Nail polishes put on their festive outfits! The new seasonal dress code is the varnish or top coat"gold leaf". We are also witnessing a massive return of gold. A nugget and fantasy effect accessible to the greatest number to transform the ordinary and make our hands the stars of an evening! Zoom on new cosmetics with Ariane Le Febvre.
Gold invites itself under the tree… Nothing very new so far. Except this year, there won't be a Christmas Eve without gold leaf nails! A myriad of golden shards in a transparent varnish, it changes us from the traditional sequins (even if they are not very far away) and evokes, indeed, the gold leaf particles which decorate certain chocolates (no mark dared the tint of chocolate varnish with gold leaf, a pity!). In perfumery as in large distribution, in top coat or sticker, impossible to escape these gold nuggets which electrify the manicure of the end of the year! Top coat can be worn on bare or already varnished nails. They can also be applied in sparkling line on the free edge of the nail, thus making it possible to reinvent the French Manicure. Varnishes, on the other hand, are worn on nails previously coated with a base.
They can be found at Guerlain (Le Top Coat Or, Top Coat Effet Gold Leaf, 10 ml, 23.50 €, 901 L'Oiseau de Feu), Dior (Diorific Golden Shock Top Coat Effet Gold Leaf, 10 ml, 27 €) or Lancôme (Vernis In Love 550 Illuminations, 6 ml, 17 €). The particularity of the latter? Play the contrasts by offering, once dry, an ultra matte and yet glittering finish of gold dust. Lancôme also offers it in tattoo (Golden Dust Manicure, 40 Tattoos for nails, 25 €, limited edition), to stick on bare or coloured nails.
Sephora offers a low price version (Gold Fever glitter top coat, 5 ml, €4.95), just like L'Oréal Paris (Color Riche Top Coat Gold Leaf, 5 ml, €5.75), or Innoxa in pharmacies (Gold Leaf Glitter top coat, 2 shades, 4.8 ml, €5.90).
Among the most spectacular are Essie's multidimensional gold flakes, which resemble real incandescent sequins (Top coat Rock at the top Summit of Style Essie Luxeffects, 13.5 ml, €11.90). As for the varnish I Reached my Gold! O.P.I (Spotlight on Glitter collection, 10 ml, 13,90 €), it covers the nails with a thousand golden sparks.
Gold in all its shades
Generally speaking, gold fever has taken over Christmas varnishes (last winter it was silver and platinum). And gold can be: - hot (Glitter Nail Polish, shade Solid Gold by Bobbi Brown, 11 ml, 15 €; Varnish Wonder Bronze Marionnaud, 6 ml, 4,90 €), Metallised (La Laque Couleur Guerlain, shade 400 Coque d'Or, 10 ml, 23,50 €), - straight lamé (Diorific Vernis 241 Gold Equinoxe de Dior, 10 ml, €25; Vernis Brillance Yves Rocher, 5.5 ml, €7.90 or 3 ml, €3; Vernis Gold Sand Monop'Make Up, 5 ml, 3,99 €), - sparkling like champagne (Vernis Christmas Ball Mavala, 5 ml, €5.40), - Byzantine (Color Riche Le Vernis L'Oréal Paris, shade 223 Imperial Gold, 5 ml, 5,70 €), - bling-bling and gleaming (Vernis Royal Stars Golden Sundown d'Alessandro, 5 ml, €4.95). Whatever the shade chosen, the gold varnishes illuminate the nails with a precious patina, in the purest Hollywood style!
Special effects
Other trend and new gesture of nail artistry Glitter or micro-pearl powders from which you sprinkle your freshly varnished nails (Jewel Shaker or Dazzel Shaker L'Oréal Paris, Christmas 2014 Tsarina Collection, €8.45). Or the"effect" varnishes, sprinkled with black and white confetti that make the nails sparkle (Top Coat Galuchat T.LeClerc, 8 ml, 15 €). In the meantime primers and other spring gloss varnishes…
Ariane Le Febvre
