I say – when in doubt, go for Classic Beauty. No one has ever been dinged for looking too beautiful. Edgy can backfire if you don’t get it just right. Casual can look like you didn’t care. Beautiful is always the right answer. Here’s who got it right in my estimation.

Ashanti – Ashanti had my favorite look of the night. Her red dress added much needed color and vibrancy. The upswept hair made her look award show worthy but it wasn’t a severe up-do that made her look old. Her makeup was well defined. She had great brows, great cheeks and pretty painted lip but NOT a red lip. By avoiding the “red lip to match the dress” cliche, I feel her look was fresher and more current. Her makeup was fully appointed yet it did not overpower. The result was a look that was chic and both age and event appropriate. She looked fab!

Ashanti at the 2010 BET Awards

Ciara – I don’t know much about Ciara, but I’ve read various things questioning her taste level. Ironically, perhaps, I thought she had one of the more tasteful looks of the night. Her look for Awards night was chic and simple without looking old. With a light smokey eye and a clean nude lip, Ciara looked great both outside in the harsh daylight and indoors under studio lights.

Jeanette Jenkins – I tend to focus more on makeup & hair and not the fashions, but as I’ve said before, what you wear often affects how your makeup and hair ultimately looks. I noticed a red carpet trend towards beige-y, tan-y fashions that were about skin tone for many of the ladies wearing them. Hence, several ladies looked quite washed out on the Red Carpet. Jeanette Jenkins – fitness trainer to the stars – wore a white dress that looked crisp and fresh and accentuated her skin tone instead of washing her out. Along with her short cropped, natural textured ‘do and fresh makeup with a pop of color on the lips, Jeanette put together a look that was both casual and put together.

Nia Long – Is Nia Long a part of this Illuminati we keep hearing about? Because she is just NOT aging. LOL! Nia looked fresh and chic w/ light smokey eye and nude lip w/ trademark pixie haircut. Like Ciara, she looked great both indoors and outdoors.

Omarosa – Reality Show persona notwithstanding, most times I see her, Omarosa looks very well put together. For the BETs I loved her beautiful Veronica Lake hairstyle, simple & chic makeup with a nice hit of color in the dress and on the lips

Mowry Sisters – On the Mowry sisters we saw sides of the coin; one easy chic (Tia) and one nighttime glam (Tamera). Both look polished and put together without going over or under the top.

Keri Hilson – I picked her for the list because I love when ladies aren’t afraid to wear color on the eyes for these types of events. By forgoing a smokey eye and employing color instead, the look is younger and a bit edgier.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Marsha Ambrosius – I actually though Marsha fell into the ‘under done’ category overall makeup/hair-wise but I wanted to make an honorable mention of her for wearing a natural hairstyle. As a black woman who wears my own hair natural, it’s always refreshing to see something other than that parade of straight weaves walking down the step and repeat. Hopefully as more celebs confidently wear their hair natural to these events, more people will see that natural hair can be glamorous, too.

This year was no exception fashion-wise, but hair and makeup-wise… hmmmm…. Whenever the fashion shows are really neutral as they were this past season, there’s a collective “uh-oh” throughout the makeup community because – contrary to popular belief – neutral is actually fairly difficult to do and to wear. Most women look better with color on their face. The Red Carpet for the Oscars was no exception. The one variance on the “neutral” rule for the fashion shows this past Fashion Week was the neutral face with the strong lip. The celebs whose artists did a version of that look faired much better on the “Step and Repeat” than their all-neutral counterparts. Another runway trend that is difficult to translate to real life is “tousled” hair. It’s a fine line between tousled and un-done. In all, with a lot of washed out faces and not entirely there hair, there were several people who had aspects of their look that were good, but very few who hit it from head to toe. Let’s talk about those who did hit the nail on the head…

Once again, Sandra Bullock – Different from her Golden Globe look, Ms. Bullock went all pale – including her gown – with a sharp pop of color on the lips, and beautifully coifed dark hair. By going with a vibrant, rather than a dark lip color and keeping everything else clean clean clean the look is fresh and chic instead of any kind of Goth. (and congrats to Sandra for her Oscar win!)

Queen Latifah – Queen Latifah has beautiful skin, face shape and bone structure so I’ve noticed that for events she and her team – wisely – just pull her hair back. This lets her gorgeous face be the star of the show. Instead of following any type of fashion-show inspired trend, her artist just did a classic beautiful face focusing on the eyes and keeping the rest of the face soft. And I love to see women of color wear blush because it picked up the (gorgeous) color of her gown and made her whole face glow.

Kate Winslet – Again… sometimes you just have to let the trends go. Kate was flawless from head to toe. Impeccable yet simple hair, fabulous skin with just enough blush to make her radiant, just enough intensity on the eyes without going overboard, and a nice slick of gloss in a rosey color. Simple, chic, elegant. Once Again Folks – Less is more…

Meryl Streep – As a “grand dame” in Hollywood (I think Ms. Streep is 60 now), it’s so essential to look age appropriate – i.e. don’t try to look too “young” – without looking matronly and needlessly “old”. Aside from the fact that she’s obviously taken very good care of herself and she looks amazing, style-wise Meryl’s look is proof that Classic Is Always The Right Answer. I like that she kept the hair a bit looser which is a “younger” look. Also, her artist managed to use an allover soft makeup color palette without having her look washed out, which was a real problem for a lot of people this year. The peach/pink palette really suits her skintone and, on the technical level, whoever did her makeup worked it out because it was impeccably applied.

Picking out the best of for the Grammy’s was a bit more challenging than the Golden Globes. To be honest, there was a lot of Just OK in my opinion. Personal taste aside, there was also a lot of the same look going on. All of my makeup friends made the same comments all over Twitter – too many smokey eyes going on, and all pretty much the same heavy black/charcoal smokey eye. That’s the thing – smokey eyes can actually vary quite a bit, can be achieved through the use of a lot of different colors and create a look that is both dramatic and new and fresh. Alas, most ladies stick to the heavy black/charcoal variety. A well done dark smokey eye is never a bad look, but lets just say it’s a look that’s been around for a long time now if you catch my drift..

Ankywhoo, with that said let’s celebrate who came strong with the hair and makeup…

Taylor Swift – I don’t know much about Taylor as an artist, but I’ve noticed a definite vintage streak in her style choices. I thought the old-time “hollywood glamour” look she and her team put together for her Grammy look was fab. They let the drama come through via upswept hair, pale skin and red lips and keep the eyes relatively clean (looks like a bit of a smudge and lashes but not a full-on smokey eye). Likewise, while not wearing black, she is wearing a dark color so keeping the face lighter by comparison keeps the look more fresh. The result is full-tilt glamour that is clean and modern and befitting a young woman of Taylor’s age.

Jennifer Hudson – Aside from the full-body makeover that’s clearly happening for Jennifer (she looks great!), her makeup and hair were perfect. Her look was nicely soft and feminine to balance out her all black ensemble. In my opinion had she done a dark eye with that dark outfit it would have been too much. Instead her artist brought light to her eyes to make them shimmer and sparkle in the lights and left the rest of the face soft and pretty. The updo shows off neck and bone structure and the bangs frame her face nicely and keeps her looking young and fresh.

Jennifer Nettles – Sad to say, I don’t even know who this artist is but she looked fantastic. You know I love it when women wear color on the red carpet and her gown was stunning, IMO. Complexion wise – as she seems to be relatively fair – it added warmth and glow to her face. Thus she and her team wisely realized that she needed little more than some nice eyeliner/mascara/lashes, a nice flush of color on the cheeks, and a simple sweep of lip gloss to complete her look. Less is more, folks. Less is more…

Mary J. Blige – In the interest of full disclosure I should mention that I love Mary as an artist and I’m rather biased. LOL! That said Mary really looked stunning. I’m not that into ”urban wear” so Mary and I aren’t always on the same fashion page, however, I thought her dress was just enough classic while being just enough “street”, and it fit phenomenally and showed off that Mary is in fantastic shape. Bringing it back to makeup and hair, the gown’s luscious color fully complemented and enhanced her skin tone. Mary’s makeup is probably the most “glam” of all the ladies I’ve chosen (sculpted eye, fully manicured and filled in brows, heavy liner, contour and highlighting… the full she-bang) but her artist did so in a softer color palette that brought the drama without going over the top. I also really like her hair… I like how her natural (or a color that could pass for her natural) color is at her roots nearest to her face and then the blonde acts as a highlight. Not having the blond right at her face is more flattering to her skin-tone, because it’s less contrasting. It’s a subtle thing, but it makes a big difference, IMO.

What about the “edgy” girls you might say? Well, I tell you. Some background on me; while my makeup aesthetic leans towards the clean and pretty, my personal lifestyle has been completely alternative. I’ve never really listened – and still don’t listen – to mainstream music. I was heavily into post-punk and alt rock starting in my early teens to the present day and in college I became involved with electronic music/dj culture which also continues to the present day. Hence, I don’t know who a lot of mainstream music acts are. But as far as how that affects how I see style – I often feel like there isn’t a lot I haven’t seen already and specifically I consider right now to be an extremely derivative time for style. “80s chic” has been in seemingly forever and will seemingly not go away… the same “rave” looks that I was doing back in the early 90s are back in action… Yeah, not a whole lot new under the sun. Well, and the one thing that is new seems to be ’stripper chic’ and I’m hoping that trend dies very very quickly.

Some of the makeup/hair looks that I think are worth a mention;

Kate Hudson – With a not overly done smokey eye, contoured face and pale pink lip, Kate’s look was upscale and elegant without being matronly.

Mo’nique – Just right on every level, head to toe. I suspect Mo’nique just has really beautiful skin in real life because her skin always looks amazing. Her artist accentuated her beautiful skin and had her glowing (but not shiny or greasy looking which is a danger with darker skin under lights). She looked fantastic.

Sandra Bullock – I always forget her age. Sandra always manages to look very fresh and youthful by not over doing it. Her makeup was relatively minimal with emphasis on vibrant skin and she looked fantastic for it.

Christina Hendricks – It was refreshing to see an example of fair – non tanned – beauty. Fair toned women always worrying about looking “darker” is right on par with darker toned women trying to look lighter. You will always look best when you accentuate your own natural beauty. And the bright red lip to go with her bright red hair was fierce (and balanced by the muted color of her dress).

Paula Patton – Another good example of how a younger woman does “sophisticated”. What I liked about Paula’s look was how her artist (or she) brought a little pop of color into her smokey eye to make it fresher and then kept the rest of her face clean and pretty.

Amy Adams - Lovely pregnancy chic. Keeping the hair relaxed in a loose up-do and the makeup clean and glowing allowed her “soul-glow” to be the highlight of her “look” for the evening.

Common Denominator – While I’m not critiquing the fashions because that’s not my expertise, I did notice that none of my choices for best makeup and hair were wearing black. Black has it’s moments, but it can also be harsh and aging. Color is generous in terms of how it energizes the skin and all of the women I mentioned looked fresh, youthful and current. Don’t fear the color, folks!