My Weekend: 6.25.12

This past weekend was the first where I was in full-fledged summer mode. It included a trip to Fort Tilden with friends, delicious granola at the new Williamsburg restaurant Parish Hall and a new set of Sally Hansen Salon Effects (leopard from the Rock of Ages collection). Overall it was the right mix of fun and relaxing.

All photos via my Instagram: @ebmonson

Louis Vuitton Spring 2012-Inspired Nails

With spring in the air, I wanted to take a collection that felt like it really embodied the season. The sweet oversized eyelet lace in Louis Vuitton's Spring 2012 collection hit that mark to pastel perfection. To capture the look I painted a few nails with pastel shades and left a few bare. Then I painted different eyelet patterns on each nail. To get the eyelet, I made groups of flowers and teardrops--some filled in, some not. On the bare nails I went over the eyelet with sheer pastels to capture the different layers of sheer fabric that Marc Jacobs used.

Some of the polishes that I used are Migi nail art pens, Sally Hansen Smooth and Perfect in Air, OPI Hey! Get in Lime! and Essie Haute as Hello and Demure Vixen

Photos via Mark Iantosca and Vogue.com

Christopher Kane Spring 2012-Inspired Nails

I am always inspired by how fresh and fun Christopher Kane's clothes can be and blown away by his originality from season to season. For Spring I was particularly drawn to the surprisingly pretty bedazzled jeans and quirky garden florals he showed. To get the look I used Sally Hansen Salon Effects denim nail stickers with Chanel Holographic "gems" on top and my nail art pens to paint individual flowers on top of OPI Significant Other Color (my new favorite sheer).

For more proof that I love Kane's fashionable sense of humor check out my Christopher Kane Aqua Gel Clutch Nails.

In the third photo I'm wearing this Moveslightly bracelet and my Giles Hook Cuff.

Photos via Mark Iantosca and Vogue.com

Happy Holidays!

I hope everyone has a very happy holiday spent with friends and family! I leave this evening to head to Berlin with my family, so no updates next week. I leave you with one of my favorite holiday gifts and the best way to start off the New Year, Keel's Simple Diary Volume Two, and a very festive set of Sally Hansen Nail Effects topped off with Deborah Lippmann Boom Boom Pow. And you know I can't resist mentioning a resemblance to a certain Junya Watanabe blazer...

Lucky Magazine Feature: Prabal Gurung Resort 2012-Inspired Nails

I can't tell you how excited I was to be selected for a feature in the "From the Blogs" section of Lucky's January issue. With Lucky's Jen Ford I chose this amazing Prabal Gurung's Resort 2012 look. I loved wearing this look and I'm crazy about how the feature turned out in the magazine. Go buy yours now and flip straight to page 57!

Photos by Mark Iantosca and Vogue.com

Yves Saint Laurent Resort 2012-Inspired Nails

The sweet vintage poppy print on this Yves Saint Laurent Resort 2012 dress screamed nails to me. I knew the bright abstracted red and yellow flowers would lend themselves to the inexact science of nail art. For the look I started with a base of Essie Chinchilly, then created polka-dots of various sizes with Sally Hansen Lightening yellow and Essie Vermillionaire. Black seedpod and petal details were essential to differentiate each flower. There's something about these flowers that still make me smile.

Photos by Mark Iantosca and Vogue.com

Oh, and you can buy my amazing bracelet and others here!

Sally Hansen Spring 2012 Nail Collaborations

Sally Hansen has been making a very strong case for being the most fashionable nail polish brand. For Spring 2012 they continued their designer collaborations with Alexander Wang, Prabal Gurung and Tracey Reese; some of the most talked about shows of New York Fashion Week. So far this season there isn't a hotter designer to align yourself with than Prabal Gurung and the iridescent purple shade that they created together is just as buzz-worthy. Wang went for surprisingly subdued versions of patriotic red, white and blue while Reese opted for juicy brights. Overall a hugely fun success and I want them all.

**If you don't know, Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure has the best consistency of any drugstore nail polish. I highly recommend trying it.

Photos via Sally Hansen's Twitter, Style.com

Isabel Marant Fall 2011 Navajo Nails

My latest nail project was inspired by Isabel Marant's monochromatic Navajo-inspired Fall 2011 collection. I tried to go for something easy and subtle, which along with chic is how I would describe Marant's style. For this I chose Essie's Chinchilly, Sally Hansen's silver nail art pen and a light grey from Brucci. I used the two greys for the base and the nail art pen to draw on different Navajo-inspired shapes (mostly triangles and more triangles). Nail art pens are definitely a really easy way to do nail art, but not ideal for detailed executions.

Photos via Mark Iantosca and Style.com

Half Moon Manicure

A few weeks ago, Leandra (you know her as Man Repeller) very nicely posted pics of my leopard print nails and also very nicely led me to the easiest tutorial ever for half moon nails courtesy of Alix from The Cherry Blossom Girl. I gave method of using hole-punch stickers as a guide a try and not only was it super easy, but the stickers worked really well to give a clean edge. The only trick is to wait until your nails are completely dry to remove the stickers and to be sure to follow up with a nice shiny top coat.

For my nails I used Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in All Fired Up, my favorite solid red with a pop.

All photos by Mark Iantosca