Ivy Higa reached the end of the line in "Project Runway’s" Episode 9, titled "Race to the Finish."

The challenge was the sort designers dream about, letting their imaginations run wild to create a high-fashion look suitable for a Paris runway, to be used in a L’Oreal advertorial in Marie Claire magazine. The only control factor was that the head-to-toe look take its inspiration from L’Oreal’s Studio Secret eye shadow duos and their various finishes: bright, metallic, matte, velvet and crystal.

A win would also lead to a prize of $20,000.

Naturally, the designers were excited, and on seeing Higa’s expression the designers’ mentor Tim Gunn said, "Ivy, you look stricken."

She said she wanted to cry because it’s been a struggle to simply live and continue to build her brand in New York.

She chose to use the bright eye shadows to counter her reputation for sticking to pastels in the competition. The electric blues she chose to work with were inspired by Hawaii’s ocean waves, represented by strips of fabric. In his early critique, Tim worried she was working too literally.

The designers felt this would be a defining competition that would reveal both their breadth and limitations once and for all and color the judges’ perceptions of them to the finish.

Of course, there’s always a secondary aspect to these competitions, and a lot of the designers had been lulled into complacency after being given two days for the initial challenge. Only Michael Costello seemed to anticipate a second challenge, so he created his gown as quickly as possible, which left him prepared to easily complete the second ready-to-wear look as inspired by their couture creations.

For Hawaii’s Andy South, who was at the bottom last week and whose work had been deemed a "train wreck," the competition was about redemption, and he chose metallic finish eye shadows for the inspiration behind his woman warrior ensemble, with pleated fabric that looked like armor.

I thought he should have won. But while all the other judges praised his work, Heidi Klum dissented, and as we’ve seen time and again, what Heidi wants, Heidi gets.

While South made it to the top three, Ivy ended up in the bottom with Valerie Mayen, who could not complete her original design and whose ready-to-wear dress had no design. It didn’t help that the second model assigned to Ivy Higa was bigger than her alleged measurements, so Higa had to let out the dress at the last minute. On the runway it still looked too small.

I thought Ivy might pull through because she at least had a clear concept. But the question the judges considered was whether simpler is mo’ betta than overworking, overthinking a piece, and simple won.

As for the competition’s winner, it was Mondo for the second week in a row, this time for his kaleidoscope-inspired gown that seemed stiff and didn’t fit well in the bodice. I think what clinched his win was his ready-to-wear dress, which was simple in its silhouette but detailed and eye-catching in its slimming chevron design.