Fashion Nailed
27. Jul, 2010
I have discovered something. To be in fashion this season you don’t need to have the right bag, the right shoes, the right boyfriend or even go to the right places. The secret to nailing this seasons looks is at the tips of our fingers.
Blame the recession or TV shows like mad men, but nail varnish and nail art is now a key trend all of it’s own and I love it.
With blogs such as www.alllacqueredup.com and grazia daily nail chronicling nail related journeys, page after page of fashion magazines giving advice on the latest designs, celeb trends and waiting lists for must have colours, a quick shape and paint is no longer enough!
I am not usually a trailblazer, however, I think with this trend I was a head of the game! You see, I’ve always liked nail varnish, well Chanel nail varnish to be exact. It started when I was about 6 and my grandma had some old Hello magazines (her friend worked in the doctor’s surgery and got to bring them home with her every now and again). The magazines were about a year out of date but that didn’t matter. Real life Barbies were on every page and I loved them. There was one woman that stuck out, her entire bathroom was designed around her Chanel make-up collection. I was sold!
Obviously at 6 it is hard to splash out on a Chanel themed bathroom but I never forgot and, when at 12 I started getting pocket money I made my first journey to the Chanel counter at George Henry Lee (Liverpool’s John Lewis). My mum was a product junkie but even she approached Chanel with a level of awe and occasion - you had to wear your best clothes, which I think at the time included tartan tights, but I digress.
I bought my first nail varnish for about a month’s pocket money. It was white with a pearly finish.
Fast forward to 2006, I am living in Manchester, I have an extensive Chanel nail varnish collection. I have just got a new job in fashion (you can see where this is going!) and I went shopping with my mum to celebrate. As we walked past the Chanel counter the beautiful consultant shouted me over and asked me if I had got the job. When I said yes she jumped up and down, ran around the counter, gave me a hug and told me how proud she was…this was a bigger reaction than my mum’s had been and sort of made me realise that my nail varnish thing was probably a little unusual….
However, it is useful in my line of work!
Now I work in fashion – For Harvey Nichols – I realise there is so much more to beauty life beyond Chanel. I will always have a special place for the white C’s but there are so many other great things too!
My latest obsession is Minx nails from Nails Inc. in particular the leopard print ones. I instantly feel like ginger J Lo ready to get on stage and strut my stuff, even when I am picking up my dry cleaning.
And it’s not just hands, for summer I believe there is nothing as beautiful as the latest (and I believe greatest) pedicure of all time, the Swarovski Crystal Pedicure from Nails Inc. Using CRYSTALLIZED Swarovski elements (over 500 of them) you get the twinkliest toes in the whole wide world. Yes it’s £110 but it lasts up to three weeks and every time I look at my feet I smile…worth every penny!
I would really like to know what you think about this, my first ever blog and would also love to hear your tips and see your pics of manicure and pedicure trends you will be rocking this season, send them to Katherine.Busby@harveynichols.com.
Author
Hello, Thank you for the lovely comments...it's nice to know we are not alone!
Nicola, yes please send your photos
xx
Hi Katharine,
This is a really great read - I too am a nail obsessive! I love All Lacquered Up! Have you read Scrangie as well - her nails are lovely?
I am loving the Chanel colours - not so much the price! I also find that they chip quite a lot. This is my general annoyance with nails, I can never get them to last much longer than 3 days.
My love of nails, beauty and fashion has led me to start my own blog - http://fashionnailed.blogspot.com/
I haven't had time to do any nail posts yet, but I am hoping to this weekend as I have some new colours, so will email you over some pictures if that's ok?
Hi there, brilliant article. I'm a fellow boomwriter ( Creative Boom, Wrexham) and by jolly it's addictive.
I've just today posted a little something on my semi-personal ( eclectic) blog about swarovski elements - swooning over swarovski http://houseofkinch.tumblr.com/post/867482954/swooning-with-swarovski-elements-of-design?ref=nf. I have a wardrobe of Nails Inc and love it and just love the idea of the minx nails - though for the moment I'll just stick to me pink pinkies. Keep it up
I always worried i was so obsessed with changing the colour of my nails, now i know i am not alone. Time to jump on the minx bandwagon and hopefully never look back..