a nail story: no more waity, katie.

 in the haze of this lovely marketing madness the royal wedding has caused, butter london has created the shade "no more waity, katie" (psst, after kate's eight-year-long wait for walking down the aisle), described as "a soft griege littered with lilac glitter". sounds good to me, in every sense. oops: the shade is not available in the UK.

unfortunately, maybe because she lives in the UK so she just couldn't get her hands on a bottle of it, kate didn't opt for this lovely piece of liquid humour on her nails for the big day, but instead kept them prim & proper in a mix of bourjois so laque! nailpolish in rose lounge and essie nailpolish in allure. for a similar look, pros suggest sweet heart by OPI. I suggest any muted pale pink priced under approx. a dollar per bottle.

photos: a la parisienne, the budget babe, 10 dakika gecikiyorum

cherries in the snow

I'm a bit obsessed with this 1953 revlon ad nowadays, not only because I adore everything vintage but also it reminds me of these lovely, little but significant things about being a woman. after 57 years after the shade's original release, "cherries in the snow" lipstick and nailpolish are still available today, and if it's such a timeless, universally flattering shade of pink-red, I'm craving to try it. I'll let you know once I get my hands on them!

fall polishes.

vogue US picked their favorite fall polishes consisting of surprisingly wearable statement shades such as rich neutrals, lustrous metalics, smoky purples and steely blues, and I'll have to agree. personally, I've got my eyes on M*A*S*H and khaki vert nowadays, though I'm still ecstatic about last spring's greige-taupe nails, and loving beige-camel polishes, which channel season's key color.

what's your "polish strategy" this fall?

1. dior nail color in bronze libertine

2. nars nail polish in M*A*S*H

3. chanel nail colour in khaki vert

4. revlon nail enamel in rock

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5. rescue beauty lounge nail color in catherine h

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6. zoya professional lacquer in kelly

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7. sonia kashuk nail color in taunting teal

8. essie nail color in over the top

NARS vintage polish collection

oh, sweet nostalgia. I'm totally smitten over NARS' new limited edition vintage nail polish collection. each named after a silver screen classic, these colors all share a very vintage feeling indeed. I'm sure I'd like them very much solely for their colors, too, but after seeing the names, there's no escape- I'm such a sucker for everything with a story, and extra points if it involves classic hollywood.  

from left to right- click on the names to go to the imdb page of the movie of inspiration:

M*A*S*H army green infused with gold.

KING KONG copper brown infused with gold

MIDNIGHT EXPRESS deep navy

ZULU forest green

FULL METAL JACKET gunmetal frost

 all polishes are 16$ each.

greige nails

chanel has been setting the nail trends lately- remember the jade-mania, which I'm definitely not over yet, and not planning to be anytime soon. 

this season, "the one" is called particuliére, a pretty taupe shade (or "greige" -for gray/beige-, as they say nowadays). first seen @ chanel's s/s 2010 fashion show, suiting the rustic, natural appeal of the collection, it quickly spread from runways to red carpets & streets.

as it's in a point between some of my favorite nail colors, it immediately appealed to me- certainly more neutral and flattering than gray and more interesting than beige/nude. cool without being overly dramatic. I can see it going very well with this spring's sheer/boudoir trend, complementing english rose patterns -as always, my favorite for the spring, or balancing out brights. so, I'm almost certain to try it soon. do you think it's wearable, or planning to sport it yourself anytime soon?

lagerfeld's latest muse lilly allen sporting greige.

to complete the soft gray look in his a/w 2010 collection, marc jacobs went for a bunch of different custom-made greige shades on models' nails- check them out all here.

lovely gwyneth paltrow with greige nails- it looks delicious on navy, what a great work with colors!

here's our guy- chanel particuliére. for a more shimmery alternative, trapéze and kaléidoscope, both from chanel aswell, would do.

I don't think I've ever paid a bottle of nailpolish over 2 pounds (believe me, even that really hurt), and in that matter I don't really think anybody should either, leave alone 25 dollars, and it seems like a very dupe-able color.  

nails inc. jermyn street

OPI tickle my france-y

this swatch from makeup cafe seems like a good guideline.

you can even think of mixing one yourself: take a bottle of beige and just a little bit of black polish, et voila, perfect and dirt-cheap greige nails!

trend alert: jade nails

(collage from whowhatwear.com)

it first appeared in chanel rtw fall 2009 fashion show & fashion's night out, then, alexa chung's beautiful minty polish came along. the rest is nail polish history.

I think it's such a refreshing alternative to your usual winter polishes, while being light & creamy enough to keep you from that wacky nail look. I find it particularly surprising how well & classy it looks with black.

depending on your taste and your skin tone, you can go a bit greener or bluer, lighter or darker.

rachel bilson (chanel jade) / alexa chung (essie greenport) / leigh lezark (chanel jade)

in chanel fall/winter rtw fashion show, models sported limited edition chanel jade polish.

alexa chung with her highly anticipated essie greenport nails

Chanel Jade

MAC peppermint patti / OPI hey get in lime

 

china glaze for audrey / essie greenport

(I own a bottle of for audrey and I can say it looks much more greener in real life than this. it's pretty much a creamy color between blue and green - a true tiffany blue.)

Illamasqua MILF

 

LA Girl Flare Jade 

(swatches from all lacquered up, steph's closet , krissy's one stop beauty spot)

 chanel's limited edition shade Jade has been out of stock almost immediately and sold for well over $100 on ebay in average, so, if you're feeling crafty, as shefinds suggests, you can try mixing your own: put one-sixth of OPI Green-wich Village in a bottle of Essie Baby's Breath. she swears it looks exactly the same. chanel jade is basically a creamy minty green with pink reflections in it, right? then this formula must work.

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so, how are we supposed to wear this trend? 

if you ask me, I don't think you should try to match these polishes to your outfit. in fact, you should avoid being matchy-matchy. to balance, keep the rest of the color scheme more conservative. they look super-cool with subdued neutrals, blacks and grays.

essie greenport is such a girly shade to me, so I wanted to play up its girliness a bit, while keeping it à la moi slouchy. I think it ended up quite sweet & breezy. (as a sidenote, I am over-the-top obsessed with embellished sewn necklaces nowadays, especially this marlene birger beauty made with felt.)

pretty nails by popsiclepout featuring Christian Louboutin shoes

 jade green adds such a blast of freshness & youth to our beloved, good old rocker chic look and beautifully pops against blacks and grays. this outfit reminds me so much of the cool alexa chung!

jade green nails by popsiclepout featuring Loeffler Randall shoes

so, what do you think about this trend? how would you wear jade nails?

love.