As the year comes to an end, most of us are wondering how we will transition the favorite trends of 2011 into something new for 2012. This year reintroduced the public to edgier fashions, eclectic hairstyling options, and both innovative and creative beauty trends. Women enjoyed a return to vintage hair and beauty trends – from 1930-inspired buns and twists to edgier 1980-esque fashions like angular hair cuts, bright lipsticks and bold nail designs. 2011 brought on new nail trends like ombre nail art and textured polishes, as well as embellished nail design. If you’re wondering which of this year’s best beauty trends will get left behind and which ones will carry over to the New Year, check out our 2011 beauty recap and 2012 style outlook.

From the Salon to the Kitchen Table
One trend that is predicted to continue into 2012 is the recession’s impact on personal spending. As most consumers have been forced into conservative spending habits, fashionistas have taken creative measures to maintain their skin care and beauty regimens. Rather than spending cold hard cash on medi/pedi treatments at the salon, women have taken on the challenge of maintaining their nails at home – and they’re loving the results! A recent article in Women’s Wear Daily reported nail polish sales were up 59 percent and were one of the year’s best-selling beauty products.

And women are keeping it professional at home, topping off their DIY manicures with top and base coats. The Women’s Wear Daily piece reports that the sales of colored lacquer, basecoats and topcoats were up 50 percent this year.

2011 nail design trends like crackle topcoats, nail decals and magnetic nail polish have allowed women to become more creative with their manicures. Some artistically inclined women are even taking on DIY nail design. Even considering consumer’s frugal spending, beauty industry reports show that women still see nail polish as a luxury – especially considering the wide variety of celebrity-indorsed nail polish products. Within the last year, celebrities such as Lady Gaga, Nicki Minaj and even the Kardashian Klan have launched their own branded nail polishes.

New trends in fashion have re-introduced bold, bright colors onto the fashion and beauty scene and woman have not been shy about adopting these styles and colors in their repertoire. Both pre-teens and career professionals have been seen sporting the new neutrals in nail color: navy and royal blues, ombre design and gray. Another major trend expected to carry over from 2011 are Shellac techniques. These super durable topcoats were not only a 2011 trend, but are also a functional necessity for women on the go. Shellac techniques will surely be used in 2012 and will be especially needed for nail art such as ombre, striped or hand-painted designs.

While it is difficult to forecast what will be popular in the upcoming year, beauty insiders predict that women will continue to invest in life’s small luxuries like nail art and nail design trend in 2012 to give a fresh boost to their look and make them feel fabulous and confident.

If you are a nail technician or even polish your own nails at home, then you’ve experienced the awful nail polish smell that invades the room as soon as the cap is twisted free from the bottle. Now, imagine giving manicures and pedicures for eight hours straight unable to leave the room! For many nail technicians, dizzy spells and significant health concerns result from the daily intake.

“About 50 percent of nail technicians are reporting that they’re experiencing headaches, skin irritations, all types of irritations after they’ve begun working in this workforce,” said researcher Thu Quach with the Cancer Prevention Institute of California.

For California nail technicians, these health concerns have been taken into consideration. A toxic-free nail polish was introduced to San Francisco nail technicians during a free manicure kickoff campaign to encourage others that safe nail products will be better for all. Nail polish typically contains three hazardous chemicals known as the Toxic Trio. These chemicals, dibutyl phthalate, formaldehyde and toluene, are absent from the polish. To go along with this, a new ordinance was also introduced in San Francisco.

“It will be the first in the nation and it will recognize nail salons that use toxic trio free products,” said Julia Liou with the California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative and Asian Health Services.

If the ordinance goes through, San Francisco nail technicians and salons that use these safer non-toxic products will be publicly recognized through the use of signage in the salon’s window.

We shouldn’t have to risk our health or others health in order to feel pretty!

As a present or future cosmetology or esthetics professional, chances are you have an arsenal of unique talents and a strong creative mind. So in the Internet Age, how can you share what you have to offer and gain a wider fan base? The answer could lie in blogging!

Recently, I came across an entertaining blog called The Daily Nail that inspired me to think about what makes a blog fun to read. Though the author of The Daily Nail does not claim to be a professional nail artist or technician who has graduated nail technician school (just a nail polish addict), she has committed herself to creating 365 new nail designs in 365 days. So even if ninja nails or mustache nails aren’t your thing, you may be able to find a novel nail polish idea within these webpages.

Now do you feel inspired to start up a blog of your own? First, think about what you’re good at - executing great hairstyles, trying out new makeup looks, or just doing wacky beauty things. Creating your own blog could be the perfect way to put yourself out there, and even gain devoted clients and readers.

Need some tips for your own blog? Here are a few ideas to get started: (more…)

We all have them laying around the house – in our cabinets, drawers and shoe boxes. But, what do you do with your nail polish that just sits there? Well, I found a great article about just that! You don’t want to wait for your nail polish to fall over and leak everywhere, and you don’t want to trash it. So what do you do with the colors that are past their prime?

Instead of just throwing away good polish and money – try some of these suggestions. I found that some where very helpful, like:

• Use to stop runs on your stockings. Use clear nail polish for anything that will be showing; darker colors for runs hidden under clothes.
• Dab on to the end of frayed shoelaces or string to keep from unraveling.
• Use to mark work levels on measuring cups or buckets.
• Use as a carpenter’s mark on wood or other projects.
• Give to kids for art projects.
• Use to hide chips in ceramics and pottery.
• Use to mark your desired water temperature on the thermostat.
• Dab on warts. Disclaimer: I read several instances where this is said to work - I don’t know that for sure.
• Use to touch up worn spots on leather furniture, clothing or shoes.
• Paint over screws, especially those on sinks, tubs, toilets and outside fixtures, to prevent rusting.

And that is only half the list! And just think if you are a nail technician – the amount of bottles you might have could be endless! You could even donate some to friends and family so they can enjoy the features of nail polish!