Remember scented markers? They were pretty awesome back in elementary school. Well, Revlon is bringing a bit of coloring time into the grown up world with their Fruitful Temptations Nail Enamel. They have 8 different shades/flavors to choose from, ranging from Not-So Blue Blueberry to Coconut crush and they all smell like their namesake once dry. The scents last well after they dry, often more than 24 hours and the shades are pretty desirable. The question is whether you want your fingers to smell delectable…

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To celebrate their 15th anniversary, Nars is reintroducing popular colors of years gone by in a Limited Edition collection.  They are calling it Vintage 2009 Nail Polish and the colors are bold and playful - perfect for summer!  I wish they had issued it as mini-bottles where you could get all the colors in one kit.  I find that I never actually finish a nail polish bottle and I love the mini ones.  And I would love to have all of these colors!   If I had to pick one, I’m leaning toward Cha Cha Cha, the yellow/orange color.  It reminds me of butterscotch chips!  I’m suddenly craving oatmeal-butterscotch cookies from Mrs. Fields…yum…

Rarely do we see a polish collection that is just this perfect for summer, but here it is: Sephora by OPI’s Mermaid in the Shade nail colors are absolutely gorgeous and have me itching for warmer weather! Featuring six different polishes in greens, blues and grays inspired by the sea, this collection is a great way to get your mermaid on in the coming months. The colors, all whimsically named and totally evocative of the ocean, include:

• Water Baby (an opaque silver)
• Mermaid to Order (shimmering green-blue)
• Lagoon-a-Beach (shimmering light blue)
• Just a Fairy-tail (shimmering silver)
• Underwater Fantasy (shimmering cornflower blue)
• Blue Grotto (deep ocean blue)

My only qualms are that Blue Grotto seems to be missing from the Sephora website (sold out already, perhaps?!) and that Water Baby and Just a Fairy-tail look awfully similar to one another. Other than that, however, I’m on board! I always wanted to be a mermaid, and this seems to be just about everything I need. (Long, luxurious, sun-bleached hair and seashell bra not included.)

How cool are these new Nail Art Pens from Sally Hansen?! Available in 8 different water-soluble shades, these pens basically allow you to doodle on your nails. So fun! Just paint your nails, wait for them to dry completely (very important) and start drawing away. If things don’t turn out perfectly, no worries - you can erase mistakes with a Q-tip dipped in water without damaging your base color. Once your design is finished, seal it with a clear top coat, and voila! Nail art made easy! Okay, it might be a little challenging to draw the leopard print design shown here, especially on your own nails, but I think everything else is totally doable with just a little practice. The 8 colors include black, white, two different shade of pink, blue, red, silver and gold. I love the idea of using these pens to create an unconventional French manicure, like the silver-on-black shown here, although you could also do a more work-friendly white-on-pink (or beige) traditional version as well. Hmm, I wonder if these would work with the Sula Paint & Peel polish…draw it on and peel it off?! I’m giddy just thinking about it!

Remember my excitement at finding peel-off nail polish for grownups? The easy-to-remove childhood throwback was courtesy of Sula Beauty, and my only complaint was that the polish was only available in four shades. Well, Sula listened - big time! Thanks to a tip from Sula Sales & Marketing VP Carol-Ann Granatstein, I have exciting news to report: Check out the gorgeous new Paint & Peel Trend Collection, which adds 13 new colors and two top coats to the Paint & Peel family. My favorites are Crush, a rich grape, and Slate, a trendy taupe. Each color is priced at $9  (top coats go for $10) and will be available to order online  April 1st. Thanks for the heads up, Carol-Ann!

Heidi Klum took a big fashion risk at the Oscars with her bright red, ultra-modern Roland Mouret couture gown - love it or hate it, she certainly stood out! But she wasn’t the only one: Her dapper hubby, Seal, took a little risk of his own, accenting his slim-cut tux with…black nail polish. Normally, I’m not a fan of black nails on men, as it tends to come off as a bit juvenile, but I actually dig it on Seal. I think it’s the nonchalant way he pulls it off; there’s nothing else remotely quirky about his outfit, so it’s actually very cool. Interested in persuading your own man to follow in his manicured footsteps? Order up a bottle of ManGlaze, a matte nail polish created with dudes in mind. It’s available in two shades: Matte black (”The Death Tar”) and matte gray (”Fuggen Ugly”), and hey - if he refuses to cooperate, slick it on yourself for a much cheaper take on the matte nail trend (ManGlaze sells for $6.66 + shipping and handling, a far cry from KO’s $22 bottles). What do you think? Is this a look you’d like to see on your own husband or boyfriend?

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Ladies, do you sit and chip your nail polish away when it starts to bore you? I will admit this is a major obsession of mine. The minute I get a chip or if the color just hits me wrong, I immediately start chipping it off my nails. I have a friend who does this with her teeth, and that definitely can’t be healthy. However, there is a new paint and peel polish being offered by Sula Beauty. This product can easily be peeled off the minute you are ready to get rid of it. Their tag-line is, “Warning: Peeling Is Habit Forming!” This polish comes in a variety of cute colors, and this product seems like a great idea. My only concern is whether it will chip easier than other nail polish products. I would love to hear reviews if any of you have tried this product. Let me know what you think!

This month’s Glamour has a section on sexy spring trends and there is one nail trend that caught my eye. The funny thing is that they weren’t even meaning to have this particular look represent the trend: One color on each hand! They were trying to show two hot colors - a gold polish and the Eiffel For This Color (that I’ve been in love with since October!) - so they painted each hand one color. The light and the dark colors perfectly complemented each other and made for a funky yet surprisingly classy combination. I’m loving this look and plan on painting my nails tonight in this fashion. The best part? I’m using my light color on my right hand since that is the hand I’m not as adept at painting - ambidexterity is not a gift I was given…

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Going matte is a popular choice this spring: Gone are the days of the dewy complexion and the glossy lip (well, okay, maybe they’re not gone, but you definitely have choices!). One area, however, has remained staunchly shiny: Nails. Until now. Fledgling company KO Knock Out Cosmetics is bringing something new to the table with their trio of matte nail colors. Available in white (Powder), pink (Calamine) and a ‘flatte’ black, KO’s polishes instantly give a tough punk edge to fingertips, as demonstrated here by rocker Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. This just goes to prove that the black nails trend has legs: Every time you think it’s on its way out, there’s some new variation that keeps it exciting (first it was glittery black polish a la Dior’s Black Sequins, now this). Personally, I’m looking forward to matte red and purple polishes as well. I have a feeling matte nails are going to catch on in a big way for spring. What do you think of this dramatic look?

In years past, light pastels of pink and yellow have been more appropriate for Spring and Summer fingernail choices. Not this year though. This year’s trends are bright, bold, and beautiful. Bright finger nail polishes are a must have this season. You don’t necessarily have to match your nails to your outfit either. Many fashion experts are suggesting that with a little embellishment, your nails can be a stand alone accessory. Check out the great collection offered by OPI. They have every shade you could need this year. You can go to their website and select your skin tone, then try on each color. It is a neat little tool to try it before you buy it.

Chanel has really stepped out above the rest with these two new, exciting colors!  These two new shades for Spring 2009 are just right for the new spring trends.

Vendetta is a vampy, deep purple that will really set your nails apart.  Django (love the name!) is a peachy beige.  This one is more my style, and I love the opaques anyway.

I also like the bottle style.  I don’t have to worry about the bottle tipping.  The formula in these nail lacquers also moisturizes and strengthens your nails. 

New on the Chanel site are three  shades, taking inspiration from the Chanel Paris-Moscow Fashion Show.  Limited Editions, of course, with one already sold out.  Or de Russie and Nuit de Russie are still available at chanel.com, but you may want to hurry. 

If you remember Tinkerbell Brush-On Peel-Off Nailpolish as fondly as I do, get ready for a rush of beauty nostalgia: Sula Beauty makes a similar peel-off polish - and you don’t even have to go to Toys ‘R Us to find it! Available in four pretty shades, including the creamy purple Modern Mauve featured here, Sula Nail Polish is water-based, which means that it’s easy to peel off and free of all those noxious chemicals that taint most polishes. If you’d like your manicure to last a little longer, Sula recommends using a base and top coat to preserve the color. The polishes retail for $10 each and are available at Anthropologie and Ulta stores. My only complaint? We need more colors! Get on it, Sula!

Tired of your standard, boring nails? Looking to spice things up for the new year? Inspired by this post from user susiisgr8 in the LatestBeauty forums, I set out to discover how to create the “dark color base/white color up at the cuticle area” nail look that she described, and here’s what I unearthed: The reverse French manicure! Like a traditional French mani, this look involves two-toned nails, but instead of a sheer neutral base color with opaque white tips, the reverse Frenchie has a dark base tone with a white (or light-colored) half moon near the cuticle. It may look complicated, but it’s surprisingly easy to recreate. Here’s a quick tutorial from Be Beautiful:

To get this look, start with a base coat, then paint two thin coats of a light color (this season preferably ivory), next apply a coat of black leaving a half moon shape of the lite color at the bottom (if you are doing this yourself it may be easier to turn your nails towards you for this last part). Finish with a top coat to keep your manicure durable all week.

If you’re having trouble making the half moon shape freehand, you can purchase adhesive nail guides from any drugstore or beauty supply. Voila! A saucy reverse French manicure. Are you excited to try this out?

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If, at some point this fall, you decide you need a little break from all of the luscious dark nail colors that we’ll all be festooning our fingers (and toes) with, may I suggest an alternative? Instead of hopping on the black/burgundy/plum bandwagon, China Glaze has created a collection of vivid, superhero-inspired shades called Operation Colour; check out All Lacquered Up for swatches and detailed color descriptions.

The six colors in the collection are:

• Secret Peri-Winkle
• Code Orange
• Agent Lavender
• Golden Opportunity
• Revolution (a tomato red)
• Pink Underground

I’m particularly looking forward to Secret Peri-Winkle and Agent Lavender - both are slightly unusual colors that are usually pretty hard to come by in a nail polish. Best of all, you can buy all of them at once when you invest in the minis, six tiny bottles of polish in every shade from the Operation Colour collection. Sounds like the perfect way to experiment with incorporating superhero nails into an otherwise understated fall wardrobe!

Face it: Fall is fast approaching, and that means it’s time to indulge your dark side. While lip colors in rich, autumn-appropriate shades of burgundy, deep red or chocolate remain a bit of a divisive beauty topic, and some of you seem (understandably, perhaps) a tad hesitant to embrace something as extreme as black lip gloss, I think we can all agree that dark nails look hot. (Right?!) As long as you keep your nails on the short side and do your best to maintain your manicure (chips really ruin this look), there’s no reason why you can’t welcome the season of changing leaves and longer nights with one of these lovely dark polishes on your fingertips.

From left to right, we have OPI’s We’ll Always Have Paris, M.A.C.’s Illegal Purple (part of their stunning new Cult of Cherry collection), Sally Hansen’s Pat on the Black (despite the name, this shade - one of my favorites - is not black, just a very deep burgundy), Rimmel’s Celebrity Bash (another of my personal favorites) and Essie’s Lacy Not Racy.

As you can see, the key to all of these shades is to keep them just this side of black. Black nail polish has its own edgy appeal, of course, but I prefer these inky berries, midnight plums and blood reds. What do you think? Are you a fan of dark nails for fall?

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Bo-Po fans, take note: I just received an extremely helpful heads up regarding my search for a grown-up version of the Brush-On Peel-Off nailpolish by Tinkerbell that I rhapsodized about in my recent Beauty Nostalgia blog. Check out these amazing polishes by Aqmore, a water-based nail color from Asia that you can buy online. Because it doesn’t contain any acetone, toluene or formaldehyde, it’s non-toxic and won’t damage your nails. Plus, its gentle nature means that you can use it to decorate other, non-nail items as well. Feeling creative? Paint a little design on your cell phone with Aqmore! But here’s what I’m really interested in: You don’t need to use nailpolish remover to take it off. Just soak your nails in warm water for 30 seconds and it peels right off. (This goes for non-nail surfaces as well; simply loosen the polish with a little water and your design will slide off like a sticker.)

I’m so excited to try this! The only downside is that I can’t find any stores in the U.S. that actually carry Aqmore, so you’ll have to order online. Still, they have tons of great colors, and it’s only $7.99 for an individual bottle. Additionally, you can choose to order a 3-bottle set from the Angel series ($12.99) or the Fairy series ($15.99), or a pair of two complementary polishes from the Blossom series for just $9.99. Bargains galore! They also have tiny bottles that come with super-fine brushes called "Colorists" ($3.50), which are intended for use on cell phones, iPods, laptops and like, but would also be fantastic for creating intricate designs on your nails. Plus, remarkably, if you wait for your base color to dry completely, you can attempt to paint all sorts of crazy nail art on top without fear of ruining your entire manicure. If you mess up, just use some water to wipe it away and your base color will remain intact! That does it…I’m officially obsessed.

By and large, I’m a dark nail polish girl. I prefer my fingers and toes when they’re bedecked in shades of red, burgundy or deep violet - probably because I keep my nails short for guitar playing purposes, so they need a bold, edgy color to dress them up a little. But on a recent trip to the drugstore, something softer caught my eye: OPI Nail Lacquer in Significant Other, part of their Brights Collection.

So pretty, yet so unexpected, this is a girlier shade that I can actually get behind! Described as a "shimmery pink lilac with glints of mint," it has an almost chartreuse metallic undertone that really sets it apart and gives it an edgy kick. I can almost guarantee this will become my new summer staple nail color: Can’t you just see it on toes peeking out from strappy black sandals?! Feminine, yet tough: Truly the perfect pink polish.

Have you been salivating over Chanel’s limited edition Robertson Boulevard Nail Colour Collection ever since it was unveiled last month? If so, you may be wondering how you’re going to get yourself over to the Chanel boutique on Robertson Blvd. in Los Angeles (it’s only available online and at that particular location), or struggling to justify the $25 per bottle price tag ($100 for the whole collection, if you’re lucky enough to actually get your hands on it?!). Well, if you’re nodding your head in forlorn agreement yet still jonesing for hot pink (Melrose), pretty purple (Rodeo Drive), sunny yellow (L.A. Sunrise) or bright orange (L.A. Sunset) nails, then I’ve got the low-cost neon nail solution for you:

Introducing Essie’s new Neon Collection, four brightly colored shades that are virtually identical to Chanel’s Robertson collection, but at a fraction of the cost and without the headaches that tend to accompany limited edition goodies. Instead of chic L.A.-inspired names, Essie’s polishes are all named after, um, shorts: Shorty Pants for the yellow, Short Shorts for the pink, Bermuda Shorts for the purple and Mini Shorts for the orange. Okay, Chanel may have a leg up in the marketing department, but who cares when you can have your summer mani/pedi now instead of waiting till July, and you can buy all four in a little mini pack from Nordstrom for a mere $15? That’s less than you would pay for one bottle from Chanel, and once the polish is actually on, no one has to know that you chose the cheapie alternative. Save your money and enjoy your summer!

So I went to Ulta yesterday to replenish my Mineral Veil supply (I told you I’m a Bare Minerals junkie now!) and as I was checking out I couldn’t resist this cute little pink package of OPI nail polishes. OPI polish is always great quality. The package has three shades of pink (left to right: Princesses Rule!, Strawberry Margarita and Koala Bear-y) and a RapiDry Top Coat. It comes with the handy little bag to store the polishes but the selling feature for me was the size. They are all little mini-bottles, which is hard to tell in the picture. But they are all 3.75 mL - a regular size bottle is 15mL. I have never finished a bottle of nail polish. They always sit three-quarters empty in my closet, turning gunky and oily. So these cute little baby-sized bottles are perfect for me. And! They were on sale for $5.99. Four polishes for half the price of one regular-sized OPI polish?? I’m "tickled pink" with this find.

OPI just launched two new collections of nail lacquers for summer, and they couldn’t be more different.

The first collection, Mod About Brights, promises "Totally Mod-ern Shades with a Bright Twist!" Think bold, statement-making polishes in shades that you could find in any kid’s Crayola collection. Exciting examples include Dating a Royal, a new spin on the blue polish craze that’s less severe than its dark navy predecessors from earlier this year; Green-wich Village, a vivid, grassy green; and The "It" Color, a sunny yellow that is precisely on-point with the recent trends we’ve been telling you about. If these colors feel a little too loud for you and you’re in the market for something a bit more understated and pretty, well, OPI’s got you covered.

These three are from their new SoftShades: Beyond Chic collection of polishes, intended "for nails that are effortlessly elegant." Planning a summer wedding? Embracing the Little White Dress? Slick on one of these subtle shades and you can rest assured that your nails will complement your look, not upstage it. My favorites include Makes Me Blush, a creamy pale pink; She’s Golden, a white frost with a rich golden undertone; and Pearls Night Out, an opalescent pearly white. Any of these would be an interesting variation on the standard nude or pink polishes. 

My recommendation? Go crazy and buy a few from each collection! That way you’ll be able to switch it up all summer long.