In the fashion and beauty world, trends are a funny thing: some can come in and out of vogue faster then the time it takes to bleach your eyebrows, and others stick around way longer than you had ever expected (despite my expectations that it would peter out, Jaime King is the latest in a huge queue of celebrities who have dip-dyed their hair, and as we saw at London Fashion Week, you guys haven't had enough of multi-coloured tips either).
Another of these enduring trends has been the nail art craze - and if anything, it's gained momentum over the last year: what started off in a little salon in Dalston (what up WAH!), has gone completely around the globe, landing on the fingertips of celebrities from kooky indie-kid Zooey Deschanel to edgier stars like M.I.A. The beauty industry is nothing if not attentive, and the barrage of products helping us to get the salon look without the actual appointment has been monumental. Nail strips, special effect varnish, nail art pens, everything you need to help you achieve that perfect manicure is now offered by almost every brand - they know a money-spinner when they see one. And it worked: in 2011 sales of nail polish at Superdrug rose 37 per cent, and sales in the US shot up a huge 59 percent.
But - word on the street is that nail art is going to fall by the wayside come summer - and in retaliation to its grip over the market for so long, it's going to be all about a return to simplistic, refined style - nudes (the actual idea is to look like your nails are wearing foundation in the same shade as your skin).This is evident in the collection for SS12 we've seen so far: OPI's New York City Ballet collection, Nails inc's Nudes and Neons and of course, Chanel's It-colour for spring, the greige Frenzy, which featured on the catwalk of their AW12 show during fashion week (where there was an overall noted lack of excitement nails-wise).
So the question is, are you ready to put down the stencil and embrace the nail foundation revolution? Or will you be first in line to buy Ciate's new Caviar Manicure kit?
