9 runway trends to try now

You know what's pretty? Big, wide eyes. You know what's prettier? Bigger, wider eyes. At Gucci, Pat McGrath used not one, but two strips of false lashes on each eye to give models a Bambi-like gaze. Brown shadow and a healthy dose of mascara created the doe eyes at Cavalli and Lanvin.

Trick of the trade: To get the look without gluing on fakes, curl lashes, apply mascara, comb through, reapply, and recomb. Then do it al one more time.

These lips are so hot, they're almost illegal. (No, seriously—true neon pigments are actually banned in the U.S.) To create the supersaturated, fluorescent red at Jason Wu, makeup artist Diane Kendal mixed red, pink, and magenta pigments, applied it, then topped it all with a sprinkling of orange powder. "It's like cosmic couture," said makeup artist Lucia Pieroni of the Day-Glo melon lips at Missoni.

Trick of the trade: These shades are already so bright, you don't need any more shine—so please skip the gloss. "A glossy finish makes it look trashy," said makeup artist Stephane Marais.

With patience, practice, and a small reservoir of hair gel, stylists crafted intricate updos. At Gucci, Luigi Murenu used shellacked extensions that looked like fans; at Altuzarra, Paul Hanlon molded the hair into a precise loop; and Murenu's low, tight buns at Givenchy looked like blown glass.

Now this is a look we can get behind: It's sexy, it's chic, and you really can't mess it up. "The hair is meant to look disheveled," said Hanlon of the rumpled updos at Marni. After prepping hair with thickening spray, he made a deep side part, then gave all 26 models a slightly different variation of a ponytail-know hybrid.

Trick of the trade: Put down your brush—but not your styling products. You need a little hold to keep your know from slipping out.

"Enough of the minimalism already!" was the message many makeup artists were sending this season as they exaggerated the natural shape of models' brows, eyes, and lips.

Brows: Asked to create a look worthy of an Andy Warhol muse for Marc Jacobs, Francois Nars used brown shadow to beef up brows until they looked like Edie Sedgwick's.

Eyes: At Chanel, Peter Philips spread platinum cream around the eyes all the way to the brows, which were elongated to accommodate even more shadow.

Lips: McGrath traced outside the natural lip line with pencil, filled in the mouth with matte red lipstick, and drew a white curve along the Cupid's bow at Prada.

Floating eyeliner at Michael Kors, misplaced headbands at Balenciaga—things were a little off-kilter on some of the spring runways. "it's just way more fun to be abstract and to do the unexpected," said makeup artist Dick Page. Case in point: Those "bangs" at Prada were in fact the ends of the hair flipped up and over the forehead.

A memo apparently went around to just about every makeup artist: You can blend, smudge, or wing eye shadow, and liner can be on top or on bottom—but it has to be blue. At Stella McCartney, McGrath traced teal along the lower lashes, then left the rest of the face bare. At Giorgio Armani, Linda Cantello layered shimmering sky blue over a wash of navy and slate.

Trick of the trade: Try a sheer aqua if you have pale skin, or a deeper cobalt for olive or dark skin. Just be sure not to overdo it—pairing blue shadow with blue liner gets too costumey.

It's time to admit that nail art might be more than just a passing trend. In New York, we saw simple color blocking (Peter Som, Tracy Reese) and abstract design, like the dripping paint at Prabal Gurung.

Trick of the trade: French-manicure and moon-manicure stickers are ideal for beginners looking to create crisp lines between colors.