Oh the Seasonal book! I'm an "Autumn" too, and while I was smart enough to avoid the orange makeup, I thought I could *only* wear warm colors and avoided anything cool like silver, pink or lavender. Silly me, I look awesome in lavender!
I also, not on anyone's advice, but just by being young and poor, bought horrible quality makeup for years and years. I couldn't figure out why everyone else didn't have eyeliner and mascara smeared under their eyes by the end of the day, or how their skin didn't start getting shiny after a few hours. No lie, it was actually finding THIS site that helped me figure out all my makeup issues. Two years later and I've found eyeliner that doesn't move, and powder that actually mattifies, and all the pretty shiny eyeshadow colors!