Strong Finish

Interesting twists on the classic bun ranged from feminine to tough. Spotted at: Rodarte, Bill Blass, Narciso Rodriguez, Prada. To create a look for Rodarte that she called “modern, visual and graphic,” hairstylist Odile Gilbert folded hair into flat, geisha-inspired shapes. She sealed them with Aveda Air Control hairspray and added extensions in contrasting colors. At Bill Blass, Eugene Souleiman paired low, slick buns with defined side parts for a look he said was “sexy and androgynous—for a lady, but a bad lady.”

Whether ethereal or downright messy, imperfect ‘dos looked surprisingly perfect. Spotted at: Bottega Veneta, Derek Lam, Dior, Michael Kors, Peter Som, L’Wren Scott, Yigal Azrouël. Aiming for a modern take on a Victorian silhouette, Orlando Pita back-combed hair into soft, disorderly nests at Bottega Veneta. (For a similar effect, try a texturizing product like Redken Rough Clay 20.) At Michael Kors, the coifs had a harder look, which Pita achieved by teasing strands to the hilt before sweeping them into “Hitchcock blond–meets–Amy Winehouse” beehives. For the L’Wren Scott show, Serge Normant proclaimed that his high tease had “an edge, like the girls slept on it after a very good night out.”

Puckers packed a punch. Spotted at: Yves Saint Laurent, Chloé, Miu Miu, Ruffian, Viktor & Rolf, Zac Posen. In a season of bold lips, there were none more audacious than the decadent pouts that Tom Pecheux created for Yves Saint Laurent, layering black eyeliner with the label’s Shiny Lip Plumper in Glossy Plum. At Ruffian, James Kaliardos chose a fierce magenta lipstick for a look he described as “boarding school girl gone bad.” Lucia Pieroni went with a deeper burgundy for Chloé, making the color most intense at the center of the lips to give the impression that models had just been sipping Merlot.

A bold mix of blues and purples lit up lids. Spotted at: Monique Lhuillier, Behnaz Sarafpour, Proenza Schouler, Rag & Bone, Thakoon. “It’s all about building the blend,” said Val Garland at Monique Lhuillier, where she layered a whopping eight products—including pencils and shadows in tints of burgundy, inky blue and purple—around peepers to create a glittering “smoky eye to the max.” (Among the most stunning shades used was MAC Eye Shadow in Beauty Marked.) At Thakoon, Gucci Westman mixed mauve, gray, white and purple shadows to create a transparent look she described as “a big cloud of watercolor.” The next day, at Behnaz Sarafpour, Westman went for a little more drama, rimming eyes with purple lipstick.

Makeup artists took a shine to gold, bronze and copper eye shadows. Spotted at: Oscar de la Renta, Badgley Mischka, Dolce & Gabbana, Nina Ricci, Tuleh. At Oscar de la Renta, Pat McGrath used CoverGirl Eye Enhancers shadow to create a highly pigmented black smoky lid with a strong flash of copper in the center (try Eye Enhancers in Golden Sunrise). Aiming for a romantic feel, Polly Osmond dusted lids with pale yellow gold, rose gold and bronze shades at Tuleh. And Pecheux went for a playful style at Badgley Mischka, where his brown, burgundy and bronzy gold eye blended into bright pink blush on the temple.

A classic schoolgirl style got sophisticated. Spotted at: Rachel Roy, Comme des Garçons, J. Mendel, Rag & Bone, Yohji Yamamoto. André Rodman “modernized” the charming fishtails he wove for Rachel Roy by running a brush up the plaits to create flyaways. To keep them from looking too messy, he gave the braids a final smoothing with Fekkai Coiff Nonchalant Piecing and Forming Wax. At Yohji Yamamoto, Souleiman likened his method of braiding either seven or 11 strands of hair to basket weaving. “It’s very craft oriented,” he noted.