Lips, skin and hair were a study in texture on the Fall 2013 runways, and the same went for nails. Now, beauty brands are launching gritty, matte and high-gloss polishes, and top coats flecked with chunks of glitter or fabric. Global nail artist for L’Oréal Paris Tom Bachik offers his take on the trend.
It would be an understatement to say that nail art hasn’t completely saturated the beauty world. From Anne Hathaway’s neon manicure at the Met gala to Hailee Steinfeld’s pop art nails at Comic Con, nail art is still going strong throughout summer.
While A-list stars turn to nail gurus like Kimmie Kyees (Rihanna’s go-to) and Tom Bachik (he does Beyoncé, Zooey Dechannel and Jennifer Lopez) DIY nail art can look just as red carpet-worthy. Although scrolling through thousands of nail art images on Pinterest may be one way to get inspired, the Beauty Panel is here to lend us a hand. This week they’re sharing top tips and tricks on the best nail art looks for summer. From pastel shades to chevron nail art to glitter top coats, we’re pretty sure you’ll be reaching for a bottle of nail polish before you finish reading this post.
Challenge 22: What’s your favourite nail polish colour to wear this summer? See the answers now! »
With Canada Day just around the corner, it’s time to start planning those red and white outfits! Whether you’re spending the long weekend at the cottage or celebrating in the city, Canada Days calls for the addition of a patriotic ensemble. But if there’s nothing in your wardrobe that suits the occasion, consider inserting some red and white into your beauty routine. No, we’re not suggesting you go all out with a maple leaf flag face paint situation—instead take it to your nails with some Canada Day nail art.
The best part about doing a themed manicure for Canada Day is that no matter your talent level, there’s a nail art option for you. Whatever combination of red and white nail polish you end up applying will get the patriotic message across! To get the Canada Day nail art ideas rolling, we asked the Beauty Panel to share their long weekend manicures. From simple red and white dots to intricite maple leaf designs, these manis are sure to inspire some Canada Day nail art of your own, adding the perfect dose of patriotic pop to your long weekend.
Challenge 17: Happy Canada Day! What are you wearing on your nails this weekend? See the answers now! »
Nail art enthusiasts, it’s time to show us what you’ve got! Our sister publication, Glow Magazine, and Shoppers Drug Mart have teamed up to create the ultimate summer nail art contest. To enter, all you have to do is try your hand at one of the four nail art designs currently featured on the Shoppers Drug Mart website. Each look makes use of the best nail polish colours for summer and is served up in a very easy-to-follow video tutorial.
Here’s some Friday morning fun for you! The show that brought us One Direction and the country that gave us the Spice Girls have pretty much done it again: Little Mix is a new girl group that formed on the UK’s X Factor in 2011. If you’ve been missing the upbeat pop music and feisty lyrics that dominated the charts in the late ’90s, it’s time to give Little Mix a listen. (The video for “How Ya Doing” could easily be mistaken for a Destiny’s Child song and makes us want to dye our hair bright colours ASAP.) The four-girl group not only won X Factor, they launched a debut album, DNA, that dominated the charts in Britain—which is why they’re now in North America to do the same.
And because any girl group worth their salt is all about individual style coming together in one sassy package, Little Mix has created a custom nail art tutorial with Toronto’s Pinky’s Nails.
Photography: left by Peter Stigter; right by Revlon
With many nail bloggers turning to the runway for nail art inspiration (Miss Ladyfinger and Move Slightly are two of our faves) beauty companies are starting to take hints from this thriving trend. Getting ahead of the game, Revlon has partnered with Marchesa on a series of runway-inspired beauty products.
As the official makeup and nail partner for Marchesa’s New York Fashion Week shows, the forthcoming Revlon by Marchesa line will take this collaboration a step further. According to WWD, the partnership will include nail polish, lip products, eye products, nail art and beauty tools—with the first launch being a set of nail art stickers inspired by the patterns of Marchesa’s gowns.
You’re making your way down your prom checklist and you realize something is missing: Your nails! You want to do something special, but without spending a lot of money. (After all, why blow your budget now when we’ve shown you how to style a complete prom look for less than $500 and do your own hair?)Thankfully, creating an impressive manicure is easier than ever, thanks to the abundance of nail art products, bloggers and ideas. Bring on the nail tutorials! All you need is an afternoon to practice your painting skills, a couple bottles of your favourite nail polish colours and some inspiration—may we suggest taking a cue from your prom dress, shoes or even your date? From polka dots and florals to glittery patterns and Jackson Pollock-inspired splatters, we’ve found 18 of the best nail tutorials out there that are perfect for prom. Scroll down to see them all and get ready to receive more compliments on your nails than ever before!
It may have occurred at the very end of Toronto Fashion Week, but the makeup and nails at Lucian Matis set the bar for Fall 2013 beauty trends. Of course, having some talented heavyweights on board certainly helped: Revlon global artistic director Gucci Westman and Revlon nail expert Leeanne Colley were behind the retro look.
Despite a scheduling conflict that prevented Westman from actually being backstage, she didn’t want to pass up the chance to work with Lucian Matis. Skype sessions allowed for proper collaboration with the designer and once the look was finalized, her right-hand gal, Mimi Imanishi, led the team in Toronto.
“The inspiration for this look was Lucian’s gorgeous, monochromatic colour palette while incorporating safari khaki tones to the eye. This look is also very much inspired by the ’60s, specifically, the German model, Veruschka,” Westman said, via press release.
As Essie Canada’s lead nail artist for World MasterCard Fashion Week, Rita Remark certainly had her hands full last week. She was in charge of creating nail looks for eight shows, including Mackage, Chloé Comme Parris and Pink Tartan—and with some shows casting more than 20 models, that meant Remark and her team had to file, prep and paint 1500 false nails in advance. Curious about the process of painting so many nails, I met Rita in her studio space at Toronto’s Gladstone Hotel. After getting a sneak peek at the nail art designs for upcoming shows, it was my turn to try painting.
There’s some debate right now as to whether nail art is still thriving as one of the biggest cosmetic trends. One one hand (see what we did there?) new nail art polishes, products and tools are being released almost every single day. On the other, when it comes to runways and red carpets, we didn’t see as many nail art designs this season as we have in the past. Whatever the trend, we’re still in love with nail art and it seems like most of the internet is too. Read on for some of the best tutorials and news stories that we’ve come across this week—and see how long you can resist reaching for a bottle of nail polish.
Photography courtesy Move Slightly16. More than reason enough to still love nail art: This Prada Spring 2013 design is simply sublime [Move Slightly]
With designers opting for pale, neutral polishes, simple manicures and (possibly, worst of all) French tips on the Spring 2013 runways, nail art fanatics had to look elsewhere for inspiration. However, we’re just a few shows into the Fall 2013 collections and things are looking up: there are already some great nail art designs coming out of New York Fashion Week.
Photography by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images Entertainment
We’ve been preparing ourselves for the return of the French manicure ever since Alexander McQueen and Chanel painted the look on nails for Fall 2012 and Spring 2013, respectively. Both brands did the French manicures on clean, short nails with just a sliver of white on the tips. The message was clear: If you want your French manicure to be on trend, leave the acrylic tips at home. (Think “Kate Middleton at a royal brunch” more than “Snooki at a baby shower.”)
Unfortunately, Rihanna—always one to experiment with nail art—took the new French manicure trend one literal step too far.
