Traveling down a few feet, the nail art and polishes that came out recently revolutionized the world of nail accessories and fashion. Tip trend-setters like Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, and even the women who check you in at the airport with those notoriously big, long, and statement-quality nails helped put nail portraits, 3D nail designs, and glue-on shapes and objects on a relatively mainstream market. Sally Hansen, OPI, and Sephora did the rest of the work by creating collections of stick-ons, fast-dries, and metallics that were affordable and accessable.
However, behind all the glamour and fun, bright new color choices was another obvious fashion trend: flashiness. Advertising campaigns for nails and makeup alike boasted that they had something NEWER, BRIGHTER, more NEON, more SPARKLY, or BOLDER than the competitors. And thus the era of flashiness began.
But the fall/winter 2012-2013 collection is bringing in a new phase in the beauty department--the phase of CLASSIER (not flashier). Nail ideas are still as fun and novel as ever, but the industry has surpassed the "experimentation" stage and created products that show off a woman's fun side as well as her sophistication. After all, it is extremely difficult to feel sophisticated wearing Windex-blue nail polish to a formal or solemn event--believe me, I've tried. But with the new looks I'm about to show you, you won't have that problem again!
With a special thanks to Mimako, a wonderful nail specialist at the Cherry Creek Mall Sephora Nail Bar
Texture
Velvet
Ciaté is a new featured nail polish brand at Sephora, offering a new, festive look for nails. A product entitled the "Velvet Manicure" provides a bottle of polish (either navy blue, purple/maroon, or off-white) and a tube of velvet-y powder that you sprinkle onto nails the instant you finish coating them with color. Lightly tap the fuzz down after applying it. After waiting a few seconds, use the little brush to dust off loose fuzzies that aren't held down by the polish.
This look isn't the best if you're washing dishes or getting super wet, but this warm winter look is a fun cool-weather way to wear your nails for a few days.
Pearl
Ciaté isn't just pioneering the texture market on the fabric side; this brand has it covered on the glamour side, too. Ciaté gives the option of having 3D caviar micro-perle decour on your nails in three wonderful shades; mother of pearl, rainbow, and black pearl. To apply this out-of-this-world style, coat your nail (do them one at a time so the polish doesn't dry too quickly) and tap the pearls out of the bottle, being careful that they land on the nail and cover as much surface area as possible. Then, carefully press down on the pearls with a fingertip to "glue" them down with the polish, being extra careful when you lift your fingertip up so that the pearls don't come away with your finger. If you have any blank spots where the pearls fall off, press a fingertip into a spread of pearls and dab them onto the wet spot.
The pearls are actually awesome tiny multicolored/tinted beads that catch the light in different angles; I'm wearing this on some of my nails right now and they alternate from appearing white, neon/glowing, and multicolored. A few pearls may fall off within the two day window, but it's easy to retouch the look with the polish and bead bottle.
graphics
Fishnets
Nails Inc, a British nail polish brand now featured as part of Sephora's Nail Bar, has an intruiging new take on the magnetic nail polish look as produced first by China Glaze and later by Sally Hansen. Nails Inc calls one of their magnetic polish collections the Fishnet collection, due to the fishnet-shaped design created by magnets on the bottom of the bottle. Offered in different colors--and different patterns, Nails Inc metallic magnetic polishes are all super fun, long lasting (roughly two weeks), magnetically designed nail adornments that are subtle enough to wear to almost any occasion but fresh and glamourous enough to wear out and about. Plus, the idea of having a nail polish pattern in the easily recognized fishnet pattern is just pure British genius. Also, the so-called "age limit" for this type of polish is much higher than the previous limit to other companies' brighter, more flashy magnetic designs.
Cupcake
Nails Inc didn't just leave it at fishnets. They took texture fun into Girl World, too, with a collection of polishes that decorate your nails with confetti-like pieces of color that look like cupcake sprinkles. These flirty shades are perfect to mix and match with various pastel colors as base coats, and they also look cute with more than one shade to a hand.
Other Fun Things
Scented Nail Polish
This new nail product, now offered at Sephora Nail Bars, enables customers to have sweet or lusciously scented nails. Rather than opting for the infamous "nail polish" smell that everyone loathes with a passion, companies are now beginning to offer polishes infused with perfume. Fun, no?
“Matte-ify”
Sephora is also offering a matte-ifying top-coat. This polish is meant to go on top of any typical, glossy nail polish if you want to make it non-shiny. This isn't a concept I'd ever even thought of before, but it is interesting to consider that there has never been a completely matte nail polish. Ever! We have matte lipsticks and eyeshadow palettes, but nail polish? It's basically in its biology (although let's face it, there isn't much 'biology' in nail polish, but you know what I mean) to be shiny. I'm not sure if I particularly care for this new fashion opportunity, but if you're interested, go for it!
hot and top shades for this season
Speaking honestly, I can't write a post about nail polish without making
a few color recommendations! I know you all want to know the in colors for fall
and winter nails, and what's fleeing the shelves due to popular demand. So I
asked a nail expert at Sephora for a mini list of this season's hottest shades
and top-pick colors.
From the Sephora collection: high maintenance (a very red red), metro
chic (a grayish-purple color that cashmere sometimes comes in), caffeine fix (a
dark burgundy), and I'm with Brad (another burgundy color that's a bit more
like satin. Does anyone else wonder if Angelina wears this shade?)
So have fun this year in choosing your new polishes! For women in the workplace, know that there are many fun, fresh ways to paint your nails that are both exciting and appropriate for professional attire; try out a velvet manicure, a matte topcoat, or a dark burgundy color when the fall days start to get a bit chilly! For women looking for something totally new and glamourous, opt for a caviar pearl mani, golden fishnets on those fingers, or a shockingly perfect scented nail polish. And for anyone interested in something perfectly wonderful, or a new twist on something classy and classic, try out a bright red nail polish for those tips or even a cupcake sparkle to go for the sweetest look you can! :)
Have fun with those nails this year, ladies, and know that these tips and ideas are part of a movement to get fun, unique nails classier, not flashier!
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