Let's just say we're not a French tips sort of bunch। Instead, we're always looking for fresh inspiration to shake up our nail routine। In fact, we turned to the runways--and to some local experts--to draw up our newest line-up of shades to obsess for the coming spring. Statue-of-Liberty green, bright persimmon, and confetti-like gold, are just a few of the swatches we're adding to your list. As nail aficionado Regine Berthelot of
Caudalíe Vinotherapie Spa at The Plaza adds, "people are getting really excited about humungous sparkles, and Deborah Lippmann's Happy Birthday has become the most requested shade alongside NARS' Blue Lagoon. We are also seeing loads of bold, opaque liquid metallic shades." To discover more tippy-top shades, just snap your fingers...and click here!

1. Posh Periwinkle



Above, from left: Christian Dior spring 2010 runway, photo via Style.com; Butter London Nail Polish in Muggins, $14, available at Miomia.


2. Metallic Shamrock



Above, from left: Lancôme Nail Polish in Pop Petrol, $18, available at Lancome.com; Balmain spring 2010 runway, photo via Style.com.


3. Peach Parfait


Above, from left to right: Cushnie et Ochs 2010 runway, photo via Style.com; Chanel Nail Polish in Inattendu, $23, available at Neiman Marcus.


4. Uniform Blue



Above, from left: Rococo Matte Nail Polish in Eccentric Rococo, $16.50, available at Space NK; Rochas 2010 runway photo via Style.com।

5. Gold Rush



Above, from left to right: Balmain spring 2010 runway, photo via Style.com; Rescue Beauty Nail Polish in Look Rich Be Cheap, $18, available at Rescue Beauty.


6. In the Nude



Above, from left: American Apparel Nail Polish in Mouse, $6, available at American Apparel; Marc Jacobs spring 2010 runway, photo via Style.com.


7. Persimmon Perfection



Above, from left: Lanvin spring 2010 runway, photo via Style.com; OPI Nail Polish in Hot & Spicy, available at Nail Etc.


8. Luxe Lavender



Above, from left: Yves Saint Laurent BeautyNail Polish in Mauve Silk, $17, available from Beauty Encounter; Burberry Prorsum spring 2010 runway, photo via Style.com.


9. Minty Fresh



Above, from left: Mulberry 2010 photo via style.com; Knock Out Cosmetics Nail Polish in Liberty, $19, available at Miomia.


10. Black & Blue



Above, from left: Bleach Black Nail Polish in Dick Weed , $12.95, available from Need Supply; Oscar de la Renta spring 2010 runway, photo via Style।com.

A recent Twitter highlight for me was catching the entertaining New York Fashion Week backstage tweets from Fashion Magazine’s beauty editor Lesa Hannah as she hunted down the Fall 2010 beauty trends. Along with interviews with industry superstars such as makeup artists Dick Page, Tom Pecheaux, François Nars, Gordon Espinet and Gucci Westman (and an encounter with cranky hairstylist Orlando Pita), she snagged chat time with nail pros such as Nonie Creme from Butter London, Jin Soon Choi, who did a collection for MAC last season, Jan Arnold and Roxanne Valinoti of Creative Nail Design (CND), Deborah Lippmann and Yuna Park (in vid above). And happily for those of us who fell for Fall 2009’s grey shades for nails, there’s more to come:

 

Remember when Chanel tipped us off that they'd be debuting a new nail polish shade at their Spring 2010 runway show?

Well, today they did. And gray is the word for spring.

Fall 2009's must have shade, Jade, was designed by Chanel creative director Peter Philips to accent the sea green highlight tone in their Fall tweed.

And this putty-ish shade (According to Style.com, its name is Particulière) is similarly complementary, acting as a smart accessory to the mainly monotone beige, gray, ivory and black nubby weaves in the Spring show. And it offers and edgy counterpoint to the tattoos Philips designed for the show.

The shade, which commenters are sounding off on at All Lacquered Up, appears to be a purple based gray that's a hair paler and purpler than Sephora by OPI's Metro Chic - one of the polishes at the forefront of the gray manicure movement back in Fall 2008 - and cements the dark nails trend that emerged in New York and remained consistent in London, Milan and now Paris.

From blacks to grays, the outlook for spring tips is somber - in a good way.

Hand painted nail art can add a touch of glamor to a simple manicure or pedicure. It is easy to do and requires very basic materials to achieve gorgeous-looking nails. Read on for information on some hand painted nail art designs.

Nail art is the perfect solution to boring nails that are painted with different shades of nail enamel. Adding some designs to your nails can be a fun way to enhance the beauty of your fingernails and will also enable you to sport gorgeous-looking nails. Hand painted nail art is relatively easier to do on artificial or stick-on nails, but with a little practice, doing them on your nails will get easy. You can experiment with a lot of designs and come up with a few of your own. As far as nail art is concerned, sky is the limit for creativity. Hand painted nail art can be done on fingernails as well as the toe nails. The designs can be made to compliment a certain occasion or even for daily wear purposes. Here are some hand painted nail art designs to get you started.


Flower Nail Design

Supplies Needed

• Base coat
• Nail polish (any dark shade)
• Nail art paint or acrylic (white, green and yellow)
• Striper brush
• Liner brush
• Fine nib nail art pen
• Top coat

Directions

Paint your nails with a base coat, allow it to dry and then put on the dark shade of nail polish. Allow it dry and then apply the second coat and allow it to dry. Using a liner brush and white nail art paint or white acrylic paint, to draw four petals using a sweeping motion at the center of the nail. Draw another flower at the base of the nail, or maybe half a petal, depending upon the length of your nail. Between these petals, draw random long flicks using the striper brush. Add a few dots along the length of the flicks. Fill the center of the flower with a bright yellow dot using yellow acrylic or nail art paint. Paint some leaves using green paint, around the petals. Once the paint dries well, apply a top coat and allow it to dry.

Snow White Nail Design

Supplies Needed

• Base coat
• Nail polish (sheer white and electric blue)
• Nail art paint or acrylic (white and electric blue)
• Silver rhinestones
• Striper brush
• Liner brush
• Fine nib nail art pen
• Nail art glue
• Top coat

Directions

Paint your nails with a base coat and allow it to dry. Apply two coats of the sheer white nail polish to your entire nail and let it dry well. Then apply the electric blue nail polish, diagonally, to half the nail and allow it to dry well. Now, take the white acrylic paint or nail art paint and draw three, half portions of an arrow head on the blue portion. Then complete the arrow heads by drawing the other halves with blue paint on the white portion. Allow it to dry well. Using nail art glue, stick a silver rhinestone at the center of the second arrow head on each nail, then apply the top coat and let it dry.

Swirl Nail Design

Supplies Needed

Base coat
• Nail polish (white, pink and pastel blue)
• Nail polish with silver glitter
• Dotting tool
• Liner brush
• Top coat

Directions

Apply a coat of the base coat and allow it to dry. Apply the nail polish with silver glitter on the nail tips and allow it to dry well. Then, using a dotting tool, apply a dot of pink on the base of the nail, a dot of pastel blue in the center and a dot of white on the tips, one below the other. Using a liner brush, spread the dots in a circular motion, starting with the pastel blue, then pink and then white. The swirls should merge well and should be spread over the entire nail. Allow this to dry and then apply the top coat.

After celebrities including Rihanna were spotted wearing elaborate nail art on the red carpet and following reports in various beauty media outlets, this phenomenon previously associated with Japanese beauty trends, European beauty fairs such as the Mondial Spa & Beauté in Paris are now including nail art in their programs.

Longer, 1980s-inspired nails appeared on several runways this season (and Gareth Pugh's show even featured small chains on acrylic nails), and judging from beauty fairs' lineups, nail art usually reserved for the likes of the Tokyo Nail Expo is preparing to enter the mainstream.

For the first time this year, Paris-based Mondial Spa & Beauté (opening March 13) will run an exhibition for nail art and organize a nail art contest under the motto Glam & Rock. Professionals will be invited to take part in the competition, offering their false nail creations live on stage in front of a trade audience.

There will also be a special presentation by nail artist Luc Tuison (of ABC Nailstore), who will introduce the 'stiletto nail,' a technique to make hands look leaner through longer nails, similar to the effect stilettos have on legs.

Other trends dealt with at the event include the medical spa (a fusion between beauty spa and medical practice), sustainable products, LED light in anti-aging, and caramel waxing.

We are looking for submissions from the professional nail art community that would be interested in sharing their most popular nail art design and would like to promote their salon. Submissions should include step-by-step instructions with photos or a voice narrated video. For information on how and where to send your submissions, use our contact form.

Note: This is not a competition and all submissions will be posted.

If you are a nail art suppler, trade school or any other resource to the nail art industry, please contact us for possible inclusion to our resource page.

Wedding Nail Art

Do you think that the color you choose to paint on your nails is merely a reflection of a color you think is pretty? Well, perhaps you should think again.

When you see someone with bright red nail polish, you make a judgment about that person. It may be consciously or subconsciously, but a judgment is made, nonetheless. What about when you see someone wearing black nail polish? I think you see my point.

So, before you give yourself a manicure (or have a professional do it for you), think about what impression you want to make on people. Here's a run-down of what different nail colors say about the wearer.

Variety of nail polish colors

Your Nail Polish Color Palette

Fire-engine Red: You're sassy, self-assured, and not afraid to be dramatic. Bright red is a bold, look-at-me color that is a symbol for passion, fire, and confidence. You love the spotlight, and you take charge of situations.

Hot Pink: You're spunky and energetic. Pink is a color that is associated specifically with women, and hot pink lets you show your spunk and spice.

Pale Pink: Painting your nails pale pink is a subtle expression. You are likely quiet, or at least you don't want to stand out, and youthful. Pale pink is not significantly different from the color of your nails (if you're Caucasian), but you still want to show your soft side.

Black: Painting your nails black is a classic symbol of anti-establishment. It doesn't mean you are depressed or going goth, but it's a way of rebelling against the norm and showing some of the darkness in your personality.

Navy Blue: This is a color of sophistication and authority. Wearing this color on your nails tells people to listen up, because you're in charge.

Aqua (Light) Blue: You're showing the youthful and calm side of your personality when you paint your nails a light blue. Aqua is a cool color, a nonchalant color.

French manicure: You are glamorous and professional. You don't need a whole new color; your nails look good as they are, and you simply emphasize and define yourself.

Magenta: A combination of the reds, pinks, and purples, magenta is feminine but not flashy. You are vibrant and youthful, but you don't need to be the center of attention at all times.

Orange: This color is bright and vibrant, for people who want attention drawn to them. It also symbolizes autumn and the changing seasons: a time of brightness and change.

Dark Brown: A dark and rich color, this shade of brown indicates boldness and authority. You like your nails like you like your men. Just kidding.

Maroon: Maroon is a warm color, a combo of red and purple, retaining the authority of red and the confidence of purple. It's a mature, sophisticated color that, when worn on your nails, invites respect.

Coffee-colored: You are earthy and energetic. Tan and light brown are earth tones, cool colors that bring you closer to Mother Nature.

Green: This color invokes images of vigor and the environment. Going "green" in your nail polish exudes earthiness and spunk.

Deep purple: Purple is the color of royalty. Wearing it on your nails shows you have a confident personality, and you're not afraid to stand out from the crowd.

Lavender: You are graceful and collected. A combination of pink and purple, lavender is feminine and confident without the youthfulness of pure pink.

What does your nail polish color say about you?

We finally decided to update our blogs look and feel with a new template and layout. Please feel free to send us any feedback you may have by using our Contact link above and let us know what information, techniques, videos or widgets on the site you would like to see us add in the future.

Thanks,

Brenda~

Sharmadean Reid founded a nail bar last year because she knew ‘it would be massive’. We ask how it feels to be right.

Rank and file: Nail art from Wah Nails at Topshop

Wah Nails owner Sharmadean Reid

If there’s one thing right now that’s sure to get your mates — as well as shop assistants, passers-by and the woman sitting next to you on the bus — whipped up into a frenzy, it’s your nails. Whether it’s the vinyl-like high definition of Minx transfers, the endless possibilities of hand-painted nail art or the get-in-there-first shade of the season (lilac), this is one-size-fits-all beauty and we’ve all gone potty for it. And there is one east London entrepreneur at the heart of it all.

Sharmadean Reid, 25, founded Wah Nails in Dalston — the city’s hotbed of young talent — last summer, simply because she “knew it was going to be massive”. She was right. Since opening, Wah has decorated the nails of hundreds of creative types, fashionistas, celebrities and teenagers spending their weekly pocket money. And, following a whoppingly successful run as a pop-up shop in Topshop during London fashion week, Wah Nails has secured a permanent spot in the Oxford Street store, replacing Nails Inc.
“Topshop is the best possible outlet,” says Reid, her girly, high-pitched voice giving way to an affable Midlands lilt. “With the store in New York and the one in Knightsbridge, it’s massive. What other high-street store has a catwalk show that is just as cool as anything else?”

The Topshop contract is a testament to the impact of Wah Nails, as well as the plucky determination of Reid. Not bad for a young woman who set aside a successful career in styling and consultancy to build a business on a hunch. She has, however, since then, planned her path with careful precision. “I said to myself last year, I’m going to open a nail shop and get it into Topshop.” And that she has.

We meet at Wah Nails, in Dalston, which has the cool, laid-back charm of an art gallery on the Lower East Side — a little rough around the edges, but a welcome relief from the sterile milieu of standard beauty salons. I flip through the nail menu and am at a loss; there are hundreds of designs, each as mesmerising and joyous as the last. Reid glances down at my outfit. “Let’s do turquoise, brown, silver and gold gems.” It matches my clothes — I’m sold.
Is everybody as clueless as I am in choosing a design, I wonder. “In Topshop, everyone seems to be going for leopard print,” says Reid. “But they’ll also play with textures, mixing matt with gloss, in a fashiony way.”
Surprisingly, on her own hands, nail art is conspicuously absent. “I’m always having to test a lot of stuff. But generally, now that I have everything at my disposal, I have quite plain nails.”

Her fingernails may be a blank canvas but Reid’s love of fashion is in full view: she’s wearing chunky black ankle boots and is somehow pulling off a scrunchie. Her acute knowledge of style is integral to Wah’s success. Having spent her childhood reading fashion magazines from cover to cover, she knows how to instantly spot a trend and transform it into nail art before the rival nail salons can say “mani”. “I just think about what makes a cool motif. We came up with the Aztec nail because at the time everyone was wearing those American Apparel Aztec leggings. Nobody wears them any more, but they still wear the nails.”

The phone rings. It’s a girl inquiring about an apprenticeship at Wah. “I’ve been getting that a lot lately, but that was always part of the plan,” Reid reveals. “I’ve never been obsessed with race issues, but I always think about the jobs that black girls get pushed into. I was tired of paying for bad service, so set up my own nail shop. That mentality is lacking among young black girls.”

This community aspect is what makes Wah different. “We host parties here every weekend, but we don’t close the salon, so everyone can mix. And we exhibit female artists, which provides a platform for young, creative women.” As a result, she’s one of the best-connected girls in east London, but you won’t catch her name-dropping. “I turned down a celebrity the other day to do my friend’s nails, because she was going out. It’s not about exclusivity with me. I want everyone to have the nails and enjoy them.”

And enjoy them I do — I can’t resist showing off my bejewelled fingertips at every opportunity. As for Reid, it’s on to the next venture. “I can’t tell you what it is yet, but it’s not related to nails.” One thing’s for sure, with Reid at the helm, we’ll all want to know about it.

• Wah Nails at Topshop: 020 7927 7844