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Wednesday 28 March 2012

Pastel-pop Polishes

Wednesday 28 March 2012
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

Sunday 18 March 2012

Matte Nails with Glossy Tips

Sunday 18 March 2012
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



Saturday 10 March 2012

Gatsby Glamour

Saturday 10 March 2012
Set to hit our cinema screens in December of this year, is the eagerly anticipated modern-day adaptation of ‘The Great Gatsby’, taking us back to the “roaring twenties”. As if hot male lead Leo DiCaprio, and style crush Carey Mulligan, weren’t enough reason to head on down to the flicks, the film’s period fashion is sure to inspire designers worldwide, influencing a serious vintage comeback. 
Last Saturday I got to make like Daisy Buchanan, in my ’20’s inspired outfit for a night of Great Gatsby glamour. The party was a 1920’s themed affair, complete with very apt poker chips to exchange for different events over the night. We were taken back to the era, with casino betting, horse racing, and even tarot reading, which I loved! 
Everyone went all out for the prohibition theme, with the women wearing classic flapper-style dresses or long embellished ones that skimmed their assets, to highlight the boyish figures the ladies of the era tried to portray. The men also dressed up, in smart tuxes, braces and bow ties. 


So here was my take on twenties fashion:



A simple bodycon skirt, teamed with a long sheer skirt of the same colour, creates the appearance of a sheer hem maxi skirt, without the price tag of the all-in-one pieces you’d find elsewhere on the high street. It’s a real statement piece, but as something I wouldn’t wear that often, didn’t warrant a large expense. But by all means, Topshop and River Island have some lush ones in at the moment if it’s within your budget. The ‘Maggie Skirt By Goldie’ is my fave from Topshop, in a stunning rich plum colour, and comes in at £56.00, with a faux leather plaited belt thrown in for good measure. 

'Maggie Skirt By Goldie', £56.00 Topshop
I paired the skirt ensemble with a black pleated top from Forever 21, which hung loosely as a classic ’20’s outfit would, tucking it in for a cleaner silhouette. The finishing touches were my heels, which definitely done the skirt more justice than flats would, as otherwise the length would’ve looked frumpy. Also, a long silver necklace made up of varying lengths of tassles, perfect for the theme, as women of the time would’ve generally worn long silver or pearl necklaces, to show affluence and class. I also wore a pair of seam back tights (£7.00 from Topshop) just to make the whole look a little more authentic. 

Surprisingly, there are a lot of items available on the high street at the moment, that would be fitting for a twenties-inspired look. Here are my top picks: 


Whether you’re on a budget or ready to splash the cash, 1920’s style is easily achievable, and can look just as on trend now as it was then. Happy shopping ladies! 

Chloé x

Sunday 4 March 2012

Metallic Manicures

Sunday 4 March 2012
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 
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