Hair is the single most important beauty trend for fall. From Prada’s beehives to Dolce&Gabbana’s topknots, we rounded up the some of the biggest (literally) and best hair trends for fall, and how to get them at home.

Beehive

There is a retro feel in the air. At Prada, models strolled down the runway with exaggerated 1960s beehives. Their hair was piled high and teased into the classic round shape, accented with kitschy, knitted hair bands. To complete the look, models sported exaggerated cat-eye glasses.

Chanel also teased and pinned hair into big poufs, but with messy unfinished ends. The soft, spherical dos were decorated with crystal hair ornaments worn Geisha-style. Dramatic eye makeup also had an Asian flair.

Get this look

Tease and spray your hair lightly before attempting any updo; it will give your hair body and help it stay in place. Be sure to have a rattail comb to help push the roll into place.

• Long hair

If your hair is long, you’ll have to roll it up in to the shape you want. For the Prada or Lagerfeld look, roll your hair high on your head into a hive shape and secure it with hair pins. For the Chanel look, comb your (teased) hair straight back and then pin the roll under on the back of your head. For a runway-ready touch, add a headband or a hair ornament.

• Medium hair

Ladies with medium-length hair can try teasing then smoothing their hair into the fashionable hive or bubble shape.

• Short hair

If you have short hair, attach a hair piece in the shape you like to match your own hair. 

Flowing, Soft and Sexy

Hair at Chloe was long and soft. This carefree, but polished look is reminiscent of the 70’s -- think Farah Fawcett and Jaclyn Smith. Chloe and Ferragamo also featured this look, and the models appeared to have layers cut around their faces.

Get this look

Blow-dry hair, but not pin-straight. Use a volumizing mousse or spray to add fullness. Set your hair while it’s damp on large foam or ceramic rollers. Remove the rollers and spray your hair lightly with a brushable hair spray. Then brush the hair into soft waves.

Chignons and Knots

At Celine, Valentino and Givenchy, heads and hair were small and neat. Hair was drawn back in classic chignons or clipped into a boyish cut. Classic chignons work well to show off fall’s high military-type collars and voluptuous furs.

One of the prettiest and most accessible looks was at Dolce&Gabbana. Models came down the runway with their hair pulled back in artfully messy knots. The makeup was dewy looking with soft eyes and red lips.

Get this look

For the most flattering look when wearing a chignon or ponytail, avoid positioning it at widest part of your face. If you have a wide jaw, wear your ponytail or chignon higher on your head for a flattering look. If your face is thin, wear it at the nape of your neck. A perfect oval-shaped face works with either option.

First, put your hair into a pony tail, and then pin your hair into a loose knot. If it’s a bit messy, remember: that is part of the charm. Be sure to accent your eyes and wear a sexy red lipstick or gloss.

It’s not always sensible to take your beauty cues from the catwalks. At least not when we’re talking metal Mohawks as seen at Alexander McQueen. But for Autumn/Winter 2010, the international collections offered up some wonderfully wearable, as well as easily workable, hair and makeup inspirations, from Chloe’s bouncy long locks to Chanel’s delicious smoky eyes.

Smoky Eyes
With spring around the corner, Chanel’s yeti chic is a hard sell, but if Karl Lagerfeld’s fur moonboots are not top of our wish list, his vision for a smoky eyed siren surely is. Sydney based makeup artist Allison Boyle, who’s worked with Miranda Kerr and Nicole Richie, suggests boosting the mascara effect: First, sweep a creamy eye shadow all over your lid to just above the crease and into the inner corner. Apply black mascara on your top lashes. Wipe the excess off the mascara wand and gently press the wand onto skin all around the edges of the shadow for a stippled effect.

Shiny Hair
At the Chloe show, shiny, flowing hair ruled -- a carefree style that’s just right for the Australian summer. "Bouncy, clean hair is something I often look for in a model," says local designer Fleur Wood. "It enhances a girl’s natural beauty and always looks chic.  My hair director, Brad Ngata, who works on my shows and shoots, says the secret is in the prep. Always brush hair before washing, use a high-quality shampoo and conditioner, and rinse your conditioner with cold water to get that glossy look.”

Big Braids
Thick plaits were anything but schoolgirlish at Christian Dior. That was down to pumping up the volume, says leading Australian hairstylist, Jayne Wild of Wild Life in Sydney’s Milson’s Point. “If you're blessed with long, thick, wavy hair, then simply gather it to the side, section off to the beginning at the ear and start braiding by picking up the outside section (closest to your face) as you go. Once done, pull at the braid to give that fuller, more relaxed feel.”

If your hair is straight, cheat! “To ‘texture-set’ the front section [which at the Dior show was where the volume was focused], take small, say 75mm, sections of hair, and tease with a midsized tooth comb all the way down the shaft. Then, run your heated hair straightener tongs over the teased area. Continue this throughout the section you have chosen, and leave to cool down for a couple of minutes. Then, brush it out enough to put your fingers through and begin braiding all the way down the shaft, securing at the ends. As you pull at the braid to loosen it up, the texture setting will help give it a fuller, more dishevelled look.”

Stain Gang
At Dolce&Gabbana, alabaster complexions were brightened with a sexy hint of lip colour. Soft, smooth lips are an essential starting point, warns Allison Boyle. “Stains look dreadful on dry lips. To get soft lips, exfoliate with a damp washcloth. Add a balm treatment, being careful to blot the excess off with a tissue before you apply a light stain for a berry-kissed pout.”

If Ruby Rose -- Australian VJ, TV host, model, fashion icon, and more recently, budding fashion designer -- sports a hairstyle for longer than a month, chances are she’s either in bed with the flu or on safari in Africa. In fact, she’s made a career out of changing her style, to the point where she is now considered a fashion icon. She’s an individual who rarely follows trends. Instead, she’s resolutely fashion-forward.

In the space of a couple of years, the 24-year-old presenter’s locks have gone from long, black and sleek (with an ongoing penchant for a blunt fringe) to punk-rocker short and shaved, to everything in between. Colourwise, she’s skipped the spectrum from blue-ish silver to platinum blonde, raven black to honey blonde. She’s bleached it, cropped it and chopped it, streaked it and grown it -- and that’s just for starters.

“I think of [style] as art,” says Rose. “It’s a way to express yourself without words.” The Melbournite’s style evolution can be traced back to when she first graced Australian television screens in 2007. She was discovered at an open audition call for an MTV VJ and successfully beat out 2,000 hopefuls. MTV fell for her look, and her desire to walk to the beat of her own fashion drum (she rarely uses a stylist).

Before auditioning for MTV, Rose was runner-up in the Girlfriend magazine model competition. First place was given to her future on-off girlfriend, Catherine McNeil. (McNeil has since gone on to appear on the covers of Vogue Australia, Vogue Paris, V and Numero magazines, as well as a host of glossy advertising campaigns.)

But back to Rose; her ever-changing hairstyles, not to mention her growing collection of tattoos, has gone hand in hand with her ever-changing sartorial style. We’ve seen her evolve from tomboyish indie DJ to fashion icon, more likely to be seen wearing Chanel than ripped denim.

Depending on her mood, Rose’s hairstyles range from in-your-face rock chick, to a 1920s-inspired flapper silver-blonde bob. At the time of writing, she’s flaunting softer brown tones and her fringe is topped with a smattering of golden streaks. It’s a more sophisticated palette, but she still retains her unique look.

As an extension of her style, Rose has branched into fashion. Recently, she collaborated with Sydney label Milk & Honey to launch her first capsule fashion line, which features slogan T-shirts, distressed jeans and rock-chic jackets.

Whatever happens, you can be sure of one thing when it comes to Ruby’s hair: Nothing stays the same. 

Top Hair Tips for Bright Locks

1. If you have bleached hair, make sure you buy shampoo and conditioner that is specially formulated. This stops blond tresses from adopting a yellowish tinge, keeps the colour in and refreshes your look. Still, don’t go overboard, as this type of shampoo can invite a bluish tinge -- unless that’s the look you’re after, like Ms. Rose.

2. If you colour your hair regularly, be sure to use repairing treatments. You can get ones to use at home that will put moisture back into your hair and help repair split ends. 

3. Go easy with the dryer. Don't automatically reach for the dryer every time you wash your hair. Using dryers, curling tongs and straighteners will make hair more porous -- and porous hair doesn't hold colour as well -- so let it dry naturally when you can.

Photo Credit: ©iStockphoto.com/Angel_a

The fashion forecast for fall and winter is a free-for-all with a dizzying diversity of styles and moods, and the same is true for hair. Take your pick: disheveled long hairstyles that are a throwback to the ’90s; sophisticated volume that revisits ’60s beehives or early ’70s chic; or a high-camp glam reinterpretation of the power woman. This season is all about choice, says celebrity hairstylist Sam McKnight, who worked his magic at some of the biggest runway shows, including those for Chanel, Mulberry, Prada, Vivienne Westwood and Fendi. “But whatever look you go for,” says McKnight, “it relies on great hair that’s been well cared for.”

Get your blow-dryers fired up: Here’s a step-by-step guide to the three biggest hair looks of the upcoming seasons.

Hair Trend No. 1: Power Glam
The perfect accompaniment to tailored, slightly masculine fashion, long hair is both slick and swingy.

Get This Look
1. Comb mousse through towel-dried hair, starting from the hairline, back about 4 to 6 inches to just behind your ears. Keep hair slick to the scalp on the top and sides.

2. Gently blow-dry the top of the head with a diffuser attachment.

3. Blow-dry the loose hair until it’s straight, beginning at the nape of the neck.  Apply a smoothing serum, then flat iron the mid-length to the ends.

4. Mist with a shine hairspray. The finished look is slick and smooth on the top and sides, with the ends swinging. 

Hair Trend No. 2: Groomed Grunge
It’s a “care less” look, but not a “careless” one. Think Kate Moss in the early ’90s, or Alicia Silverstone’s Cher in Clueless -- plaid and checks, head-to-toe leather and low-slung belts on jackets and coats. “The hair is easy,” says McKnight, “but there’s work involved in getting it to look this good.”

Get This Look
1. Towel dry freshly washed and conditioned hair.

2. Comb volumizing mousse through hair, starting 2 inches away from the roots to the ends.

3. Using a large round brush, blow-dry hair away from the face and add a slight bend at the ends.

4. Use fingers to create a messy part and twist hair at the roots to add texture and volume; use the blow-dryer to disrupt any overly coiffed sleekness.

5. Spray a flexible-hold hairspray into the air and walk through the mist.

Hair Trend No. 3: The Blow-up
Retro influences from the ’60s and early ’70s create a hodgepodge of ladylike but edgy looks -- Jackie O. meets Bianca Jagger meets Christina Hendricks’ Joan Harris on “Mad Men.” To complement these looks, hair gets voluminous in beehives, bouffant and beyond.

Get This Look
1. Work volumizing mousse into towel-dried hair from root to tip.

2. Blow-dry hair with head tipped upside down for maximum volume.

3. Starting at the crown, divide hair into small sections and back comb with a fine-toothed comb, starting 3 inches from the root and gently pushing hair to the scalp.

4. Standing back a foot or more, spritz each section with a volumizing hairspray.

5. Using a soft bristle brush, smooth over the top of the hair, brushing backward from the face. Mist again with hairspray.

6. Gather the ends of the hair loosely at the back and secure with a snag-free elastic.

7. Roll hair under and into the nape of the neck, tucking under and securing with bobby pins. 

8. Allow loose tendrils to escape for a look of modern imperfection.

Fashion swings like a pendulum, and these days, it’s describing an arc away from super-shiny hair of dubious provenance, toward matte tresses as messy as an unmade bed. The look began on the Paris runways this spring and summer, where models wearing shimmering, reflective fabrics sported hair that was the opposite of the glossy clothes: flat in texture, full of body and deliberately dulled down.

Surprisingly, the look of two-day-old hair seemed fresh, and the trend has taken off, appealing to women who want a bad-girl edge that says “I’m not trying too hard.” For its star practitioner, look no further than Twilight’s Kristen Stewart, an actress who rocks the matte look both on and off camera.

Careful readers of fashion magazines will notice that the “no product look” can be seen on models in both articles and ads, with bed-head hair that is neither shiny nor stick-straight. It’s as if they all “just said no” to silicone (products, that is).

Get the Matte Look
Summer is the perfect time to try this trend, because it’s warm enough to let hair dry naturally without a blow-dryer, which uses heat to add shine. To get the look of unwashed hair without having to wait for it to happen in real time, we asked Fabrice Gili, the national creative director of Frederic Fekkai salons, for tips.

• Hair washing: Wash your hair with your regular shampoo, but for the second shampoo, take a plain bar of all-natural olive oil soap. “I like the traditional cube soap that my grandmother used on us when I was growing up in France, but any olive oil soap that’s pure, gentle and unscented will do,” he says. Lather up and massage the foam starting halfway down your hair all the way to the ends, carefully avoiding the roots. Rinse thoroughly. “The soap will leave a matte finish wherever it was applied, and add depth and texture,” says Gili. It’s best to air-dry your hair, but if that’s not possible, try attaching a diffuser to the blow-dryer. “Any other tools, like a straight iron or a flatiron, will only add shine and negate the effect you’re trying to achieve,” he says.

• An even quicker way to get matte hair is by styling it dry and using a powder. Sprinkle or spray dry shampoo on the roots, working it through the scalp, and then bend over to brush it out. “The powder surrounds the shaft of the hair, almost doubling its circumference, which makes it look and feel a lot thicker,” explains Gili. “On all the fashion shoots I’ve been doing lately, I’ve been using dry shampoo, and it adds a lot of body and gives a really big result,” he says. If you’re all out of dry shampoo, baby powder will work in a pinch, he adds.

• Another way to tamp down the shine while adding texture is to braid your hair while it’s still wet. “A few hours later, take out the braid, and you will find a nice matte soft wave,” he says.

If ever there was a low-maintenance but avant-garde hairstyle, the matte-and-mussed look is it. Gili invites you to try it. “This is being worn by young, contemporary women who are thoroughly trendy and ‘get’ what’s happening,” he says. And it may be happening throughout the fall season, if the hairstyles at the recent fall/winter ready-to-wear shows are any indication. Talk about putting out the “welcome matte.”