Blood Orange Crush

I'm all about a beautiful blood orange lip and/or cheek for Spring. I find it really refreshing, especially when done in a glossy, bright finish.

Get this look: Matte
Lightly line the lips in an orange-based red lip liner (like M.A.C Redd ) then smudge in towards the mouth and fill with a bright, bold shade such as Heat Wave by NARS.

Get this look: Glossy
I adore Pout Plump in Pimento (if you can still find it) and NARS Lip Gloss in Babe for an effortless fix.

Get this look: Customized
If you want the full effect, try a layered look. I like to use M.A.C Lipmix in Orange (without liner), then coat the bright orange base with a sheer red gloss, such as Tulip Venom Gloss by DuWop or Dior Addict Ultra Gloss Reflect in Red Stockings.

Get the look: Rouge
A blood orange flush is gorgeous, but I'd keep the lips light if you're opting to highlight your cheeks. For this look, try mixing two parts Lancome Magique Blush in Peach Melba and one part Color Fever Lipstick in Red and Sensual Java (a tip taken from the great Gucci Westman), then apply lightly to the apples of your cheeks.

To dress your kisser, lightly dab the same poppy-red lipstick in the center of your lips, then apply a sheer orange/coral lip color on top (I love Glosspitality Lipgelee by M.A.C, Sari by Fresh, and Lancome Juicy Tubes Jelly in Sweet Punch).

It's such a fresh, vibrant look for the coming season. Now, all we need is a little sunshine and we're set...

Blood Orange Crush

I'm all about a beautiful blood orange lip and/or cheek for Spring. I find it really refreshing, especially when done in a glossy, bright finish.

Get this look: Matte
Lightly line the lips in an orange-based red lip liner (like M.A.C Redd ) then smudge in towards the mouth and fill with a bright, bold shade such as Heat Wave by NARS.

Get this look: Glossy
I adore Pout Plump in Pimento (if you can still find it) and NARS Lip Gloss in Babe for an effortless fix.

Get this look: Customized
If you want the full effect, try a layered look. I like to use M.A.C Lipmix in Orange (without liner), then coat the bright orange base with a sheer red gloss, such as Tulip Venom Gloss by DuWop or Dior Addict Ultra Gloss Reflect in Red Stockings.

Get the look: Rouge
A blood orange flush is gorgeous, but I'd keep the lips light if you're opting to highlight your cheeks. For this look, try mixing two parts Lancome Magique Blush in Peach Melba and one part Color Fever Lipstick in Red and Sensual Java (a tip taken from the great Gucci Westman), then apply lightly to the apples of your cheeks.

To dress your kisser, lightly dab the same poppy-red lipstick in the center of your lips, then apply a sheer orange/coral lip color on top (I love Glosspitality Lipgelee by M.A.C, Sari by Fresh, and Lancome Juicy Tubes Jelly in Sweet Punch).

It's such a fresh, vibrant look for the coming season. Now, all we need is a little sunshine and we're set...

Makeup Inspiration - Christian Lacroix

For Christian Lacroix’s spring haute couture show, hairstylist Odile Gilbert fashioned rectangular, braided buns on top of models’ heads. Each one was colored to sync with the dresses they wore.

The clothing plus hair made makeup artist Stephane Marais think of ballerinas at dancing school. He created a look with a focus on eyes. Eyeliner was swept upward, on the top and bottom of peepers. On mouths, he used a rosy, peachy color.

Makeup Inspiration - Christian Dior

For Christian Dior’s spring-summer 2009 haute couture show, makeup artist Pat McGrath gleaned inspiration from Johannes Vermeer’s painting, “Girl with a Pearl Earring.”

“The idea was for the girls was to have almost a painterly quality,” said McGrath backstage, explaining she used colors like peach, pink and lavender.

Some tones were iridescent. Orlando Pita, meanwhile, crafted the crimped and bound hairstyles for the show.

Makeup Inspiration - Armani Prive

Mr. Armani wanted no color on the face whatsoever,” explained makeup artist Linda Cantello backstage before the Armani Privé haute couture show for spring-summer 2009. “He wanted a black, graphic shape on the eye.”

So models’ eyelids were colored with black rectangle-like forms and tipped with long eyelashes. “It’s an odd mix of Thirties and graphism,” she said.

Hairstylist Luigi Murenu, meantime, created three different black coifs for the show. “It’s all about geometry and graphics,” he said.

There were black bobs, plus two looks involving black headbands. “The shine is almost like a vinyl,” explained Murenu of the hair’s glossiness.

Makeup Inspiration - Mabille

When designer Alexis Mabille visited Mexico, he saw a painting by Diego Rivera that served to plant the seed for what then blossomed into a braided look for models at his first haute couture show, for spring-summer 2009.

Hairstylist Odile Gilbert fastened each model’s pair of braids together at their ends and decorated them with violets.

“I think it’s a little Parisian touch,” she said.

Makeup artist James Kaliardos came up with looks meant to seem “innocent, sweet” like the hairdos, but also rather “cosmetic,” he said, explaining the show was the launch pad for the use of a new L’Oréal Paris color cosmetics line, called Studio Secrets Professional.

Kaliardos created the collection with Linda Evangelista, who served as its muse. Evangelista said she also helped give feedback on some products. The line will include lip gloss, mascara, eye shadow, foundation and lipstick, among other items.

Makeup Inspiration - Valentino

For Valentino's spring haute couture show, makeup artist Pat McGrath created "a very strong, smoky eye in four different colors" that played off hues found in the designer's fashion collection. McGrath said she wanted the eyes to be expressive.

Also at Valentino, hairstylist Orlando Pita explained the idea was to concoct a topknot that's "really clean." He opted to put the knot way up on each model's head, rather than at the nape of her neck, for a more modern feeling.

Makeup Inspiration - Jean Paul Gauthier's Spring Collection

Makeup artist Tom Pecheux explained the inspiration for the look of the Jean Paul Gaultier spring show came from numerous sources, including German singer Klaus Nomi and the graphics used for France's public radio and television provider, ORTF, from the Sixties and Seventies.

"We ended up going with lines and things like that," explained Pecheux, who focused on eyes with black liner.

Odile Gilbert, meanwhile, created the hairstyles — which combined square buns with curvilinear details around models' faces — for the show.

Couture Make-up Trends: Varun Bahl

Just when it seems make-up artists had exhausted every incarnation of the smoky eye, along comes Clint Fernandes. "Rather than applying dark shadow in the outer corners, crease and lower lid," he said, "I apply gold dust over the eyes, highlight it with kohl and finish the look with mascara. It creates the illusion of a smoky eye, but it's softer." However, this look does not work for everyone; if your eyes are bulgy or deep set, it is unadvisable to do smoky eyes.

In keeping with the show's Italian spirit, Fernandes pared down his make-up arsenal. "Keep the cheeks rosy pink and wear a shade of pink on the lips depending on your skin tone; dark vibrant pinks work wonders for deep skin tones while the light complexioned can opt for soft baby pink," is his advice.

Couture 2008 Make-up Trends: Pallavi Jaikishan

No shrinking violets here! For Pallavi Jaikishan's showing, Mehra Kolah puts the spotlight on scarlet lips and nails that did justice to the models' porcelain skin.

Mehra fuses elements from two bygone eras to create the look: strong eyebrows circa the eighties and scarlet lips circa the thirties. In order to maintain that focus, she keeps the skin fresh, glowing and transparent, and the lids and cheeks pale.

"I've used Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick in Pink on the apples of the cheek to make them look healthy," revealed Kolah. "For lips, get a deep color, outline the lips with a lip pencil so it doesn't bleed, and fill it in with color. If you are careful with your lipstick and don't smudge it, you can add a hint of gloss... otherwise red on its own is brilliant."

"Define the contour of your eye in shades of brown, depending on your skin tone. Add a hint of bronze and gold shimmer for a glamorous look. Don't use an eye liner. Instead, up the amp with coats of mascara," advises Mehra.

Couture 2008 Make-up Trends: Manish Malhotra

Make-up artist Mehra Kolah powders the models' skin to a matte finish, with little or no sheen. Taking her cue from the sinuous lines of the collection, she paints on vines of liquid liner around the eyes. "The eyes are the story. They lend women strength," she explains. "When you do smoky eyes, put a powder guard under your eye so that if there is any black powder that drops from the brush while trying to achieve the look, it will be in control."

The cheeks are a play of colors of the skin – tone-on-tone – with a hint of shimmering pink on the apple of the cheek for a natural glow. "The idea is to work according to the shape of your face. Analyze the parts you want to downplay. Add shine to enhance the parts you want to focus on and add depth with a darker color to recede the part you want to downplay," instructs Mehra.

With innocence and youthful naiveté in mind, the hair is a loose play of texture... like curls that have opened out. "Keep the crown area neatly but loosely pinned and let the remaining hair fall loosely. I wanted the girls to appear as though they had fallen peacefully asleep, so we added a bit of disarray to one side." To get this soft-focus style, she teases the tiny hairs along the scalp line.