5 beauty looks from Toronto Fashion Week Spring 2016 that were totally made for Instagram

No shortage of colour backstage at @hayleyelsaesser #WMCFW ?✨?✨?

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Toronto may not be Milan, Paris or London, but at some of the shows this week the makeup and hair felt just as bold and buzz-worthy as the looks coming out of the fashion capitals this season. Whether it was the split hair at Rachel Sin, or a new take on the ombré lip at Mackage, there was a lot to love backstage (including that organic cotton candy in the media lounge).

Grace Lee, Lead Makeup Artist for Maybelline, and Jorge Joao, Redken lead stylist, flexed their creative muscles, turning out looks that warrant their own hashtag. Though there were plenty of pretty, nuanced beauty messages inspired by a variety of muses, from models off duty (Malorie Urbanovitch) to ’70s babes (Pink Tartan), it’s often the makeup and hair that you’re less likely to try at home that’s the most fun for seasoned artists to create.

“When they push me to that level, I love it,” says Joao of the designer’s request for “gloopy” strands at Mikhael Kale. We’ll have to wait until tonight’s Toronto Fashion Week Awards (you can still buy tix to fashion week’s buzziest party, btw) to learn the winners for the best hair and makeup at WMCFW, but in the meantime, we’ve rounded up the most double tap-worthy looks from our hometown.

#MikhaelKale #SS16 #WMCFW Look6 @julee__h

A photo posted by Mikhael Kale (@mikhaelkale) on

Juicy hair
An unholy amount of hair gel was used to create what looks like a strawberry jam-smeared chignon. Up close, it was kind of gross, but on the runway, it looked beautiful against Kale’s floral masterpieces.

No shortage of colour backstage at @hayleyelsaesser #WMCFW ?✨?✨?

A photo posted by Fashion Magazine (@fashioncanada) on

Rainbow liner
Hayley Elsaesser isn’t afraid to make a beauty statement (we especially loved the glittery hair from Spring 2015) and this season was no exception. Lids were lined with a combination of craft store paint, lipstick and eyeliner for an optimistic streak of colour that complemented the rainbow bobby pins and nails.

Ombré lip 2.0
It’s “a little hard for spring, which is surprising,” says Lee of the new twist on ombré lips she conceived for Mackage. Rather than move the darker pigment from the centre of the lips out, the gradation moved from top to bottom. On the lower lip, colour was blended for a finish that looked blurred, almost like it was topped off with an Instagram filter.

Glitter bomb
At Matthew Gallagher, while the majority of the models wore rose gold flecks on the lids (anchored with Baby Lips balm), Lee did something special for the finale: before the last model stepped out on the runway, Lee dusted her entire face and décolletage with glitter. At Helder Diego many of the models were given a smokey eye, but the look moved into more intense territory with glitter being layered on top of the sultry shadow as the show progressed. In some cases, Lee dusted the models’ foreheads as well.

Split hair
It already has its own hashtag, but #splithair (the beauty movement marked by women dyeing their hair in two totally different shades) could also describe the look at Rachel Sin. One half of the head was tightly braided, and the other, hair was left loose and wavy.

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