Fall’s Hottest Nail Polish
Summer has come and gone, as have all those neon nail lacquers. Now we’re switching up our manis with these fall nail trends — some obvious, like deep reds, and others not so much, like pearly white. (We’ve always thought wearing white after Labor Day was a fashion faux-pas that just had to be broken.)
Rich jewel tones were all over the fall runways, such as at Karen Walker’s show where models nails were polished with CND Midnight Sapphire ($9, Cnd.com). Other jewel tones we’re loving: Estée Lauder Black Turquoise ($20, Saksfifthavenue.com), MAC Gadabout Girl ($16, Maccosmetics.com), and Essie Stylenomics ($8, Essie.com).
Although light lacquers are typically associated with spring, pale nudes and even white are getting some play this fall. Use these simple, chic colors to accompany fall’s bolder trends, such as a dark lip or cat-eye. Shades we recommend: OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls ($7.25, opi.com), Chanel Frenzy ($26, Chanel.com) and Nails Inc. Jermyn Street ($9.50, Sephora.com).
Gold and silver were two of the hottest colors this summer, thanks to the Olympics, and they aren’t going anywhere. If you’re into a bold mani, but like us, you don’t have the ambidexterity to tackle nail art, metallics are a smart option. Add these to your collection: Tom Ford Dominatrix ($30, Neimanmarcus.com), Butter London Shag ($14, Butterlondon.com), and Sonia Kashuk Dime A Dozen ($4.99, Target.com)
The French manicure has gone through so many transformations in recent years. This season, try a neutral base and dark tip, like the mani models wore at Donna Karan’s fall runway show. More combinations we’re dying to try: Julep Otte ($14, Trinaturk.com) with CND Bloodline ($9, Cnd.com) and Deborah Lippmann Modern Love ($16, Lippmanncollection.com) with Zoya Diva Collection Song ($8, Zoya.com). And since gray is a huge color this season (not just because of Fifty Shades of Grey), you have to try gray on gray. We love China Glaze on Safari Elephant Walk ($5.99, Enailsupply.com) as the base and Nars Storm Bird ($18, Sephora.com) as the tips. Understated and classy.
Which trend is your favorite?
Best Nail Products for Summer
Summer is all about showing more skin and a great way to highlight your summer glow is with fabulous hands and feet! We’ve rounded up the hottest shades and best products for sporting perfect nails.
Quimica Esmalte Endurecedor Nail Hardener, $8.07
After trying almost every nail hardener out there we can venture to say this is the best one of them all. Our nails turned strong and beautiful when used as a base coat for a few weeks. It really works!
Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat $9.99
Seche makes the shiniest top coat ever and extends the life of your manicure!
Tip: Make your manicure last longer by adding a fresh coat of top coat a few days later.
Priti NYC Soy Nail Polish Remover Wipes, $10
These individually wrapped polish remover wipes are eco-friendly but still get the job done. Perfect for traveling!
Essie Cascade Cool Nail Polish, $8
This fun bubble gum pink has a hint of lavender for the perfect fun summer shade. It looks great on nails and toes alike!
NARS ‘Thakoon’ Nail Polish, $18
The designer’s collaboration with NARS is full of amazing polish shades like Kutki, this minty blue.
Deborah Lippman “RUN THE WORLD (Girls)” Set, $45
Nail art is a huge trend right now and a set of polish makes finding complementing colors easy. Mix and match your mani-pedi with pink and purple, or our favorite shade “It Girl Yellow.”
Tip: If you’re hesitant to try a bright shade, try an “accent nail” and let your ring finger stand out.
O.P.I Nail Apps, $18.80
If you aren’t artistically inclined enough to be free-handing designs on your own nails (who is?!), nail stickers make trying the nail art trend easy. O.P.I.’s nail apps are the best we’ve tried. They’re super easy to apply and dry instantly for a flawless patterned nail look.
Fashion Week Favorite Beauty Round-up
Hair:
We loved the effortless look with a new “twist” Ted Gibson created for Lela Rose: “The new braid for Spring!” We can actually do this one ourselves.
We think textured, beachy So-Cal hair like the looks created by curl expert Ouidad backstage at Timo Weiland will be an easy trend to create at home this Spring and Summer. Try a loose updo topped with a sporty backwards baseball cap.
We saw a chic, sleek pony styled by Renato Campora for Frederic Fekkai at Marchesa. Dress it up by wrapping a section of hair around ponytail to conceal the band.
Make-up:
The look at Rachel Zoe was a heavy eye with natural lips. The lipstick from her new Exude line was used on the models in Nude.
We are so obsessed with the retro matte eyeshadow topped with black liquid liner we saw backstage at Alice+Olivia, created by Sarah Lucero for Stila on Beauty.com. Perfect!
Buy Now, Stila Matte Eyeshadow, $18
Buy Now, Stila Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner, $20
Brows are going to be huge for Spring! The models at Altuzarra sported minimal makeup but with serious brows created by MAC make-up artists. They were also responsible for the major brows backstage at Proenza Schouler and paired them with pretty flushed cheeks.
Statement-making brows were the theme backstage at Cynthia Rowley too, where Make-up Forever artists used shadow to fill them in.
Brows were a big part of the look created by Francois Nars, founder of NARS cosmetics, for the Marc Jacobs show. A strong brow was paired with major lashes and nude lips inspired by Amy Winehouse.
Buy Now, NARs Eyebrow Pencil, $21
Nails:
We spotted pretty and preppy pink striped nails at Rebecca Minkoff. To get this look, paint vertical stripes using essie’s bright Pink Parka over essie’s Below the Belt white.
Buy Now, Essie Below the Belt White, $3.44
Sally Hansen’s natural looking Parchment Complete Salon Manicure polish was used to create the natural-looking nails backstage at one of our favorite young designers, Alexander Wang.
Buy Now, Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Polish, $6.99
Poppy red nails looked fresh on the models at Jason Wu. Their nails were polished with OPI’s Monsooner or Later.
Buy Now, OPI Monsooner or Later, $7.50
Check out our backstage photo albums from fashion week on facebook:
Fashion Week Spring 2012
Pamella Roland Presentation
Rachel Roy Presentation
Rachel Zoe Show Backstage
Check out our Fashion Week Flashback: Best Beauty Tips for Fall/Winter 2011:
Buy Essie Nail Polish, $4
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Buy Essie Nail Polish (here in Sew Psyched), $4, at amazon.com
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Buy Sephora by OPI Chic Print for Nails
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Buy Sephora by OPI Chic Print for Nails, $15, at sephora.com
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