Spring Nail Trends to Try

I keep hearing this word all over the place… “spring.” Apparently it’s a time of year when the sun shines and new flowers and plants shoot out of the ground. Apparently it’s supposed to happen in Chicago soon – like this week — but from looking at the bleak sky and the snow billowing past my window, there’s no indication of spring anywhere to be found in Chicago. MEH.

It’s not outside where I can see it, but my spirit is ready for Spring. I’m ready for a change of wardrobe and a change of look from my face to my fingertips. There are some super sweet Spring looks for nails out on store shelves right now, so even if the weather doesn’t reflect what the season’s supposed to be, my style can do the job! Here are the nail colors, trends, and brands I’m most excited about for the season I hope gets here soon! Some of these I’ve been sent for review and plan to try soon. Others, I’m just intrigued by!

L’Oreal Colour Riche® Nail Lingerie.

I love nail art, but I don’t have the skills to apply it myself. It’s OK. I’ve come to terms with my shortcomings. And now I don’t need to worry about it – thanks to L’Oreal’s Nail Lingerie, I can jazz up my plain DIY manicure with the mere application of a sticker. AWESOMENESS. I love the subtleness of the look. These would be hot over a pastel color (like L’Oreal Color Riche in Royalty Reinvented), or an eyecatcher like New Money.

Textured Creams Specialty Nail Lacquer by Milani.

I’ve been calling my manicures “textured” for years – just because I’m always good for catching air bubbles all under the polish, or dinging my nails on some surface that leads to visible imperfection. It never occurred to me that this would someday, somehow be a thing, but thanks to Milani, it is! I gather that their textured creams look like a stucco wall (see Lacquerologist to get an idea). I like the look in some colors more than others. Purple Streak and Shady Gray are intriguing!

Racing Stripes and Half Moon Manicures.

The kind of nail art I can successfully DIY usually involves the careful use of tape, or stickers – and so I’m drawn to the racing stripe craze fresh from the 2013 fashion week runways, and the half moon manicure trend which has been around since the flapper era (see my post about them here on Glam.com). My mani at the top of this post was done at the amazing Umberto Beverly Hills salon – more to come on that this week! There are many awesome tutorials for half moon manis, and now you can play with finishes to come up with a fly alternative. Love the matte vs. shiny half moon manicures I’ve beeen seeing on Pinterest! So elegant and unexpected! (Image above of Joan Crawford via Beautylish).

Endless Color Custom Nail trios by Physician’s Formula.

As someone who travels often and loves switching up her look, I think these new stackable custom nail trios by Physician’s Formula are genius! Each trio comes with three complimentary colors that can be used separately or layered together as you like. So perfect for my travel makeup bag! I went to an awesome Physician’s Formula event in Los Angeles – if you follow me on Instagram, you already know. If you don’t, stay tuned for some upcoming reviews. I’ve totally been sleeping on this legacy brand and they’ve got some incredible spring makeup launches you need to know about!

Robin’s egg speckled nails, ala Illamasqua.

 

What’s more springtime than the chirping of baby birds? When this thing called Spring finally gets here, the trees will be festooned with tiny bird’s nests, studded with beautifully delicate, speckled eggs. And that image seems to have inspired the folks at Illamasqua. Their new Spring 2013 Collection, I’mperfection, is all about the speckled look. The collection is matte black glitter contrasted against five gorgeous pastel shades – freckle, speckle, mottle, fragile, and scarce. I absolutely love speckle, mottle and fragile is my fave, a beautiful robin’s egg blue.

See anything you like? What’s next on your list to try?