Blair Badge is one multi-talented lady: she’s a social media manager, a beauty editor for fashion site Chictopia, a model, a newlywed and an all-around awesome gal with a penchant for witty banter. Her dreamy blog, love, blair, is a heady mix of all her talents in one and we can’t get enough of her style and beauty advice. This week, she’s sharing her DIY beauty tips, like how to create a pretty custom lip color and how to get perfect beachy waves.
Polka dot manicures are incredibly east to do. Perfect this adorable design with just a few simple steps!
Nail art is a Birchbox obsession. One of the first places we look for inspiration is Glitter, She Wrote, Anna Norman’s cheery, imaginative blog, where she shares her gorgeous designs and muses about life in the Big Apple. This week, Anna takes us inside her nail guru world, and will show us how to get gorgeous, DIY art on our fingertips.
They may be small, but that doesn’t mean your nails can’t make a wow-inducing fashion statement. Try one of these fresh, on-trend ideas to add some serious pizzazz on prom night.
The caviar manicure is becoming one of the hottest new nail trends, so it’s a perfect choice for prom-bound fashionistas. Tiny “pearls” stick to wet nail polish to create a fashion-forward 3D effect. UK brand Ciaté will begin selling its Caviar Manicure Kit in three colors (rainbow, black pearls, and mother of pearl) at Sephora next month. For an inexpensive D.I.Y. version, pick up some microbeads at your local craft store and sprinkle them over wet polish. You wouldn’t wait until prom day to try on your dress for the first time, so I suggest giving these nails a trial run before the big day, too.
Operations associate, Loren, has a thing for nails- and we can’t blame her. We love reading about new finishes and fun techniques, so we thought we’d give her a weekly slot on our blog to wax poetic about all things manicure (and pedicure!) related. Check back every week for Nailing It, Birchbox’s dedicated polish series.
Especially in the spring and summer, it’s important to apply SPF on any exposed areas like arms and legs. But we often forget about the smaller spots like our toes and ears—and even our nails! Since nails are made of protein, keratin to be exact, they need protection just like skin does. In fact, a Birchbox staffer went on vacation with her nails bare and came back with sun burnt, purple nails. She described the pain as “feeling like her fingers had been slammed in a car door.”
After a few days of nice weather here in NYC, we’re totally ready for spring. Since Sunday marks the beginning of Daylight Saving Time, we finally feel like it’s within reach. To get you excited for the changing seasons, just watch the below Longchamp video starring Coco Rocha.
Jessica Biel finally revealed her engagement ring from Justin Timberlake. No surprise here, it’s huge. [Refinery29]
One of fashion’s most eccentric personalities, Jean Paul Gaultier, has just teamed up with Diet Coke in Europe. The designer will replace Karl Lagerfeld as creative director. “The bottles have the shape of a woman’s body, so it was great fun to dress them,” said Gaultier of the role. [WWD]
In fragrance news, two new launches were announced this week. The first is excitingly from Swarovski. The second is less thrilling, Adam Levine will debut a men’s and women’s fragrance in May 2013. [Style.com; WWD]
A woman was arrested for painting her nails on a Southwest flight from L.A. to Houston and held in jail for 10 hours. Talk about a crime of beauty. [DailyMail.co.uk]
The chicks at TotalBeauty.com broke down how much it would take to emulate Jen Aniston’s fitness and beauty routines. Let’s just say we’re feeling a bit better about our shopping habit now. [Shine.Yahoo.com]
OPI will be releasing a six-polish collection for the film The Amazing Spider-Man starring Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield, officially making it the coolest movie slated for this summer. [Business Insider]
The Vibe: Downtown cool mixed with Parisian chic. Models were all given a set of cheek-grazing faux fringe that covered their right eye. To achieve the look, lead stylist Dai Michishita created a left-side part, sewed three sets of extensions into a cornrow along the hairline, and then used a razor on the fake hair to create jagged bangs. To complete the look, the back of each girl’s hair was pulled into a loose twist, secured with a clear elastic, and then finished with a spritz of Redken Fashion Work 12 spray. “We wanted the models to look like they were walking down the streets of Paris with an easy, but impactful style,” said stylist Kelsy Osterman. “The twist is meant to come open a bit as they walk down the runway so it looks like the hair is blowing in the wind.”
Happy New York Fashion Week! We’re almost too busy running in and out of the office all week for us to read anything but that doesn’t mean you should miss out. Take a look at what we’ll be catching up on in between shows. Don’t forget to follow all our Fashion Week posts this weekend.
Liv Tyler and Rachel McAdams are both rocking bangs now in addition to Jessica Biel and Reese Witherspoon, who debuted fringes of their own last week. It’s a bang-epidemic! [Style.com]
There are now tights that will give you a fake tan while you wear them. These tights have patented microfiber tech that slowly adds tan to your legs while you’re wearing them. Despite their strange concept, we’re tempted to actually give them a try this winter. [DailyMail]
Nicole Scherzinger is the new face of Herbal Essences. She has beautiful hair, so that makes perfect sense. [People Style Watch]
OPI’s new polish line, OPI for the New York City Ballet is out. Unsurprisingly, all five shades are sweet pastels, with pale pinks, lilacs, and one silver glitter. [She Finds]
The NY Times profiled famous and slightly terrifying publicist Pierre Rougier, founder of PR Consulting. He’s respected and feared within the fashion industry for his bluntness, fierce protectiveness of clients, and temper. [NYTimes]
It’s that time of year again. Some might cringe at the Hallmark and chocolate-saturated spirit of Valentine’s day, but I see it as another opportunity to play with nail art. After just a little bit of digging, I came across some pretty nifty and creative concepts that you should consider wearing on your digits.
Courtne Smith, a.k.a Queen Shmink, is a world traveler with extraordinary fashion and beauty sense. The Toronto-based blogger is one of our favorite ladies to follow on the Interwebz because she makes her impeccable style (fancy fur is her specialty) feel so accessible and easy to recreate. Plus, she always has a killer manicure. This week, she teaches us her secrets that keep her perfectly primped when she’s both at home or on the road with her bff, Drake.
I would definitely call myself a nail fanatic — I own over 85 bottles of polish in my growing collection. From drugstore to department store, if it’s pretty, it’s mine. While I’m a sucker for Deborah Lippmann’s lacquers, you don’t necessarily have to spend $20 or more to get the “color of the moment.” Here are a few identical hues I’ve come across in my nail polish hunt:
Operations associate, Loren, has a thing for nails- and we can’t blame her. We love reading about new finishes and fun techniques, so we thought we’d give her a weekly slot on our blog to wax poetic about all things manicure (and pedicure!) related. Check back every Thursday for Nailing It, Birchbox’s dedicated polish series.
Some of you may be familiar with holograms already—almost every driver’s license or ID has a holographic sticker on it. The reason that I bring up the fun, 3D-style images now is that I’m seeing a trend in spring polish collections, and I can’t help but dedicate this post to one of my favorite lacquer effects: Holographic nail polish.
Operations associate, Loren, has a thing for nails- and we can’t blame her. We love reading about new finishes and fun techniques, so we thought we’d give her a weekly slot on our blog to wax poetic about all things manicure (and pedicure!) related. Check back every Thursday for Nailing It, Birchbox’s dedicated polish series.
After watching all the gorgeous bright and blush-tone gowns flow down the red carpet at the Golden Globes on Sunday, I got inspired for spring colors. Based on how awards season has started and the spring 2012 shows, I’ve picked the four shades I think will be blossoming on everyone’s nails come warmer weather. Take a look and let me know the polishes you’ll be springing for in comments!
Canary Yellow: Yellow is going to be B-I-G for spring. Designers like Derek Lam, Rodarte, BCBG (above), and Diane Furstenberg all incorporated this sunny shade in a significant way into their collections. To spread the love to your digits, try China Glaze’s Shunshine Pop from their new Electropop Collection.
