Summer is just around the corner, and the new nail trends are sooo cute!
Before you start experimenting, here are a few tips:

- Short, oval / square-rounded nails are trendy at the moment. Long, pointy nails are completely outdated!
- Always use a base- and topcoat. It makes the nailpolish last longer!
- Use quality nailpolishes to prevent your nail colours from chipping!

My top three nail polishes:

1) Essie - (soo many colours, and véry long lasting! Buy them here:) http://www.beautybay.com/cosmetics/essie/
2) Rimmel - (especially the ‘Pro’-range, it lasts for more than 7 days!) http://rimmel.rimmellondon.com/products/nails
3) Maybelline Forever Strong - (last for +5 days!)  http://www.maybelline.co.uk/products/117/nail-color/forever-strong-pro

And now, here are my favourite summer nail-ideas!

Ombre nails:

Glitter nails:

Funky nail designs:

Matte nails:

Colourful french manicure:

Caviar nails:

Polka dots:

Newspaper nails:

I’ve tried some of these trends…

Here is my version of the newspaper nails!

How to? Paint your nails in a light colour. Then take a piece of newspaper, soak it in alcohol (70%) and press it on your nails for 15 seconds. Tadaa! Finish off with a top coat.

I’ve also tried the polkadots. It’s a bit hard to stop when doing this, so I went a bit over the top.

How to? Paint your nails in any colour, then apply dots in another colour with a toothpick. Et voila! You can also add a glittery top coat.

What’s your favourite?

x Katleen

Hello blogreaders! I hope you had a nice and merry Christmas!

We’ve had a few lovely Christmas dinners with our family (and with a lot of food - I cooked for 16 people-) and now we’re preparing for New Year’s Eve! We’re going to celebrate it with a group of friends, and everybody brings food, so I’ll be less in the kitchen and more partying this time!

And as promised, here are some inspirational party-make-up looks for New Year’s Eve! These are the holiday pictures from the big designer-make-up brands, by the way.

Chanel:

To create this look, use a matte foundation and apply a black eyepencil on the top eyelid and blend it out to get a subtle smokey effect. On the lower eyelid, use a golden eyeliner (or use a wet angled brush with golden eyeshadow). Then finish the look with black mascara and a shiny raspberry lipstick and nail polish.

Dior:

First line your eyes with a black eyepencil (top lid, bottom lid and waterline) and then blend it to get the smokey effect. After that, take a brown-bronze eyeshadow, and with a blending brush smooth the edges of the eyeliner, and create a soft transition from the black to the colour of your skin. A golden highlighter was used to highlight the browbones and cheekbones.  Black mascara and warm red lipstick and nail polish finish the look.

Giorgio Armani:

For this look, apply a iridescent silver eyeshadow on your upper eyelid. Then use a black gel-eyeliner, only on the top lid. It is important to use a very longlasting eyeliner! (I found one: read all about it in my party-proof make-up article)
If you are planning on using false eyelashes, this thick eyeliner is a perfect combination. When the lashes have a dark ‘background’, they don’t draw too much attention, and that way they seem more natural. In this picture, they also applied a nice dark ruby-red lipstick and an almost black nail polish.

Lancôme:

Kate Winslet is wearing a bright red lipstick with a soft dark-grey eyepencil on the top and bottom eyelids (and again: blend it to create a softer look). I guess you already know my secret for kiss-proof red lips: use a lipstain underneath your red lipstick!

Yves Saint Laurent

This make-up is ideal for a night of heavy partying. If it smudges, it becomes even more beautiful! So you first use a black eyepencil all over the moving part of your upper eyelid, and also under the eyes and in the waterline. Then you fixate it by sweeping over a dark grey eyeshadow. For a very dramatic look: blend the eyeshadow all the way to your eyebrows. When you wear a dramatic smokey eyemake-up, it is always nice to combine it with a neutral lipgloss, instead of a heavy lipstick. Oh, and notice the beautiful matte black nail polish! Instead of buying matte nail polishes, it’s a lot cheaper to just buy a matte topcoat! You can find the fantastic matte Essie topcoat here, on my favourite online beautyshop: beautybay.com!!

Which look are you going to wear for New Year’s Eve? I think I’ll go for the golden eyeliner!
Happy New Year everyone, and see you in 2012!!