The 6 Best Beauty Tricks We Learned Backstage This Season

Backstage at Peter Som, makeup artist Yadim made it clear that there are no rules when it comes to which products you use where. He swiped Maybelline Color Sensational Vivids Lipstick in Vibrant Mandarin across the lower lash line in place of eyeliner and contoured cheekbones with taupe eyeshadow. "Bronzer tends to be too orange-y and warm," he said. "You want a nice even-toned brownish gray."

Hairstylist Eugene Souleiman did the impossible backstage at Stella McCartney: He created a crimped style that's actually cool (not in a funny, throwback way), sleek and wearable. The secret is to only crimp the very top layer of hair in random sections—"the minute you crimp the layers underneath, the hair gets too big and you get that '80s thing"—then pull it all into a tight, low ponytail.

To give the models "a gorgeous 1990s glow" at Balmain, makeup artist Tom Pecheux designed a four-step process for faking a natural tan. First, he applied foundation in a shade darker than their natural skin tone. Next, he blended cream bronzer across the cheeks, under the eyes and down the nose. Then he brushed matte powder bronzer across the cheeks to the temples. To finish, he mixed three micro-pigmented shimmers (rose-gold, yellow and copper) and used a fluffy powder brush to blend them around the eyes and on the highest points on the cheekbones. "I'm using three different shimmer shades because no one is totally yellow or pink or white," said Pecheux.

"We wanted something minimal, but special. Anthony [Vacarello] had the idea of using makeup as a piece of jewelry," said Pecheux, who created graphic ear cuffs by filling in the bottom of the earlobe with black liquid eyeliner, then dabbing black glitter on top.

The hair at Oscar de la Renta was as slick, smooth and sleek as it gets —without looking at all greasy or oily. The trick? Hairspray and a Kabuki brush, according to hairstylist Orlando Pita: "Hairspray works just like gel, only it doesn't flake or give that wet look." He sprayed it on a makeup brush and used it to brush flyaways back before the girls walked down the runway.

Gorgeous red lips aside, we couldn't get over how flawless the models' skin looked at Zac Posen. "There's a lot of detail going into the skin—everything has to be perfect," said makeup artist Kabuki, who described it as "very flushed and healthy, like after sex on vacation." To fake rested, stress-free undereyes, he applied peach concealer—"it really brightens the eye area and makes it glow"— in the inner corners and used a small brush to stipple it out. Then he lightly dabbed ivory highlighter in the center of the undereye and took a flash photo to check that the final result looked totally natural.