The designers behind Canadian label Greta Constantine –  Kirk Pickersgill and Stephen Wong – always kick off the start of Toronto Fashion Week. They consistently show off-site, usually at Toronto hot spots and always far from the hustle and bustle of TFW. For their fall/winter 2012 collection they chose the freshly renovated Arcadian Court in the Simpson Tower on Bay Street. Gorgeous, BTW. [caption id="attachment_5596" align="aligncenter" width="471" caption="Photo courtesy of L’Oréal Professionnel."] [/caption] The show was stunning. Some of the duo's best work yet, in my opinion. They had a theme and they stuck to it: "A woman scorned." We saw a mix of stiffness and softness throughout the collection. It had a few hits of colour, such as cobalt, red, magenta and emerald, but the major colour story was black. They did plenty of their signature drapery, but also introduced a lot of fitted tailoring and stiffness to the collection. Yes, it's true, I  loved the garments – but I fell just as hard for the hair and makeup. It played a much bigger role than just the "supporting cast." It brought the designers' theme to life. [caption id="attachment_5604" align="aligncenter" width="359" caption="Photo courtesy of L’Oréal Professionnel."] [/caption]

• Lead artist: Daniel Fiorio for L’Oréal Professionnel, owner of Salon Daniel Spa.
• Inspiration: "We wanted the hair to reflect like the silky-smooth feeling and look of draped jersey," says Fiorio, which is what the Greta Constantine design duo are best known for.
• The look: The style, "is not common or soft, it's architectural," explains Fiorio. To start, the whole head was sprayed with a hefty dose of  L’Oréal Professionnel Texture Expert Fresh Dust (which made its debut at the fashion show). He then shaped the hair by pinning it into a super-sleek ponytail. A section at the front of the hairline was left unsecured, back-combed and pinned into place to hide the ponytail. Everything was secured down with a whole lotta L’Oréal Professionnel Infinium Lumière.

[caption id="attachment_5607" align="aligncenter" width="313" caption="Photo courtesy of L’Oréal Professionnel."] [/caption]

• Lead artist: Melissa Gibson, M.A.C Cosmetics senior artist
• Inspiration: Sinister beauty was the idea behind this not-so-average makeup look. "I'm creating an army of beautiful soldiers," says Gibson. "It's a strange kind of beautiful, almost alien-like," she adds.
• The look: It was all about the eyes. Gibson blocked out the models' eyebrows, "so you don't know if they're happy, sad or just angry," she says. Next, a dark shadow was used to create the black butterfly winged effect, and the inner and outer corners of the eyes were lined with a golden pigment. The colour combo "gives the eye an intense soft futuristic look," says Gibson.