FASHION Magazine

There’s nothing better than a holiday to inspire a great manicure—and for us, Valentine’s Day sits at the top of the list. After all, pink and red are the most popular polish colours available. From tiny hearts to handwritten love letters, we have five manicures to share that are sure to, at the very least, inspire a night in with your true love: nail polish.

Let’s get romantic! See the manicures »

At some point this week it actually snowed in Toronto—huge fluffy flakes!—and the snow globe-like atmosphere instantly became Nail Corner inspiration. I’ve been dreaming of opaque white glitter for a few months now, but after going down a rabbit hole of searching for such a polish, it seems it’s a mix that’s nearly impossible to acquire. So nail art, paired with two of my all-time-favourite glitters, seemed like an appropriate substitute. (For now, that is!)

See the snow globe manicure! »

Ah, the French manicure. Is there a beauty technique that’s more divisive? While there’s no denying that when done well and in moderation it’s a flattering look, its reputation has been tarnished by aggressive acrylics and—shudder—the growing popularity of French pedicures. So bring on the reinvention! This week we’re exploring new approaches to painting the tips of your nails. By changing up the colour and the shape, you’ll still achieve the optical illusion of longer nails—without the dated look of a conventional French mani.

Learn how to get these looks! »

Yes, technically a quatrefoil is a four-lobed shape—picture the Gothic clovers seen in Van Cleef & Arpels jewellery—and there are only three scalloped lobes in this nail design. However, it still evokes the shapes and lines of a repeating quatrefoil pattern (like you would see in latticework or on wallpaper) and besides, artistic liberties are wonderful things! By painting the quatrefoil design on top of a metallic polish, it gives this manicure a great deal of depth, as well as a sparkly finish. And maybe it also looks like clouds?

Learn how to do this quatrefoil design! »

Here’s the thing about award shows: you don’t realize how versatile a starlet’s hair and makeup are until you see all the photos the next day. Because after the show ends, the parties begin—and while changing an outfit between events is common, hair and makeup usually stay the same. Not only that, it’s always impressive […]

The post Get the look! We have the secrets behind Lea Michele, Emma Stone, Kristen Wiig, and Zooey Deschanel’s hair and makeup from the Golden Globes red carpet! appeared first on FASHION Magazine.

Metallic makeup is more appealing and glamorous than ever, making it winter’s most dazzling asset. Kari Molvar takes a shine to modern alloys.

View our metallic picks now »

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Happy New Year! There’s a definite sparkly obsession happing in the halls of FASHION this week—and what better way to ring in 2012 than with a glitter-packed manicure? From frosty-blue glitters to a multi-dimensional Texas-inspired mani, these sparkling designs will keep the focus on your fingers even after the ball drops. The countdown to midnight is on—and it’s time to start painting! Show (or tell) us all about your New Year’s manicures on Facebook or Twitter.

See all our New Year’s Eve manicures! »

Things are getting a little festive in the FASHION offices this week! From candy stripes to a sparkling Christmas tree, there are countless ways to paint your nails in a merry manner—and we have a number of holiday-inspired manicures wrapped up and ready to gift to you.

See all our holiday-inspired manis! »

While many people apply polish to avoid biting their nails, I’m the other way around: my biggest motivation to stop picking, biting, and fidgeting was the dream of perfectly shaped long nails. The type that Mad Men’s Betty Draper wears, nail expert Sophy Robson obsesses over, and that designers, such as Emanuel Ungaro, have brought to the runway: oval- or almond-shaped and long! However, the conundrum with longer nails is that they really stand out when painted in bright or dark colours. Sure, taupes and beiges are on trend, but sometimes a girl just needs a pop of colour. Enter this week’s Nail Corner: two versions of the crescent moon manicure. Made popular by Ruffian in Fall 2010, this is an easy twist on the ever-popular moon manicure—it leaves the base of your nail bare and looks more like a reverse French tip than a half-moon.

See the manicures! »

Halloween might be over, but there’s still good reason to do something special with your beauty routine this morning: November 2 is Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead—the Mexican holiday that celebrates the departed. Bright flowers, sugar skulls, and colourful costumed skeletons are all iconic symbols of this holiday, and are gaining traction across mainstream culture. Both Elettra Wiedemann and Debra Messing showed up at the Hulaween Benefit Gala this weekend dressed like a skeleton à la Day of the Dead. Of course, not every office will appreciate a full painted-skull get up on your face, so here’s a few subtle ways to adjust your look.

Let’s get dead! »

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Last night’s Lucian Matis show was an exhibition of super-bright embellishments worn atop sheer champagne bases but, if you ask us, the bona-fide delights were in the digits. Spotted on the runway was yet another certifiably insane—as in amazing—nail art design by Leeanne Colley from Tips Nail Bar, Toronto’s infamous cool zone for manicures. Before the show started, we snuck backstage to preview the custom almond-shaped nails decorated in a vibrant watercolour pattern. “We did a base of Revlon‘s “White on White” nail enamel, then CND‘s “Anchor Blue” and “Electric Orange” and Hard Candy‘s “Yellow and Splendid.” We dabbed a pin-sized amount of each colour onto the nail using a tiny brush, then dropped a smidgen of acetone on top to make it disperse and look transparent. Basically, we made all the colours run into each other,” Colley explained. Well, basically, Colley just inspired us to ornament our nails with similar show-stopping designs.

Don’t act so surprised. You know there’s a little bad girl hiding under that good girl façade. So let her come out and play.

A glossy, black cherry mouth. Buffed fingertips. Strokes of liner and spiked lashes. Crimson lips and nails. Fall’s beauty messages are a collision of prim and perverse. You have your instructions. Now be a good girl and follow them.

Check out our beauty shoot now »