibrowncosmetics.com). Paint your mouth with a rosy beige lipstick (Chantecaille Hydra Chic Lipstick in Fairy Moss, $35; chantecaille.com), “and top it with a gloss (Burberry Lip Glow in Nude Rose No. 14, $29; burberry.com) that has absolutely no shimmer to it.”

Haley Bennett's Comments

Trust us, you know Haley Bennett—you just may not recognize her yet. At 19, she nabbed her first starring role as a gyrating Britney-esque pop singer in the Drew Barrymore rom-com Music and Lyrics. About one year and a bottle of brunette hair dye later, she played Molly in the scream-fest The Haunting of Molly Hartley. Ringing any bells? Now she's fighting alongside Denzel Washington as a Russian woman "involved in some really seedy work" in the action thriller The Equalizer. "I want to transform and be a character chameleon," says the 26-year-old Midwesterner. "Even when I'm getting ready for events, I have different inspirations. One time I gave my makeup artist a picture of my cat; I wanted my lips to be the color of his nose, and my eye shadow to mimic his stripes." The shape-shifting is paying off: "I did seven movies last year, but to me, success isn't the number I do. It's about exploration." One thing's for sure: Bennett is anything but boring.

She grooms like an Egyptian."I don't wear a ton of makeup, but I like natural products from Green Line Beauty and Sodashi. And I bathe in organic powdered goat's milk, manuka honey, and lavender. The lactic acid in the milk exfoliates, and the honey moisturizes. It's my version of Cleopatra's legendary milk bath."

She never reveals her roots."Five years ago some people in the business wanted me to be a blonde. But in Los Angeles, you would just look like everyone else. So even though blond is my natural color, I bought Manic Panic dye and turned my hair flamingo pink."

She'll snap a selfie but won't say a peep."I don't know anything about Twitter, but I hear it's a really good way to supplement your income if you're an actor. I do have a private Instagram account, though. I love the way it captures moments."

See how our beauty director, Kahlana Barfield, takes on another of fall 2014's biggest beauty trends, the berry-stained lip!