Costume Institute Gala 2007: Molly Sims

I don't know what to say except I don't like it. She reminds me of that horrible look that Charlize Theron was sporting at the Oscars a few years back. She looks washed out and her lipstick matches her dress - a definite no-no. Her eyeshadow is the same colour as her hair and in the same colour-family of her eyes! What could she have done differently? I would say that pink lips and cheeks would be a good start.

Costume Institute Gala 2007: Liv Tyler

Personally, I think that the red lip is overrated, but I couldn't help but love this one on Liv Tyler. Her red is more orangy. Because of the brilliant colour of her dress, anything else would have made the dress the center of attention. With her mouth now the focus, both she and the dress stand out.

Costume Institute Gala 2007: Shalom Harlow

This is Shalom Harlow with Viktor and Rolf. Do I love her makeup? No. Am I telling you to go out and get this lipstick? mmmm, maybe? The point is that there's a trend here: goth. Don't follow this one if you want to look pretty.

Costume Institute Gala 2007: Lindsay Lohan

Though I didn't love her dress, I did like Lindsay's simple makeup. She went for a classic smokey eye, but it's not at all overdone or elaborate. It really just looks like they smudged one dark shadow on her eyelids and followed with a nude lipcolour. Take notes because this is a look that's so wearable and easy to do yourself.

Costume Institute Gala 2007: Cate Blanchett

Everyone was talking about Cate Blanchett and her beautiful dress this year, but some say that her face looked a little scary. The problem? The brown eyeshadow around her eyes, which I suppose was meant to coordinate with the colour of her dress. The one thing that we can learn from this is that brown eyeshadow really does make blue eyes more noticeable, but perhaps they should have stuck to using the brown eyeshadow as a shimmery liner instead.

Costume Institute Gala 2007: Makeup Hits and Misses

Why look to celebs dressed for a night out, one might ask. More often than not, their makeup is professionally done anyhow, and their looks might be difficult to replicate.

Well, besides the fact that it's fun, and although makeup artists are for the most part well-trained experts, mistakes do happen and sometimes, what looks good in a room isn't what looks good on the runway. Plus, think of it as someone else doing the experimenting for you and you can just take away a few pointers.

I should note that the celebrities who look best are usually those who stick to their own style and don't try anything new. They know what works for them and they always look like themselves. Jennifer Aniston is a good example. People call her boring (and she should try to take more fashion risks) but neck up, she looks consistently good.

So, to follow are some highlights from the Costume Institute Gala of this year.