Grammys 2013: The 5 celebs with the best hair and makeup

Now that all the close-up pics and how-tos have been posted, it’s time for me to deconstruct the best beauty looks from this year’s Grammys red carpet.

Ready? Let’s go!

Kat Dennings

New beauty crush alert! I’ve totally got my eye on Kat Dennings (she stars in the TV show 2 Broke Girls, BTW, if you don’t know her). It’s the porcelain skin… the long brown hair… the, um, voluptuousness?! (Seriously—with Katy Perry showin’ hers off as well, it was a pretty boob-centric night.)

It’s also interesting that this was one of my favourite looks because I don’t usually like dark lipstick on non-models… it can be harsh-looking and unflattering. And it’s especially risky with black cat’s-eye liner AS WELL. Somehow this girl pulls them both off, with blue sequins, even—WUT?—and I can’t figure out how it’s all working for me.

Impressed? You bet I am. Let’s keep a watch on this one, shall we?

Karlie Kloss

Well, duh. She’s a model so she’s going to look amazing no matter what. (Actually? I take that back. See: Heidi Klum.)

But seriously now. I’m really liking the new, quirky, short-haired Karlie Kloss who isn’t trying to be all conventionally sexytimes. Sometimes it’s weird, you know, when these Amazonian runway models who, let’s face it, have ZERO meat on their bones, do the whole big-sexy-hair-and-makeup thing. They’re like, 20 years old so it doesn’t seem quite authentic.

Maybe it’s just me, but I find it refreshing to see Karlie rock a cute, age-appropriate textured bob. Plus, it contrasts beautifully with her bright, tight dress. (You know, the whole “I’m not trying too hard” vibe that we should always strive for.)

Katy Perry

Okay, I debated whether or not to include Katy Perry in this lineup. I was going to choose J.Lo instead… until I looked again at this photo close-up and decided I didn’t really like her eyeliner and massive quantities of bronzer, even though she’s one of the only people on the planet that can look good in a super-tight top knot.

So back to Katy. Obviously, the dress was pretty “memorable”—and boob cut-out aside, a super-flattering colour with her hair and skin tone. And you know what? I think she looked good, all things considered. Yes, even though she continues to have the problem of overdoing it with such plastic-looking makeup. And despite the fact that her black hair is just a touch too solid-looking, making it seem like a wig.

Yep, she’s still as fake as can be—but at least it’s a pretty fake, not wacky rainbow-coloured hair fake (or any of the other attention-grabbing beauty ploys she’s used over the last couple of years). I mean, we can hardly expect her to pull a Karlie Kloss, can we?

Rihanna

Totally surprised by this one. I guess when you’ve exhausted all the outrageous beauty tricks in the book, the only thing that can really shock people is to do classic Bombshell beauty.

Rihanna’s hair is, for once, not at all scary here. I love the colour gradation and loose, soft, glam waves. Plus, excellent job on the eye shading. And she wouldn’t be RiRi without the hit of bright colour on the lips. (Or the nails—did you see those?)

Just one thing, though: is that a sweat mark down the middle of her dress?

Beyoncé

Classic, simple, perfect Beyoncé. Does this not demonstrate the power of neatly scraped-back hair with a ladylike red lip?

Of course, it helps when you have her features and bone structure. (On some people a side part would be more flattering.) The hair’s actually a low pony in the back, but what’s important is the sleekness. And the precisely-applied lipstick. It’s got a bit of a Jason Wu spring 2013 vibe to it, don’t you think?

Tell me:

Do you agree with this top five? (And if not, why not?)
Are you crushing on Kat Dennings as well?
What do you think about Katy Perry’s and Rihanna’s beauty transformations?