'The eyes had it' at Emmy Awards

NEW YORK -- Jillian Dempsey studies the faces of the people on the red carpet at awards shows.\nShe's there because she's the wife of "Grey's Anatomy" star Patrick "McDreamy" Dempsey. She's interested because she's a top makeup artist and the global creative color director for Avon.\nHer report from the Emmy Awards is "the eyes had it."\n"A lot of women wanted to concentrate on the drama on the eyes. Maybe because it was so hot. An intense lip might have melted," she said. Instead, the lips often had just a hint of color from a stain or not-too-gloopy gloss.\nDempsey said she saw a lot of stars wearing fake eyelashes - either full bands or individual lashes complemented by eyeliner.\nShe sat next to Ellen Pompeo and liked the way Pompeo handled her eye shadow with her purple-hued gown. \n"She had on soft purple liner under eye and a soft smoke on top," Dempsey reported. Purple will be a hot color for fall apparel, but Dempsey warns against overdoing it with makeup. She said the way to wear it is to have a light touch - either an almost sheer top layer over a neutral eyeshadow or lip gloss with just a slight purple tint.\nFor her own look, though, Dempsey wore a sheer coral shade that she just created for the spring 2007 collection. She predicts that moving through fall into spring, light- and natural-looking lips are the backstory to dramatic eyes.\nHairstylist Marc Anthony, who was working backstage at the Emmys, was a fan of Mariska Hargitay's extensions that created a sleek, sexy look - totally different from the loose, low bun that many stars wore.\nBut Anthony thought Katherine Heigl was "best tressed." She wore the bun, but Anthony said her side part and wavy bangs gave it a modern twist. "She's that stereotypical American beauty but surprises us with just how gorgeous she is every time she comes out on the red carpet," he said.\nThe hairdo can be achieved at home with large hot rollers held in place with light hairspray, said Anthony. When the hair cools, take out curlers and separate hair in the back from ear to ear. Twist the back into a bun or French twist. Create a side part with the remaining front. Gently pull and pin each side back to join the twist. Make sure to leave a gentle wave on each side to give it that retro look.\nBefore you walk out the door, Dempsey recommends snapping a quick digital photo of yourself to check your look -- whether you're a celebrity or not. It's a trick she uses whenever she's headed to a big event and one she'd suggest for women across the country to do anytime they're headed to a big event.\nBruce Grayson, head makeup artist for the Emmys, said stars also face a new challenge as the award-show broadcasts switch to high-definition TV.\nHDTV has an "infinitely sharper image," he said. "Skin doesn't look as good.\n"More people have been seeing the shows on an old standard monitor - which makes people look softer, more beautiful and it's more forgiving - but that's changing," added Grayson, who helped Olay launch its Definity moisturizers earlier this summer.\nThe filming technique is not going to revert back to the previous method, so people will have to adapt to the new one, he said. This probably will put more of an emphasis on skin care than all-over makeup such as foundation or even bronzer, both of which come out looking flat on HDTV.\nHe also said less is more for color cosmetics because they too are amplified.\nThese tips aren't only for celebrities: Grayson said that anyone using a high-definition video camera at home will see the same results.