GREEN WITH NAIL ENVY

NUDE NAILS - DO YOU DARE TO BARE?

Pastel-Perfect Summer Nails

(article published for TStylesU)

Jessica's Gelato Mio nail polish collection 
(image courtesy of Gerrard International)

Pastels are everywhere you look this season, dominating the catwalks, and filtering down to the high street en masse too. ‘Gelato Mio’, Jessica’s new Summer 2012 nail polish collection, reflects the trend, with six mouthwatering pastel shades to keep your nails bang up to date this summer.

Spring Awakening

My last few manicures have been quite bright, and novelty-inspired, so I decided to go for a more toned down look this time.

I chose a beautiful neutral lavender-based creme polish, Soar, from Jessica’s second Spring collection this year, Spring Awakening. I thought the colour was really feminine and elegant looking, and made a nice change from the type of colours I’ve been having lately.

Classic me though, I couldn’t leave it at just that. So I had glitter tips put on my pinkies for a little added pizzazz. The rainbow glitter flecks in OPI’s Bring On The Bling, bring out the muted lavender base of the nude polish, and just put the glitter cherry on the manicure. 

A simple yet effective way to spice up neutral-toned nails, without going OTT. Perf! 

Soar manicure with Bring On The Bling pinky tip

2012 Spring Awakening Collection

The six polishes of the Spring Awakening collection, are “the new neutrals” says Jessica Vartoughian, founder and CEO of Jessica. She describes the collection as “versatile, sophisticated, understated with a touch of fun.” As well as Soar, there’s Monarch, Sky High, Wing It, Flutter, and Sunrise. Confident neutral, Flutter is another shade I’ve tried, but didn’t get chance to blog about at the time. I teamed this slate grey polish with one nail on each hand in Enchantress, a vibrant yet muted coral shade from Jessica’s Runway collection. Oh, and a peace sign stick-on, just for funsies! 

Flutter manicure with Enchantress "kelly finger" and peace sign stick-on

All of my manicures/pedicures featured are courtesy of the amazing Julie-Anne Forde. Follow on Twitter @Thebeautyboxhx 


Chloé x

Diagonal French Tips

My nails this week are another new take on the classic french manicure - the diagonal french tip. Instead of having the tips go straight across each nail, they’re angled diagonally, and are teamed with a coloured nail rather than the standard nude of a classic french. 

My diagonal tips manicure using Jessica's Bikini Blue, Samba Parade, and OPI's Alpine Snow

After finally succumbing to hotly talked about beauty craze, GlossyBox, I came across the idea in their behind the scenes video. They had used lilac and mint shades across the nails, with white diagonal tips. So I decided to go for a similar look, keeping the white tips and teaming them with my own choice of ice cream shades: Jessica’s Bikini Blue and Samba Parade pink. 

To achieve this look, use a base coat and then two coats of your chosen polish - I think this season’s ice cream colours work best against the white tips. Once dry, paint on your diagonal tip - a good choice for achieving a really crisp white, is OPI’s Alpine Snow. For this you need to be really precise if you want a crisp even line, so take your time. A second application of the tips may be required, to make sure the white isn’t showing the underneath colour through. Wait until dry to avoid dragging the colour through the white, before applying the top coat. And voila, diagonal french tips! 

All of my manicures/pedicures featured are courtesy of the amazing Julie-Anne Forde. Follow on Twitter @Thebeautyboxhx 

Chloé x

Caviar Manicure

Unless your go-to gal pals are the stars of Made In Chelsea, or you’ve been invited to a seriously posh ’do, chances are the closest taste to caviar you’ll be getting anytime soon, is of the nail variety. 

(pictures courtesy of Ciaté)

Launched in the UK at the end of March, Ciaté’s Caviar Manicure nail kit has become the latest hot commodity. The minute caviar-like beads give a statement sophisticated look, and are available in Rainbow, Black Pearls and Mother of Pearl. I went for the white Mother of Pearl collection, on two random nails, offset by polished black on the rest. 

My random Mother of Pearl Caviar nail & Jessica's Sunset Boulevard black

The trick is to paint one coat of the nail polish from the kit, on every nail you want “caviared”. Then work on one nail at a time, doing a second coat of polish and then while still wet, sprinkle the Caviar pearls. Do this over the provided tray, to catch any excess, and afterwards use the handy mini funnel to pour it back into the bottle. Gently press and compact the beads around the edge of the nail, once covered, and move onto the next nail. Lastly, use a top coat - only on the very tips, to keep your beads in place longer. 

I must say, although I was impressed with the final effect of the Caviar Manicure, it didn’t last very long at all, which was disappointing. You can’t use top coat across the whole nail of beads, as it would clog and ruin the effect, so it stands to reason that without that protection, it’s not really going to be anything more than a one-night statement manicure. Nevertheless, a worthy one-night-stand! 

The Caviar Manicure tutorial video by Ciaté's founder and Creative Director, Charlotte Knight, is available on the Ciaté website. 

All of my manicures/pedicures featured are courtesy of the amazing Julie-Anne Forde. Follow on Twitter @Thebeautyboxhx  

Chloé x

..MATTE NAILS WITH GLOSSY TIPS TUTORIAL VIDEO..

Want to achieve the look for yourself? Watch the tutorial video here..

Chloé x

Chrome Tips

After having my matte nails with glossy tips a little while ago, I’ve been looking for new ways to achieve the tips look that puts a modern twist on the classic french manicure.

My Elle High Street Edit for Spring/Summer 2012 provided me with the perfect inspiration - candy-pop nails with chrome tips. The cover model works the look with a sherbet pink colour over the main part of the nail, and a silver chrome tip, which I can only assume from the finish, are stick-ons. 

I thought it was a really striking combination, the shine of the tough chrome against the feminine pastel pink. I went for a colour-popping baby blue - Jessica’s Bikini Blue with creme finish. Because I chose this combination the day of my manicure, Julie-anne didn’t have stick-on tips available, so we decided on a silver shimmer polish instead to give the chrome look. It works just as well, and if anything will last longer than sticker-tips would anyway. 

I loved seeing the idea come together, and the finished look was exactly what I’d imagined. Why not try it with your own choice of pastel-pop shade? Would love to see your pics!

All of my manicures/pedicures featured are courtesy of the amazing Julie-Anne Forde. Follow on twitter @Thebeautyboxhx

Chloé x

Pastel-pop Polishes

Spring is well and truly underway now, and this luscious weather has inspired my latest manicure. This week I went for Born 2 Pansy from Jessica’s latest collection, Heavy Petal. The colour-pop shade of lilac is loaded with duochrome glass flecks of teal and gold, giving it that extra bit of zing. As quite a fair-skinned person, I normally wouldn’t go near a pastel polish with a barge pole, so the colour doesn’t just blend into my hand, to be frank. But this is a totally different kettle of fish. The glass flecks really give it some punch, and the lilac shade is more colour-pop than pale pastel. 

!Top Tip! Use three coats rather than two with this one, to avoid it looking a bit wishy-washy! You won’t do the colour justice otherwise. 

The Spring season obviously inspired the whole Heavy Petal collection, all in bright, floral shades of pink and purple, and all coolly named with florals in mind, including: Rolling Rose, Hotter than Hibiscus, Dazed Dahlia, Geranium Gypsy, Witchy Wisteria, and of course Born 2 Pansy. When asked about what influenced the new line of polishes, Jessica tweeted, ‘classic springtime floral shades with a rock chic edge [that were] inspired by catwalks of top designers at Fashion Weeks in NY, London and Paris’. 

Jessica's Heavy Petal Collection

Looks like once again the fashion scene has had a knock on effect in the world of nails. Floral patterns and sherbet hues were all over the shows of London Fashion week last month. Harper’s Bazaar reported on the Erdem Spring 2012 line, revealing that their floral-heavy collection from a few seasons ago has been revisited by the designer this season, in a feminine and gentile way. Mulberry designer Emma Hill also followed suit, with a collection that was ‘a confection of candy colours and sporty shapes’, tells Bazaar. She ‘served up ice cream for breakfast to her Sunday morning audience’, with a pastel palette of neapolitan hues.

Erdem Spring 2012

Mulberry Spring 2012
(both images courtesy of harpersbazaar.com)

The hight street’s awash at the moment with some sweet treats too, so you can pull off a more affordable ensemble good enough to eat. Topshop have just brought out a TO DIE pair of high waisted beaded shorts, in sweet minty apple, which would look great paired with a neutral top and a frosting of sherbet accessories to top it off. 

From left to right: High Waisted Beaded Shorts, Topshop £60, Enamel bangles, Pret A Portobello £15, Shopper, Zara £69.99

And as for your nails, gorgeous pastels and pretty pops of colour have featured in Essie and OPI’s Spring/Summer ranges, as well as Jessica’s. 


Set to last right through spring/summer, both for nails and fashion, the trend is a winner with me. What do you think?

All of my manicures/pedicures featured are courtesy of the amazing Julie-Anne Forde. Follow on twitter @Thebeautyboxhx

Chloé x

Matte Nails with Glossy Tips

Kelly Osbourne sporting the trend
(image courtesy of Twitter)

Ladies, say hello to the latest phenomenon to hit the nail world! Presenter of E! Fashion Police and all-round trend-setter, Miss Kelly Osbourne has never been afraid to try something new when it comes to style, and that includes her nails.. She recently tweeted a picture of the latest craze - matte nails with glossy tips. “Look how cool my nails are matte black with shiny French tips! Thank you @barbarawarnerbeauty”, commented the 27-year-old fashionista. 

While Matte effect nails have been around for a while, teaming them with a polished tip is something that has the nail industry and polish fanatics alike, all a flutter. After her excitable tweet, this style has become so popular, that nail varnish brand Essie has now sold out in the UK, of their ‘Matte About You’ Matte Finisher top coat. 

But have no fear, as the trend has taken over the beauty scene, with Rimmel and Model’s Own getting in on the act, with their own versions of the Matte Finisher. 
Rimmel Pro Matte Top Coat, £4.59

Model’s Own Pro Matte Nail Polish, £8.00

Both available from Boots in store or online. 

A matte finish, for those not in the know, gives a velvety, non-lustrous look, which looks super-chic. It’s not a satin-like finish you’d get with glossy polishes, and is a daring way to diversify your nail polish collection.

But is it just a novelty trend, that won’t be gracing our manicured-mitts for longer than a few months? Or is it here to stay? 

Essex-based Jessica Nail Technician, Julie-Anne Forde tweeted saying, “a lot of my younger clients like the #mattenails look, my older client are die hard #shinynails fans”...“I personally like the matte nails with shiny tips, but I do think this will be a fad and not take over from #shinynails for too long”. 

Although Julie-Anne specialises in Jessica nail treatments, she highly recommends the Essie Matte Finisher, which has been rated first in Beautramp’s Top 10 Shortlisted Matte Nail Polishes. Another way to mattify your nails, is to use already-matte colours, such as the OPI Mattes Collection.  

Top beauty blog ‘All Lacquered Up’ reviews the OPI Mattes Collection, which come in six mouth-watering shades - Alpine Snow, Gargantuan Green Grape, La Paz-itively Hot, You Don’t Know Jacques, Lincoln Park After Dark, and Russian Navy. And as they’re all available in standard glossy polishes as well, it’s easy to team them up with the perfect shade to rock the matte finish with glossy tips look! So you can either go straight for an already matte shade, or choose a matte top coat such as Essie’s instead, that will work over any normal polish, which would save you some money in the long run. According to Essie, ‘the exclusive, advanced formula instantly transforms any polish from high gloss to matte in seconds’.

OPI Mattes Collection

MATTE is everywhere this season, from nails to lips. The beauty trend has taken the industry by storm and is making way for a whole new look - we’re taking it upon ourselves to dub this the velvet vogue. I ♥ #mattenailswithglossytips and am willing to bet you are now too! 

My own #mattenailswithglossytips [Jessica's Sunset Boulevard and Essie's Matte About You]

Get painting girls! And why not send us a picture via Twitter @mag_hag of your own #mattenailswithglossytips using this hashtag. 

All of my manicures/pedicures featured are courtesy of the amazing Julie-Anne Forde. Follow on twitter @Thebeautyboxhx

Chloé x

Metallic Manicures

Okay so my nails this week are ‘Vampy Vixen’, a gorgeous metallic green from one of Jessica’s most recent collections, Rebel Glam. 

Metallics have made a huge comeback recently, being sported both in fashion and on nails, by the likes of Vanessa Hudgens, Emma Roberts and Jennifer Hudson. The metallic look is really having a moment, proves Roberts in ice cool silver, Hudgens in gold, and Jennifer Hudson stepping out in regal-looking purple. 
                                                          









Since the Autumn of 2011, the trend has grown in popularity among celebrities and civilians alike. Before, they would’ve been thought of as either something you would’ve worn to your school disco in the ’90s, or something futuristic only Lady Gaga herself could pull off. But the latest metallics on the market are more subtle and toned down than the bright shimmery tones you would’ve seen before, with luxe shades such as ‘Purple Edge’ and ‘Street Swagger’, again from the Rebel Glam Jessica Collection. Metallics have moved on from the garish and the marbled pastel colours of the past, to a much more hip, sophisticated status. It’s like a 70’s revival with a twist. 

Jessica Rebel Glam Collection

If you want to add a bit of an edge to your metallic manicure, why not try a #kellyfinger as I call it, to mix things up a little bit. First seen on the manicured mitts of Kelly Rowland on the X-Factor last year, Kelly showed us a way to spice up a standard manicure, with one finger painted a different colour to the rest. I think the Vampy Vixen green goes particularly well with OPI’s ‘Bring On The Bling’, giving the whole look more of a glitzy feel, with the glitter of the OPI shade picking up on the shimmer of the metallic in the other nails. 

The new line-up of metallics is set to be a big hit, especially with the fashion scene picking up on the trend too. London Fashion Week was awash with the shimmering metallic pieces, displaying a variety of ways to wear the look at the Topshop Unique S/S 2012 show. 

Metallics are back big time, so come hop on the beauty bandwagon with me! 

Chloé x
   

All of my manicures/pedicures featured are courtesy of the amazing Julie-Anne Forde. Follow on twitter @Thebeautyboxhx