1 THE NEW NEUTRAL
Many of the designers showing spring/summer 2013 collections at New York Fashion Week - such as Dolce & Gabbana, Oscar de la Renta, Marc Jacobs and Gucci - went back to basics by keeping the models' nails looking clean and healthy.
Choose a neutral beige shade with a pale pink undertone and apply just one or two thin layers so the natural colour of your nails still shows through. In the past, the neutral nail was often painted on thickly so the colour looked opaque.
Try: Chanel Le Vernis in Emprise, a light blush (above left, $38, from Chanel counters); or Bobbi Brown Nail Polish in Roza, a pale heather pink (above right, $29, from Bobbi Brown counters).
2 TEXTURED NAILS
After the "caviar" nails from British brand Ciate, which are created by sticking tiny glass beads on wet polish, a new category of textured nail polish has emerged. Ciate has gone on to produce a velvet effect lacquer.
British brand Nails Inc recently introduced polish that gives nails either a feathery look or a rough leather effect ($22 each, from Sephora stores, such as 01-05 Ion Orchard, from March 21).
The latest nail wraps from the new Nail Rock 3D range (right, $14.90 each from Watsons stores), and L'Oreal Color Riche Le Nail Art ($17.90, each from Watsons stores) also come with textured prints.
3 REPTILE SKIN-EFFECT NAILS
It is the Year of the Snake, so we anticipate that nails sporting snakeskin patterns will be popular this year.
While real snakeskin has been used in what US Vogue terms the "Python Pedicure" a few seasons ago, the latest update on reptile-effect nails are thin, translucent nail stickers that are sandwiched between layers of gel polish.
Ms Catherine Wong, a professional nail artist and managing director of Ecsalonce, a nail art academy and distributor of professional nail products, created such a look for Urban (left). What you get are iridescent and 3-D-looking scales on your nails. You can have such a manicure done at salons such as EsBoudoir at 02-227 VivoCity. A DIY option would be the Repstyle range from American nail lacquer brand Essie, which launched a magnetic polish with snakeskin patterns late last year. The range of six colours (US$11.25 or S$13.90 each) is available at multi-brand e-store www.beauty.com.
4 COLOUR-CHANGE POLISH
This nail polish lets you sport two colours at one go as the pigments change shades once they are exposed to sunlight. The colour changes back to the original when you are indoors. For instance, a gold glitter nail polish can change to a black glitter one in the sun, and back again when you are indoors.
Brands which carry such polish include American brands Ruby Wing (not available here) and Blaze Nails (right). The latter is sold on Zalora.sg at $16 per bottle. There are about 30 shades available.
5 FOIL NAILS
Metallic flashes were seen on the colourful nails of the models who walked the runways of DSquared2, Monika Chiang and Nicole Miller at the spring 2013 fashion shows in New York.
Thin, holographic metallic foils give nails shine and sparkle that no nail polish can.
Ms Wong of Ecsalonce created a look with metallic foil for Urban (right).
She transferred strips of foil onto a base of cured gel polish, then painted around the sparkly pieces with gel paint to create butterfly motifs. She then finished the look with another top coat of gel polish.
The results are nails that look like they have mother-of-pearl shell pieces embedded in them. This beautiful finish can be done only in salons such as EsBoudoir.
There are also DIY foil nail options by British brand Ciate, which has launched the Very Colourfoil Manicure. The effect you get from this home kit is more raw and rugged and not as polished as those done at salons. There are no details on when it will be available here.
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