Straight from the nail files: Move over lipstick, nail polish is giving you a run for your money

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Let's face it, nail art is here to stay for a while.  It's noncommittal, ever-changing and if you hate it enough you can always take it off with nail polish remover.  Nail polish was the one thing I could afford to buy with my weekly allowance; off I would bounce every Friday night to the Limited too to check out their makeup filled acrylic shelves circa 1995. It was the height of the movie Clueless' popularity - most of us had managed to shed our scrunchies we purposely purchased to match our leggings.  Gadzooks was another option; catch was, Mom had to drive me to the South Shore Plaza to check out their latest wares.  Inevitably, we would only make it as far as Kingston to haunt the halls of our local mall.  This is how I managed to accumulate a shoe box filled with nail polish. Black, red, green, shimmery, sparkly, pretty much all of the colours from the rainbow.  And, I even had a Klutz Nail Art book to refer to for ideas, techniques and tools.  Ah, the 90's, a time right before the Internet would forever change the shape of our lives.

Trends come and go, but I love how they can come back after being gone for so long.  Our global economy lends itself to the re-jigging of things, whether it be conscious or subconscious.  The lipsticks effect of the 1940's has transformed and reemerged as the nail polish effect.  Don't get me wrong lipstick sales are right up there, but writer Cheryl Wischhover of Fashionista recently published the following:

"Overall sales in the category are up 68%. Nail color is up a whopping 70% and top and base coats are up 100%. So don’t expect those trendy top coats to go anywhere soon."

Where do we go from here?  Well, there's plenty of inspiration to be found in the form of blogs, Pinterest and even Instagram.  Here's a list of a few of my favourites:

  • Nihrida - To put it simply, she knows how to paint her own nails really well.
  • Tamara a.k.a @ohtammm - If you use Instagram, then consider following her.
  • The Beauty Department - Step-by-step is how it's done.
  • Vampy Varnish - Kelly's nail gallery is extensive!