The road to the red carpet: the Academy Awards may feel like it lasts a few days, but that's nothing compared to the months of planning the stars undergo to steal the spotlight on show night. (Cosmo informer: scintillating and surprising scoop on your favorite celebs).(Brief Article)

 
START 
 
FIRST WEEK OF DECEMBER 
 
Actresses put a high-profile hairstylist 
(who can charge anywhere from 
$1,000 to $5,000 for an Oscar day's 
work) on hold. 
 
FIRST WEEK OF JANUARY 
 
Makeup artists are hired (studios usually 
foot the bill). However, some 
actresses will book their beautifiers 
six months to a year in advance, 
After Susan Sarandon won the Oscar 
for Dead Man Walking in 1996, 
she put cosmetic queen Carol Shaw 
on hold for the following year. 
 
LAST WEEK OF JANUARY 
 
Style-savvy celebs fly to Paris to 
view the couture collections. Hilary 
Swank went with her publicist 
in 1999 to hunt for a Golden Globe 
gown ... and to keep an eye out 
for potential Oscar dresses in case 
she got nominated. 
 
FEBRUARY 12 
 
Academy Award nominations are 
announced at 5:30 A.M. Hollywood 
time. Nominees begin receiving 
dress sketches from premier 
designers that day. 
 
MID-FEBRUARY 
 
Stars enlist top trainers such as 
Nancy Kennedy to help them tone 
up for the red carpet. 
 
THREE WEEKS BEFORE 
 
Nutritionist Joy Bauer tells 
actresses to limit ...