WINTER TRENDS NAILED

WITH EVERY SEASON COMES CHANGE. TREES RECEDE TO LAY A CEREMONIAL CARPET OF CRIMSON AND GOLD, ROOT VEG AND GAME REIGN SUPREME ON OUR MENUS AND WARDROBES SHED THEIR DUSKY CHIFFON AND WHITE LINEN TO COCOON THEMSELVES IN ROBUST TEXTILES; SMUDGING BLACKS, NAVY BLUES, DEEP PURPLES, PARTY SPARKLERS AND, THIS YEAR, METALLICS, LEATHER AND LACE.

And so we must not forget that fashion extends beyond our finger tips, and fingernails are also to be embellished in the latest must have tarry lick. I for one love nothing more than when the nights draw in and nature tells me it’s time to slick on the winter shades like a leather jacket for the nail plates, oh yes!

Well this year is no different and with the seasons vamp fashion trends it’s all about attitude. This winter’s femme fatale won’t be caught dead without statement fingernails to complete the look.

Chanel, as always, is the powerhouse of producing nail polish that, without fail, every season sets beauty editors bare-faced nail beds scratching around to be engulfed by the fashion house’s hottest hue. And said hue is Jade Green.

Inspired by Karl Lagerfeld’s winter collection which incorporates the colour in shoes, jewellery and tweeds, these green little bottles have sold out in boutiques and department stores with waiting lists of hundreds and many going for three times the price on Ebay.

But if green isn’t you, then all is not lost. It seems nail colour is no longer the only way to point out a statement. Across the pond the latest craze to emerge is the Louboutin manicure, where the under side of your nail is painted red like the soles of the fashion shoe, or, (dare I say it) stick-on patterns in high-shine metallics.

Other talon trends seen on the catwalks this winter are the reverse French manicure, an avant-garde take on the domestic goddess staple, and matt nail polishes are a few firm favourites for this season. Could it be true? No more high gloss top coats? Appears so!

Words Alice Fredenham