NAIL A NEW LOOK
KATIE WRIGHT looks to the catwalks for new-season nail inspiration
WANT your hands to be as fashionable as your handbag this season? Then you need a mani makeover.
But that doesn’t mean expensive salon appointments – the AW18 catwalks gave us plenty of gorgeous nail looks that are easy to recreate at home using polish that costs as little as a fiver.
From juicy brights to mesmerising metallics, these designs will have your fingertips looking fabulous in no time.
Here are five awesome autumn updates to try now...
1 BRIGHT TIPS
AT PALMER//HARDING’S London Fashion Week show, lead nail technician Karen Louise said she was, “updating the classic French manicure with a more playful spin, incorporating diagonal lines with pops of colour”.
To create the look, start with a nude base then paint across your nail tips with deep blue or bright red. You don’t have to be super-neat with your lines, it’s about a fun flash of colour, not precision nail art.
■ Orly Breathable Treatment + Color in Good Karma, £8.95, NailPolish Direct. co.uk
■ Orly Breathable Treatment + Color in Vitamin Burst, £8.95, NailPolishDirect.co.uk
2 JUICY PINK
“THE brief was to create sheer neon pink, so we customblended a few drops of hot pink with a top coat to achieve a translucent ‘juicy’ effect,” explains Robbie Tomkins backstage at the Alice Archer show.
“We wanted the nails to also tie in with the striking red shading used in the make-up look.”
Try creating your own juicy hue by mixing a bright pink, red or orange shade with top coat for a super-shiny finish.
■ Morgan Taylor Professional Nail Lacquer in Woke Up This Way, £5.70, TNBL.co.uk
3 METALLIC MIX
AT PAUL COSTELLOE, nail technician Sophia Stylianou created a marbled metallic effect that’s surprisingly easy to achieve at home. Start with two coats of navy or deep brown, then take a pearlescent silver, wipe off the brush until there’s only a minimal amount of polish left and swipe in a criss-cross motion across the nail.
■ IZ Beauty Gel Effect Nail Polish in Get Focused, £6.
■ IZ Beauty Satin Chrome Effect Polish in Mirror Ball, £6 (both izbeauty.co.uk).
4 SEVENTIES SHADES
IF THERE’S one decade that fashion designers are obsessed with for AW18, it’s the Seventies, and that era’s autumnal colour palette is a great alternative for nails if you usually reach for the black polish once summer is over.
From burnt orange to burgundy (the colour of choice at Temperley), taupe to tawny brown, there’s a Seventies shade for everyone, ready to match with your suede skirts and cord pinafores.
■ Orly Nail Lacquer in Valley Of Fire, £5.99, Superdrug. ■ Mavala Nail Colour Cream in Bergen, £4.95, Nail PolishDirect. co.uk
5 CRYSTAL COLOUR
CRYSTALS have been a huge trend in 2018, used for everything from healing and self-improvement to fashion and beauty, and now shimmering nails are trending, as seen at the Sophia Webster presentation at London Fashion Week.
Webster’s models had elaborate crystal and pearl nail art looks, but there’s a much easier way to get the look, by choosing one of the four shades from IZ Beauty’s Holographic collection – emerald, amethyst, sapphire or magenta.
■ IZ Beauty Holographic Nail Varnish in Magenta Magic, £6.