Exclusive: Here's How Sarah Hyland Got Ready for the 2016 SAG Awards

The beauty product lineup

“The dress was a really bold color and it was a day of award shows and parties, which makes it hard to keep up a bright lip, so we decided on a contrast of doing a bold dress and softer makeup with a pink lip. We kept it a little bit smokey with the eyes to emphasize them because Sarah has really great eyes!” said Sarah’s makeup artist, Allan Avendano for Dior Beauty of the actress’s look for the big night.

What top shelf dreams are made of

He started off with Sarah’s eyes. “I patted Dior Backstage Eye Prime ($28; dior.com) on her eyelids with a flat brush to help with creasing and the colors last longer.” To create Sarah’s smokey eye, he used Dior 5 Couleurs Eye Palette in #056 Bar ($62; dior.com). First, Avendano dusted the light pink shade all over Sarah’s eyes to brighten the lid. With a pencil brush, he smudged the dark charcoal gray color on the outer corner of the eyes and created a slight wing and painted it into the crease. Then, he diffused the outer corner and the crease with the palette’s metallic color and created depth by applying it halfway from the outer corner towards the middle, and smudged the dark charcoal gray under Sarah’s lower lash line, and went over it with the metallic gray. On the inner corners, he used the white, shimmery metallic shade to open up Sarah’s eyes and really make them pop. Lastly, he mixed the pink and white shade with a fluffy brush and dusted it on the brow bone to highlight it

Sitting pretty

Once Sarah’s hair was towel-dried, Richman combed through a palm-sized amount of Dove Style+Care Nourishing Amplifier Mousse ($4; dove.com) to create long-lasting volume and bounce, and used a few pumps of Dove Regenerative Nourishment Serum-In-Oil ($19; dove.com) to prevent split ends and keep Sarah’s hair shiny and soft.

After Sarah’s hair was prepped, “Using a medium boar bristle round brush, I began blow drying 1-inch sections of hair directing the hair straight up off of the scalp to ensure maximum volume. After each section was dry I rolled the hair from base to ends and set it with a clip,” explained Richman. Then, he went over each section with a large barrel curling iron (1 ½”) from base to ends, spraying Dove Style+Care Strength & Shine Flexible Hold Hairspray ($8; dove.com) on each section before curling, and reset with clips.

Avendano’s technique is all about a number of light layers that once are all set, make a major impact on the red carpet

Following the shadow, he applied two coats of Diorshow Iconic Overcurl Mascara in #090 Over Black ($30; dior.com) on Sarah’s upper lashes and one coat on her bottom lashes. Avendano also applied a coat of Diorshow New Look Mascara in #090 New Look Black ($30; dior.com) to her lower lashes, which has a finer brush that’s great for lower lashes. Then, he used Ardell medium half strip lashes ($4; ulta.com) on the outer corners of the eyes and stacked Short Knot Free Individuals ($4; ulta.com) throughout the rest of Sarah’s lashes. For Sarah’s brows, he used Diorshow Universal Brow Styler ($29; dior.com) to create hair-like strokes to fill in any sparse areas, and locked them into place with Diorshow Brow Styler Gel in #003 Brown ($29; dior.com).

Contour and highlight

Thanks to skincare prep, Sarah’s complexion was radiant and red carpet-ready, so Avendano gave her skin a luminous boost with a highlight and added dimension with a subtle contour.

Using Dior’s Backstage Blender sponge, Avendano applied Diorskin Forever Foundation in #021 Linen ($50; dior.com) to target areas like Sarah’s forehead, nose, and under eye for extra coverage. Then, he went in with the Dior Skinflash Radiant Booster Pen in #025 Vanilla Glow ($38; dior.com) and, “highlighted under the eyes for radiance and brightness”, and on the sides of the lips and cupid’s bow. To give her face some dimension, he used the brown shade in Diorblush Sculpt in #004 Brown Contour ($43; dior.com) and created the shape of a “three” from her temples, hitting her cheek bones, and down to her jawline. He dusted the lighter shade in the palette on her orbital bone and cheekbones for an extra bit of highlight. Then, he used Diorblush Sculpt in #001 Pink Shape ($43; dior.com) on the apples of Sarah’s cheeks. He finished Sarah’s base by spot highlighting her orbital bone, brow bone, bridge of the nose, tip of the nose, and cupid’s bow with Dior Glow Maximizer Light Boosting Primer ($42; dior.com) and diffused it with the Backstage Blender.

Hair

Since Sarah’s dress was strapless, she opted to wear her hair down. “Since we have done a lot of textured looks in the past, today I wanted her hair to look healthy, shiny, and voluminous,” explained Sarah’s hair stylist Ryan Richman of the actress’ SAG Awards style.

First, Richman shampooed Sarah’s hair with Dove Regenerate Nourishment Shampoo ($24; dove.com) to prevent breakage, and keep her hair smooth and manageable, and a generous amount of Dove Regenerate Nourishment Conditioner ($24; dove.com) on the ends of her strands to repair its structure and give it a healthy look and feel.

The primping begins!

“When applying makeup on a day like today where Sarah is going from 2pm to probably midnight, skincare is really important to me,” said Avendano. After Sarah stepped out of the shower, Avendano toned Sarah’s skin using Burt’s Bees Intense Hydration Nourishing Facial Water ($13; burtsbees.com) to seal in moisture and get her skin ready for makeup. Then, he applied Burt’s Bees BB Cream ($15; burtsbees.com) with his hands, which that acted like a primer to cancel out redness and even her skin tone, and Burt’s Bees Renewal Smoothing Eye Cream ($20; burtsbees.com) to plump up the eye area. He finished Sarah’s skin prep with a generous coat of Burt’s Bees Squeezable Beeswax Lip Balm ($4; burtsbees.com).

Catching one last moment of relaxation while her curls set

Richman sprayed Sarah’s roots with Dove Refresh+Care Invigorating Dry Shampoo ($6; dove.com) before removing the clips from her hair. “Let the dry shampoo sit for a few minutes to absorb excess oil from the scalp leaving the hair clean and soft,” suggests Richman.

Lastly, Richman removed the clips and brushed the setting out using a Mason Pearson nylon & boar bristle brush ($205; nordstrom.com). He set a deep side part and finished with Dove Style+Care Strength & Shine Extra Hold Hairspray to lock the style in place.

Nails

For Sarah’s nails, nail artist Christina Aviles opted for Essie Ballet Slippers ($9; beauty.com), a soft color that was a pretty contrast to Sarah’s vibrant purple gown, and went over them Essie Gel Setter Top Coat ($10; beauty.com) for extra shine.

“We were looking at different creams and Sarah pulled out her Lorraine Swartz earrings that had a hint of pink. We thought it was a great way to tie in the nail color, and that’s where Ballet Slippers came in: It’s still creamy but has that subtle hint of pink.”

The bling

Sarah’s coral Lorraine Schwartz jewels were an unexpected twist of color that kept her SAG Awards look fresh and youthful.

“Sarah, myself, and Lorraine Schwartz always work close together. I sent Lorraine a picture of the gown and I thought, ‘Let’s try to do a color that people wouldn’t normally think would go with the entire look.’ She had these amazing coral earrings that had tiny diamond, shiny bits on them that were actually light purple, so that kind of pulled it all together with the purple gown,” stylist Brad Goreski said of the stunning jewels.

The dress

When it came to choosing Sarah’s gown, the actress and her stylist Brad Goreski went for J. Mendel gown in a color that was going to pop, but was also young, sexy, and cool thanks to its high slit.

“It’s very collaborative. She definitely knows what she wants and what she likes and doesn’t like,” Goreski said of how they pick Sarah’s red carpet dresses. “The J. Mendel gown was the first dress we tried on and we tried on maybe 10 to 12 gowns after that and came back to it. It’s a great color for Sarah and it was the first time she wore J. Mendel. I was really excited for her to get to wear him because I’m such a big fan of his red carpet designs and I knew it would be a match made in heaven. I’m so glad it worked out!”

Sarah gives her pout one last splash of color before stepping out to the SAG Awards

On Sarah’s lips, Avendano used Dior Contour Lipliner Pencil in #169 Grege ($30; dior.com) to fill them in and make them a little fuller. Then, he coated her lips with Rouge Dior Lipstick in #263 Swan ($35; dior.com), and added a little bit of shine by applying Dior Addict Ultra Gloss in #169 Gems (launching March 2016) in the center.

The complete look

Sarah’s complete award-winning look for the night. We’re willing to bet her J. Mendel gown, Lorraine Schwartz jewels, and Giuseppe Zanotti heels will have a spot on every best-dressed list.

Her date by her side

Sarah and her boyfriend Dominic Sherwood are a match made in red carpet fashion heaven.

On her way!

And she’s off: See you on the red carpet, Sarah!