The Makeup and Hairstyling category is one of the most interesting at the Academy as it is the only category to only contain three nominees.       

This year, the nominees come from a best picture contender and two highly acclaimed films. The award is highly unpredictable as there is never a real basis on how the Academy chooses it. Most of the time the award can be given to a Best Picture nominee, and sometimes, the award is given to a film that will win an acting category. The Academy can also go for a big blockbuster film.  

Previous films to win this honor include "Dallas Buyers Club," "Les Miserables," "The Iron Lady," "The Wolfman" and "Star Trek."

Bill Corso and Dennis Liddiard, "Foxcatcher"

Corso is receiving his third Oscar nomination, while Liddiard scored his first Oscar nomination. Corse previously won for his work on "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events" and was also nominated for "Click." The team behind "Foxcatcher" is most likely nominated for Steve Carell's transformative makeup. In order to play the role of John du Pont, Carell had to wear prosthetics that would make him similar to the real-life figure. The Academy has awarded many films for prosthetic work in this category, including "La Vie en Rose," and "The Iron Lady." The difference, however, was those films won the Best Actress prize. "Foxcatcher" is unlikely to win the Best Actor or Best Supporting Actor award, and as a result, it is unlikely this film will win this category.

Frances Hannon and Mark Coulier, "The Grand Budapest Hotel"

This is the first nomination for Hannon, and it is the second nomination for Coulier. Coulier recently won the Best Makeup award for "The Iron Lady" in 2011. "The Grand Budapest Hotel" has been leading every film in the below-the-line categories, and this year, it already won the BAFTA for makeup and the Makeup and Hairstyling Guild. It is also the only film in this category to be nominated for Best Picture. For the past two years, a Best Picture nominee has went on to win the category, and this gives the film a huge advantage over the other contenders. It is also worthy to note, before 2013 and 2012, the last time a Best Picture nominee was in contention for this category was in 2008. That year, Best Picture nominee "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" also beat out "The Dark Knight" and "Hellboy 2: The Golden Army."

Elizaceth Yianni-Georgiou and David White, "Guardians of the Galaxy"

This is the first nomination for both Yianni-Georgiou and White. "Guardians of the Galaxy" was nominated for two below-the-line Oscars after a successful box office run. The film is a crowd-pleaser and also has the type of showy work the Academy usually likes to award. Additionally, it won the Makeup and Hairstyling guild as well as the Critics' Choice in this category. The Academy likes to award blockbusters as it showed in 2010 and 2009 with "The Wolfman" and "Star Trek." However, the difference was that those films did not compete with Best Picture nominees. "Guardians of the Galaxy" has to compete with "The Grand Budapest Hotel," which is nominated of nine Oscars and is also one of the front-runners to win the top prize.

Predictions

"The Grand Budapest Hotel" is the front-runner in this category, but "Guardians of the Galaxy" is dangerous especially after the Makeup and Hairstyling guild split the awards.