Fall-Winter Nail Designs!

A great nail design completes an outfit in a subtle but very fashionable way!

Even though there's not always time to do an elaborate design, it's interesting to discover new ones, for that special day, that you'll want that little "something different".

Here are some designs, following this seasons trends. They're easy to recreate, without the need of any tools, that you can't find around the house.

(On the end of this post, I will include a link with tutorials for some of those designs!)

Metallic tipped French Manicure: This design combines three of the hottest trends for this season: black, metallic, and unusual french manicures. It's really easy to do and it would be great for the holiday season that's coming up! Choose a metallic color matching your jewellery, or vice versa, to make the color stand out even more.

 

Glossy on Matte Black French Manicure: It's the perfect design to complete a grunge outfit! It's great for any occasion, due to it's simplicity. To achieve it, you need a matte topcoat for your base and a very glossy one for the tip, so that there will be maximum contrast between the two finishes.

Grey to White Ombre Effect: This is an amazing fall design! The thing I love the most about it, is that it seems very time consuming and hard to do, but in reality it just takes two simple steps to create it.

Glittery Nails: It's another design, that would be perfect for the holiday season! There's no need for any tools, skill or precision. You just need a white or nude nail polish for your base and a gold or silver glitter nail polish to add the sparkle.

Black tip on Nude French Manicure: This is one more unusual french manicure, very different from the two shown above. With a thin, round and almost unstructured tip on the overall nude nail, it's the perfect finish for a romantic look.

Electric Blue on Black: It's a design that shows, that bright colors aren't only for the summer season. Instead of blue, you could use a dark -but shiny- green or purple. A total black outfit would be the best pair for this design, to let the tip color pop out without being overwhelming.

Metallic on Black Nail Marble: This design requires the most work of all, but also gives the most eye catching result! You can create random swirls or particular designs, depending on your nail marbling skill level.

Metallic Nails: It's the simplest but most fashionable look of all! As you can see, there's no special design this time, just metallic nail polish. You can have all nails the same color, or you can mix gold with silver, by choosing a dominant color and adding an accent nail with the other one.

Metallic Patterns on Black: For this design you can let your imagination run free and create any pattern with a metallic nail polish on a black base.

Polka Dots: This is a very sweet design that you can personalize, by choosing the colors you like best and the size and pattern of the polka dots. If you don't have dotting tools, don't be discouraged. You can use items you already have, such as round headed pins, q-tips (with one tip cut off) or even a ballpoint pen.

For tutorials on some of these designs you can visit my YouTube channel.

Don't forget to use base coat to protect your nails and top coat to seal in your design!

Mixing black with brown!

Black is the most dominant color in almost every wardrobe. The reason for that is that it's a really versatile color and it can be worn night and day, winter or summer and for any occasion. It's also very easy to pair with any other color, except for brown and blue. But even with those two colors, if you choose the right shade, you can create amazing combinations!

This time I'm going to focus on how you can mix brown with black for your outfits.
Apart from the basic shade of brown, almost every other makes a perfect pair with black. On the one hand there are the "reddish" browns, like burgundy, maroon, chestnut and mahogany (hit colors for this season) and then there are the "nude" shades, like camel, beige, khaki, tan and ecru.

Choose to pair black with colors from the first group of brown shades for a loud grunge outfit, because of the great contrast between the two colors. For a simpler, more romantic and neutral outfit, pair black with colors from the second group.

You can even pair it with shades from both groups at the same time, like I did for this outfit. I paired a black sweater with a chestnut brown leather jacket (and scarf) and a pair of beige trousers.

Another way to combine black with brown for a very elegant outfit, is a total black look with just a coat in a shade of brown (e.g. a tan leather jacket, or trench coat).

Experiment with different combinations to find out which ones suit you and your sense of style best.

And as always, have fun! That's what fashion is all about!

Wardrobe Essentials

Every single one of us loves clothing shopping! It's just a good time, when we go out in search for new and exciting pieces to add to our collection. But except from these new pieces that get most of our interest, there are also some items, that are "must-haves", that we sometimes seem to forget to buy.

That's why I've created a list of things that, I think, I should always have in my wardrobe:

- A nude and a black Cami (or tank top)

- A white and a black simple T-Shirt

- A basic Cardigan in a neutral color

- A black Leather Jacket

- A Blazer in a neutral color

- Black Leggings

- A pair of dark-wash skinny Jeans

- A little black Dress

- A little black Skirt

- A black skinny Belt

- Black Ballet Flats

- Black and nude Heals

- Simple knee-high Boots
- A black Clutch
- A medium sized Purse in a neutral color

- Black and nude Tights

- A black and a nude Multi-purpose Bra

Even thought most of those items seem simple and "boring", they are usually the basis of an outfit. Some of them are substantial to create some looks (e.g. a cami or a multi-purpose bra).

So the next time you're ready to go shopping, don't forget your essentials!

If you want to more on this topic, you can watch the following video, that also includes outfit ideas using only some of the essential pieces mentioned above!

Fall-Winter 2012/13 Beauty Trends!

We've gone through the fashion trends, now it's time to talk about makeup! This season it's all about accentuating one feature each time, may that be your eyes, lips or cheeks (you choose).

Even though some looks may seem too daring, if you experiment a bit - doing your makeup is fun, why not - you will come to see which ones suit your features best.

Following are some of my favorite trends, that I think will suit every single one of you beauties like a glove!

Bold dark lips, on an overall natural "canvas"... You can go romantic with this look, by choosing a dark red lipstick with a slight hint of fuchsia and adding some blush on your cheeks in a shade that matches they're natural rosiness. Or you can go for a vamp look, with a mulberry colored lipstick and just some mascara and a thin smudged line of black eyeliner. It's all about what compliments your complexion and your character the most. My favorite lipstick shade for this look is burgundy, which is also the hit color of this season.

The "Brigitte Bardot" cat-eye... The cat-eye is a look that will never go out of style, but this season we're taking it to the next level, with a long wing and almost all the lid covered with eyeliner. In my opinion this is the sexiest look! Your eyes are elongated and get a very flirtatious shape with the help of just your liquid eye-liner and mascara. Add some clear lip gloss on your lips to give them a bit of shine and you're ready to go. Quick and easy but astonishing!

 

The earth-toned smokey eye... Using different shades of brown, gold and copper you can create a perfect smokey eye. This look is easily for both daytime and night time. It only depends on how dark and dramatic you make it. With or without eyeliner and lots of mascara, you'll surely have all eyes on you! To complete the look add a nude lipstick, but for a night out you could also go for a bolder color, like gold.

Rosy cheeks... It's this seasons au naturale look. Just a hint of mascara, and lip gloss, but lots of blush in a natural pink shade will give you a fresh, young and healthy look, perfect for every hour of the day. Depending on your hair styling, outfit and accessories you can change it up from preppy to playful to sexy! It's the fastest look to do and you can never go wrong with it.

Whichever look you choose to recreate, just remember it's all about being comfortable and expressing yourself! Have fun!

For tutorials on all these looks, you can watch the following video.

A fall outfit...

Earth tones and nudes are my number one choice for my fall outfits. They create a very natural and calm look, that gets complimented by the overall scenery during this season. Colors like that are also a safe choice for anyone, who feels uncomfortable wearing bold colors.

Match browns with off white or beige and top it of with hints of forest green or dark denim. Gold accessories will complete the outfit giving it a more elegant feel.

For your makeup I recommend a simple look with either dark lips or a brown-gold smokey eye. Finally, create some waves on your hair, or a messy bun/braid, and you're good to go!

Fall-Winter 2012/13 Fashion Trends!

Let's talk about fashion trends! Some may appeal to your fashion sense, when others may seem obscene to you. But there is always a way for you to take a trend and make it your own, by giving it a touch of your own style.

Following are some of my favorite trends for this Fall-Winter season with some ideas on how you can add them to your daily wardrobe.

One of the most dominant trends for this Fall season is burgundy! This color has taken over and it's seen mostly on skinny jeans. For some it might seem like a tricky color to wear, but you can pair it with earth tones to tone it down. If that is still intimidating for you, you can skip the jeans and wear this color on an accessory like a scarf or a purse. In my opinion burgundy pairs very well with leopard prints (in natural colors) and forest green - these two colors together give such a fall feeling!

Another one of my favorite trends is mixing patterns. Depending on the type, the size and the colors of the prints this trend can be a simple or a very loud statement. But however you decide to wear it, there are two rules that you can follow, to make sure you're not going too far. The first rule is to choose a dominant pattern, on which you'll base your outfit. The other patterns should be smaller and not as loud. The second rule is to choose items in similar colors, to keep the outfit from becoming too confusing for the eye. The most important rule though is to follow your fashion sense and have fun with it!

Leather, studs, spikes and everything rock is a trend that remains since last year. Even for the girlier types there's always a way to add some leather details in an outfit and give a stylish twist. I love to pair tweed jackets with leather leggings... But I love to pair everything with my leather leggings, because they're so versatile! If you don't like the idea of leather leggings, another way to make a statement on this trend is a leather jacket with studded shoulder pads, or - for the less daring - a studded clutch or biker boots.

The most loved (by me at least) trend for this season are chunky sweaters! I want nothing more but to be comfortable when I'm going about my day and there's nothing better for that than a flowy knit sweater! You can pair it with anything you can imagine: jeans, leggings, shorts, mini or maxi skirts... Sometimes you can even wear it as a dress with some tights and knee high boots. Anyway you choose to wear it, this trend will keep you warm and cozy for the fall and winter time.



Whatever trends you choose to follow or not follow, always remember to stay true to your personality and fashion sense. Fashion is not about what you wear, but how you wear it!

A new way to "french manicure" your nails

 Metallics are a huge trend for this season and as much as I like it, I'm reluctant to incorporate it on my outfits. But I found an easy way to follow this trend in a very subtle way.
This side french manicure is very fast and easy to do, but looks very stylish and well done. Use fall colors, like nude or gray, for the base color and metallics for the tip.

Enjoy the tutorial!