Beauty Break: Nailed It!

From October through March some would argue that pedicures become more of a luxury than a necessity (although for the record, we would argue that some luxuries are necessities).  During the coldest months of the year the only people that regularly catch a glimpse of our toes are our nearest and dearest friends, the occassional member of the medical community and the inside of our fuzzy winter socks.  However, with summer upon us and our beloved granny socks tucked away in storage, our toes are once again on display.   So with the season's renewed focus on nails top of mind - here are some cool ideas to mix things up during your next trip to the salon.


First up, the two-tone pedicure/accent nail.  While typically we consider two-tone either a french manicure or, more frequently, the part of the nail with polish versus the part of the nail without, we came across this cool idea in the latest issue of Glamour magazine.  Pick two colors in the same family of hues, but from opposite ends of the spectrum (i.e. one dark and the other light).  Then paint all toes the darker shade, except for one on each foot which should be the lighter shade.  We're partial to lightening up on your second toe, but feel free to experiment to see what looks best on you.

Glamour shows Chanel's Black Satin with an accent color of Intermezzo, but for those of you that want to try this trend with slightly more seasonal shades here are some ideas from Essie's current line...

Essie's Bahama Mama with Essie's French Affair accent

Essie's Midnight Cami with Essie's Lapis of Luxury accent

Essie's Geranium with Essie's Tart Deco accent

Essie's Trophy Wife with Essie's Turquoise & Caicos accent

If you are feeling even more creative, try painting your thumbs one color, your pointer fingers another and so on and so on just like Eleanor Bridge (pic below), one of our favorite French fashion bloggers.  

Eleanor's gone with a variety of colors, but we like the idea of doing an "ombre nail" and slowly working from the darkest shade to the lightest. 

Chanel Ombre Nail (via Deery Me blog)

And last but not least, while we've all seen the crackle nail polish trend, if you want a similar look that's a little more feminine, we recommend layering a glitter polish over a pastel shade like Emily from the blog Cupcakes & Cashmere.  She used Essie's French Affair with Sephora for OPI's Only Gold for Me.

Happy Sunday and Happy Painting!
<3,
Emy & Po