Nail Art: Top Five Trends To Try Now

Forget the 'Boy Brick Bag', this season’s must-have fashion accessory is at the end of your fingertips

If I told you that the biggest trend for nails for SS13 is nude (which it is btw), I take full responsibility for the collective yawn and subsequent clicks onto K-Middy’s latest hair/bump pics that this might engender. So here’s the slightly less underwhelming news; despite nude being hot for SS13 and red being practically scorching for AW13, nail art is still very much alive and kicking for talon-ted celebrities and fashionista’s in the know. Here are the five trends you need to nail (claws out girls!):

1) Trash-chic Spied across all four fashion capitals from the SS13 shows, think classic styles with a hoochie twist. From ‘Nouveau French’ at Jenni Kayne, Clements Ribeiro and Vivienne Westwood, to eerie ombre at Gareth Pugh (picture a ghetto girl who’s been dragged to finishing school) our personal favourite are the Salt n Pepa-inspired foils created by David Barton at Mark Fast. Work it.

2) Foiled Again We’ve had caviar balls and disco balls, feathers and fur and leather and lace, but good ‘ol BacoFoil is seeing a resurgence, wrapping up this season’s nails in the arts and crafts trend that you don’t need a Blue Peter badge to recreate. Essentially marbeling without the water and mess, simply paint your nails, allow to dry, dot on random adhesive and apply, well, any type of foil you like really – (Rio Nails do some amazing designs but gold and silver leaf work equally well). And there you have it – shiny happy nails with minimal fuss.

3) Maximal matte Flat, matte colour has been around for a couple of seasons now, and like a Morgan Freeman voice-over, it lends an instant cool-factor that works equally well on lips (although not so much on cars for some reason). Spotted on the fingertips of the most style-savvy celebs, it’s a trend that has seen no sign of abating and better still, is super easy to recreate. (Look out for Ciate’s latest offering which has taken matte to the extreme with chalkboard nails that will bring a whole new meaning to back to school beauty). Now matte’s what we’re talking about!

4) Trompe L’Oeil Easels at the ready, AW13’s talon-ted offerings were an art-attack waiting to happen. From Pollock-esque splodges to op-art odes, it’s all about cheating texture and perspective. Even nude was given an artistic over-haul courtesy of the talon-ted Katie Hughes at Louise Gray who mixed a medley of yellow and pink daubs to create a buff base which she sponged off, dipped in alcohol and rolled in newspaper to leave a hot-off-the-press imprint. But it was the slivers of colour down the sides of the nails at Vivienne Westwood and Kenzo that were the real masterpieces, creating a subtle flash of interest whilst elongating and refining the nails.

5) Ring Bling Gold studs and chains on the end of one’s digits aren’t for everyone so dip into the nail art trend by opting for either the ‘Blackberry Bling’ (a front row favourite where the thumb is embellished or painted a different colour so it stands out when you type on your phone) or going for the flamboyant ring fingers seen adorning the red carpets recently. It’s nail art that you can hide from the boss if necessary and takes the pressure off your mani prowess as it means you only need to make one finger look really really good!