FASHION Magazine

See all the nail art from day one of New York Fashion Week Fall 2013 »

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.

While the odds of getting a handmade python and iguana bodysuit are about the same as playing in the Superbowl, Beyoncé’s halftime manicure is much more accessible. In fact, you could even do it yourself: Beyoncé’s nails came courtesy of a set of printed gold Minx.

Nail artist Lisa Logan—who’s done many manicures for Queen Bey—flew down to New Orleans the week before the big game to set up nail shop for Beyoncé’s entire team. The backup dancers were given long extensions, covered in almost-reflective gold Minx while Beyoncé opted for a matte gold chevron print. (Due to the amazing video choreography sequences throughout the performance, all nails had to be finalized in advance so they could be filmed.)

See all 5 CND Shellac spring 2013 colours! »

CND Shellac, the iconic nail salon service product line, has announced their new spring 2013 collection. Titled Sweet Dreams, the collection includes five new shades of Shellac that celebrate the joy and romance of spring. With names like “Grapefruit Sparkle” and “Lilac Longing,” the five colours are pastel shades of pink, blue, purple and green; each with a softness that is perfect for springtime.

Shellac—which is pretty much the most ubiquitous brand in the gel nail polish game—is applied like regular nail polish, but because it’s cured under UV lights it can last up to two weeks without chipping. Shellac is also easy to remove without damaging the nail, which is important for those of us who like to frequently change our manicures. And what’s exciting about the CND Shellac spring collection is that these new shades can be worn on their own or, like most Shellac polishes, layered to create unique combinations of something new.

Always on trend, Topshop’s nail polishes have become very popular since launching in 2010. And now they’ve found another way to catch our attention: To celebrate the forthcoming spring collection, Topshop teamed up with Sadie and Joe, a brother and sister duo who have done stop motion animation work with everyone from Marc Jacobs to Vogue. They created an adorable video (which we first spotted thanks to Lucky Magazine) that brings the Topshop nail polishes to life.

The video features lacquered fake nails and nail polish bottles dancing to music by Joseph Bond. The glittery and colourful background transforms before our eyes from stripes to landscapes to flowers. Check out the video below—and then we dare you to resist painting your nails a bright, sunny shade.

The results are in! You voted and we listened: From perfume and mascara to sunscreen and shampoo, we reveal the beauty products you voted top of the vanity in our 11th Annual Readers’ Choice Beauty Awards. This year more than 65 products make the cut across six categories, including nails, fragrance, makeup and hair. And as always, the Readers’ Choice Beauty Awards rewards products in a range of prices, allowing you to find favourite new products regardless of budget. Ready to see who made the cut? Pick a category below or read on to browse all the winners.

See all 7 shades of OPI Oz The Great and Powerful nail polishes »

Yesterday OPI gave nail polish lovers a new reason to be excited for 2013 by announcing the launch of a new collection on their Facebook page. Set to hit counters in March, the OPI Oz The Great and Powerful collection features seven nail polishes inspired by the forthcoming Disney movie.

There are no ruby-red slippers to be found here: Oz The Great and Powerful is a prelude to Dorothy’s adventures, focusing on Glinda (the good witch, played by Michelle Williams) and her sisters—as well as how Oz himself came to be. Meaning: OPI has created a collection that’s a mix of soft shades and shimmering, stand-out glitters. It also includes a new shade of Liquid Sand polish named “What Wizardry Is This?” which seems to be a little more masculine than your typical glitter. Said OPI Executive VP & Artistic Director Suzi Weiss-Fischmann, via press release: “This rich taupe hue was designed for James Franco’s character, the great Wizard of Oz, and is sure to make a bold statement this spring.”

See 10 stylish ways to celebrate Hanukkah »
See the rest of our Holiday Guide »

Though we all tend to fixate on Christmas around this time of the year, it’s easy to forget that it ain’t the only holiday in town. Hanukkah, the annual Festival of Lights is pretty rad too. Beginning tomorrow night (December 8) and going for 8 days until December 16, Hannukah will be celebrated by Jews by lighting menorahs, spinning dreidels, and eating too many latkes and jelly-stuffed doughnuts (Speaking for myself, that is). And while the kiddies may receive a different gift and a gold wrapped chocolate coin each night, the adults need a little bit of fun too. To ramp up the Hanukkah spirit, we’ve picked 10 super stylish and awesome ways to celebrate including themed nail decals, blue and silver picks and one party ugly partly adorable dreidel sweater. From us here at FASHION (and Adam Sandler of course), Happy Hanukkah!

See all the beauty looks from the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show! »

The sexiest show on earth, the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, will be televised tonight and although many will be tuning in to see the elaborate costumes, fancy lingerie and performances from Rihanna and Justin Bieber, we can’t forget about the beauty. After all, while a million-dollar bra is hard to come by, anyone can try their hand at the hair and makeup done on the Victoria’s Secret Angels. Even better, we have the complete low-down on how to achieve both.

Makeup artist Tom Pecheux gave Victoria’s Secret models such as Miranda Kerr and Doutzen Kroes a look that featured sultry brown eyes, glossy, barely-tinted lips and earthy cheeks. And given just how much skin is on display, the Angels’ bodies were given a sun kissed glow with help from the brand’s Beach Sexy line of bronzers and self-tanners.

See the full Greta Constantine Spring 2013 backstage beauty gallery »

The inspiration:
Daniel Di Tommaso, Sebastian core stylist: “Super, super tight and very, very shiny. [Kirk Pickersgill and Stephen Wong] wanted to make sure that when we pulled the hair back it was almost stretching the eyes.”

Melissa Gibson, M.A.C makeup key: “[Kirk Pickersgill and Stephen Wong] sent a photograph that had a kind of ’50s-ish feel to it [and then] we were talking about the clothing which is so structured, and you think, ‘architectural, how does that come into makeup?’ The idea behind a graphic liner [is that] it’s still a play on what a ’50s liner would be if you were to modernize it, make it a bit more edgy and structural.”

Get the look:
– The super-tight ponytail for Greta Constantine Spring 2013 was actually created by bonding two ponytails together. After wetting down the hair, Di Tommaso brushed Sebastian Shine Crafter Wax through to tame any flyaways. Hair was brushed back into bump-free ponytails and the ends were rope knotted into a bun and pinned down to the head as tightly as possible. Many Sebastian products were layered to achieve a high-shine, but Liquid Steel Concentrated Styler was what made the look: Di Tommaso brushed the Liquid Steel directly to models’ heads, lacquering the hair into place.

See the entire Mariah Carey by OPI nail polish collection»

Mariah Carey was the star of a movie titled Glitter for a reason. So when it was announced that she would be partnering with OPI and releasing a collection of nail polishes in January 2013, we expected a whole lot of glitz with a dash of glamour. And guess what, we were right.

The collection’s eight colours range from pale-pink to an almost-black with red flecks of sparkle—perhaps each an ode to the diva’s singing range? There are four shades that use OPI’s newest nail polish innovation, Liquid Sand. The new nail polish technology provides a textured matte finish that is infused with reflective sparkles. This is the first time OPI has debuted its Liquid Sand nail polish and Suzi Weiss-Fischmann, OPI executive VP and artistic director, said the polish is “worthy of a superstar” in a press release.

See all 12 nail polishes from the Euro Centrale by OPI collection »

Even though the holiday season has just begun and we’re in the middle of obsessing over festive winter shades of nail polish, OPI has just announced the launch of its Spring/Summer 2013 collection.

Euro Centrale by OPI features twelve new nail polish colours that are classic, yet contemporary and are inspired by four major European countries. And despite being the OPI Spring 2013 collection, Euro Centrale will hit counters before the snow thaws, in February 2013.

Romania, Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic influenced the newest collection, and were chosen because they each have an aesthetically pleasing way of mixing old with new.

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.