5 Makeup and Hair Tips From the Runway

From faking volume in seconds to getting a smudge-free mani, these five pro makeup artist tricks come straight from behind the scenes at the spring 2013 fashion shows. But get this: They’re all tips that you can try right now.

Score a Natural-Looking Flush

Makeup artist Polly Osmond swears it’s easy to get that softly flushed look. At the Christian Siriano show, she used a pink blush, similar to the Chanel Joues Contraste Powder Blush in In Love, $43, chanel.com, to create the look of warmth on the skin.
Simply dust some blush, using a medium-sized fluffy brush and circular motions, to disperse the color evenly along the circumference of your face. Just the smallest amount of blush in this area will make the biggest difference—you’ll look softly flushed and awake.

Get Insta-Volume

Thomas Dunkin, lead hairstylist behind the scenes at the Mara Hoffman show, told us that a good way to create volume in your hair is pull the top layer of your hair up and crimp the sections underneath. “Then, once you let the top layer down over the crimped layers, the new texture helps pad your hair so it looks instantly thicker and fuller.”
Manicurist Miss Pop for Color Club gave us a super-easy tip that she used at Charlotte Ronson for cleaning nail polish off of the model’s skin. (Hey, even pros color outside of the lines when they’re polishing tips!)
She says to go to your local craft store and pick up a sable paint brush, similar to the one here: Crazy Cart Size 10 Marble Sable Acrylic Nail Art Painting Brush Pen, $.79, amazon.com. Once you’ve painted your nails, dip the brush into your acetone remover, and gently run the brush head along your skin surrounding your nail. This trick works better than using a soaked cotton swab, since the fibers can accidentally get stuck in the polish and ruin your nails.

Make Waves…With a Flat Iron

Hairstylist Jon Reyman created free-flowing subtle waves at Charlotte Ronson—and he did it using a flat iron. Here’s how:
Beginning at your hairline and working backwards, divide your hair into one-inch sections and roll each one around two fingers to create a loose pin curl. Next, press the curl between a straightening iron’s plates, like Remington S5500 Digital Anti Static 1 Inch Ceramic Hair Straightener, $14.97, amazon.com, for a few seconds—then release. Finally, rake through your hair with your fingers to break up the wavy bends you just created.

Get the Right Bronzer

At Rebecca Taylor, makeup artist Sil Bruinsma let us in on a little secret: If you have light to medium skin, it’s best to use a yellow-based bronzer instead of an orange-based one. The undertones of the yellow formula keep your glow from looking seriously fake (think: Snooki on the Jersey Shore). He used MAC ‘Hey, Sailor!’ Bronzing Powder in Soft Sand, $24,nordstrom.com, a yellow-based bronzer, on all of the models with fair to medium-skin tones./cosmopolitan.com