Thursday, May 31, 2012

GUTEN MORGEN
















Sommer, indeed!


Vogue Germany had the good sense to get Alexi Lubormirski to shoot Carolyn Murphy for their June 2012 cover.


Goodness gracious, this is lovely. 


Nails and tan are tip top.


Shouts out to my bestest ever, mammatuppy for the heads-up.


Images via fashiontography.net

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

SUPER SUMMER FIZZ



Luckily for me, I love a summer shade in the Southern winter time. 


Peep these lovelies from Super Dry. 


YEAH! 


Image via sugarscape.com

TANNING MOM WISHES



The internet is going berserk over KK's tweeted Instagram of her spraytan in developmental mode, talking all about oh-my-gosh it's sooo insanely dark, she's tanorexic,  she's LOST THE PLOT!! 


Developmental mode. The time frame in between having solution applied to the skin and when you have your first shower. The time frame in which you smell like a corn chip and do look as if you've lost your powers of reasoning. The time frame in which most normal tanorexics stay indoors and dare not expose their state to ANYONE in the known Universe. 


But then we are talking about young Kimmie here. 
She is a monumental twit (albeit a really good-looking one) but she has my vote for advancing the cause of the outstanding spray tan. She uses Fake Bake of which I am a massive advocate  and would recommend in a heartbeat. 


If you don't believe me, put this pic next to one of Patricia Krentcil (who goes in a tanning bed) and let me know which you'd rather look like. 


Kalm the eff down.... 


Image via usmagazine.com

PERMANENT DAMAGE UNDONE



Excruciatingly exciting news for MAC varnish addicts, a permanent range with 31 colours in total is almost here!!


Why did it take so long??? My gosh...


Launching July. 


Image via bellasugar.com.au

LOUBS ROUGE BEAUTE







Who knows if he was inspired by the banging mani inspired by his creations, or if Mr Ford is making such a show of immaculate name-sake cosmetics that he must also join the ranks...
BUT - Christian Louboutin is set to get into it. 


"Christian Louboutin Beaute will include "multiple, unspecified classifications" (WWD) which means anything from lipstick and eyeshadows to nail polish" (HuffingtonPost).


Surely there'd have to be a red lippie/varnish in there somewhere, right?...


Keep your eyes peeled in 2013.   

I WANT MY... NAIL ART






So, the 1990's retro cipher is complete.


Nail art in the stylings of MTV. 


Behold, bungholes.


Images via bangstyle.com 

IT'S SUMMER (SOMEWHERE), OKAY??





Fashion behemoth H&M are copping it for sending an irresponsible tanning message with their latest swimsuit print campaign.


Fuchsia bust-ilicious's tone is admittedly a little heavy-handed, but the rest looks sufficiently, summer-ily dope. From a purely aesthetic point, the campaign is fresh. 


Makes me want to get a crazy spraytan, buy a bikini from H&M and get to a freakin' tropical ocean, so I'd say H&M should be pretty happy with that as a result. 


In all seriousness, though, being 'sun safe' is really huge in the Australian consciousness, so the only realistic way anyone from this side of town is going to think you get that depth of tan is from a spray bottle. (Or here's a radical idea... maybe her skin tone is close to that colour sans tan?? just an idea...)


ANYHOO, here's a good message - if you're very very pale and you want to be very very tanned, get a (good) spray. They are not scary anymore. They are very responsible. And look hot. 


That is all. 


Images via huffingtonpost.com

NUDISTS



RGB have done it again. 


There's something about looking at a complete range of liquid foundations - from the lightest to the darkest - that makes me wanna get my hands on every single bottle.


Which is the EXACT opposite of how I feel about 'nude' nail polishes (or 'mannequin' hands, as we in the biz refer to this booooring look). 


But somehow this magnificent collabo between Jenna Hipp (stylist) and RGB founder Gina Carney has taken me from polish snooze to oh-my-gosh-I-need-one-of-every-colour.


Not sure where you can get this collection in Oz, but just did a quick search and those good girls at honeyhoney.com.au have got more than a decent amount of RGB (aaand uslu airlines!! hoorah!!). Do your best. 


The above image is making me salivate...


TRIUMPH!! 


Image via becomegorgeous.com 

CAN'T STOP, WON'T STOP




O.P.I. really takes the maxim, 'something for everyone' to heart.

Take your pick from the latest 3 collections. 

Images via becomegorgeous.com

OBAMA-NI (?)





Obviously Obama's campaign strategists read a couple of the articles floating around like the one in the post below.


What further proof do we need that nail polish is the accessory de jour????


It's on THAT level now...


Image via globalgrind.com

NAILS NAIL IT

This is an old article from November last year I just found digging through some of my archived source material...




A lot of these types of articles have developed over the last 3 years as nail products, trends and services continue to go from strength to strength. I personally find it really encouraging that an industry that is not always given it a lot of credit or praise has finally found its due from more serious observers. 


I find it additionally personally encouraging that because this has been my chosen profession and business for the last 18 years, I've been able to continue to build over the last 5 years or so, in spite of the trauma and chaos the G.F.C. has brought in all it's various guises and domino effects.


Congratulations to all the incredibly talented and hardworking technicians all over the world who are getting it done and staying paid day after day.  


Bronz'd salutes you. 

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

O.P.I. PURE APPLIQUE



If you aren't confused enough, let's just reiterate once again the difference between AALLLLLL the various things you can stick onto your nail plate at any given moment...


These right here are nail polish strips (go slowly).


OPI release the 'Pure Lacquer Apps'.


Just like Sally Hansen's Real Polish Strips (which are fantastic and extremely easy to come by in Australia) these are not Minx, not nail polish, not hybrid gel-polish, not 3D nail art - they are actually nail polish that comes on a little sticky strip, for your (supposed) convenient application. 


To prove they actually are nail polish, you remove with nail polish remover - as opposed to a Minx-like nail foils that you peel off once you're done with it. 


Those courteous O.P.I. folk have done a creme collection and a shimmer collection, just as they would when formulating a collection of traditional polishes. 


I think my pick is top row 3rd from right, possibly also bottom row 3rd from right. 


Give 'em a burl (if you can find them). 


Image via vibevixen.com

SHATTERED



Oh dear.... 


At some point in the development of this blog, I decided against publishing ugly images, so I'm kind of squeamish about this post (this is the least disturbing image I could find (and that isn't saying much...)). But in the interest of minimising eye-sores in daily life, I must relent (momentarily) to champion the following movement...


The Huffington Post Canada has published an article called 'Shatter, Crackle, Shred', suggesting the crackle polish trend should definitely be over by now. 


I can not agree more. 


Seriously - is there a better argument for trends being almost all about timing? 


The time has come and gone. Let's move on. 


Thank you. 


image via nanciemwai.com

SPICE UP YOUR LIFE



Nail polish collabo's are getting kind of tired and should sometimes be left on the editing table (kate spade + poppy king - case in point), but every now and again someone knocks it out of the box. 


Francois Nars and Thakoon Panichgul (better known as Nars and Thakoon...) have paired up for this limited edition range that I will find a way to get my hands on, because all 6 colours are winners!


Individually named for different spices, they are as follows (left to right) - Lal mirchi, Anardana, Raitn Jot, Amchoor, Kutki and Koliary. 


Yes please. 


Image via vanityfair.com