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If you’ve tried matte nail polish, you’ll know it chips and scratches way too easily because you can’t use a basecoat or topcoat without creating shine. So OPI came up with a solution: a matte topcoat. Apply this over a basecoat and any colour of varnish, and you get a matte nail that lasts a good few days. For once, we are happy to have a nail that isn’t shiny. OPI matte topcoat, $10.95 at salons and spas. www.opi.com

The Naked Truth

Tom Pecheux developed a beautiful line of skin tone polishes for Estee Lauder’s summer collection. Described as “foundation for nails,” we suggest you wear it underneath the matte topcoat (above) for a super discreet nail. No one likes a shiny foundation, anyway. Estée Lauder French Nudes Pure Nail Color, $25.00 at Holt Renfrew, www.esteelauder.com

Dynamic Duos

The new Pierre Hardy for NARS collection does double duty - literally. The clashing colours work perfectly for finger/toe combos that aren't too matchy-matchy (a nail no-no, in our opinion). Consider Etho Run (orange/navy) for a sleek, powerful look or the youthful Sharks combo (yellow/lavender) for the breezy days of summer. $32/set at all NARS counters and www.narscollection.ca

—Alexandra Suhner Isenberg and Maria Tallarico

This is the moment of vamp, but winter fresh and retro beauty also found their way onto runways this season.

Wine Lips

Vampy is the buzzword of the season, so get ready for very deep wine coloured lips. Seen at Gucci (pictured), YSL, Etro, and dozens of other shows, this dark shade requires some bravery, but once you try, you won’t stop. Editor’s Pick: Ilia Lipstick in Femme Fatale, $24 at ILIA.com and Kiss & Makeup, H5-925 Main St., West Vancouver, 604-922-6292, www.kissandmakeupstore.com

Burgundy Tips

With vampy lips come vampy nails. Intense brights and complex nail art is put on the sidelines in lieu of the classic Hollywood burgundy, as seen at Catherine Malandrino (pictured) and Jenny Packham. Editor’s Pick: Essie nail polish in Skirting the Issue, $11 at Kiss & Makeup, H5-925 Main St., West Vancouver, 604-922-6292, www.kissandmakeupstore.com

Emerald Notes

Green shadows are making their biggest return since the ’80s. Avoid looking like the Jersey clan from Working Girl and opt for a shadow that’s easy on the glitter and with a slightly pearly finish, as seen at Jason Wu’s presentation. Editor’s Pick: Stila Eye Shadow in Jade, $24 at Beautymark, 1268 Pacific Blvd., Vancouver, 604-642-2294, www.beautymark.ca 

Blushed

Winter fresh is the best way to describe this flushed cheek seen at Michael Kors, Preen and Issa. Keep it looking youthful by keeping the rest of the face clean and opting for a dewy cream blush. Editor’s Pick: Make Up For Ever HD Microfinish Blush in Truth and Dare, $30 at Sephora. 

Poof and Band

Channeling Brigitte Bardot and a current It Girl Lana Del Rey, bouffants are the up-dos of the season, seen in the ladylike collections of Oscar de la Renta and Carolina Herrera (pictured). What you need is a lot of hairspray, some backcombing action, and a headband to top it off. With a sultry ‘60s poof, this is not a schoolgirl look. Editor’s Pick: Goody Iconoclass Satin Headbands (2 pack), $5.99 at London Drugs.

—Anya Georgijevic

It’s not often you get to celebrate a 175th birthday, so when Holt Renfrew announced they were celebrating theirs in September, we were put into a party mood and decided to get dressed up in magenta, the store’s signature colour.

We started with the limited edition magenta Alice + Olivia peplum dress ($275), paired with Louboutin Lady Peep Holts 175th anniversary platforms ($1,295) and Sydney Evan’s ruby moonstone bead bracelet ($775.) We softened our hands with Jurlique’s rose hand cream and painted our nails with Deborah Lippmann’s Raise Your Glass nail polish, then packed our Judith Leiber heart-shaped clutch ($275) with Giorgio Armani’s ‘Holts Magenta’ lipstick ($38.) Since it is almost winter, we threw on the Canada Goose Trillium parka with magenta lining, of course ($750.)

With all this limited edition birthday garb, we’ll be blushing with excitement and we’re giving our dreary black winter wardrobe the pink slip.—Alexandra Suhner Isenberg

Holt Renfrew limited-edition magenta products available in store at 737 Dunsmuir St., Vancouver, www.holtrenfrew.com

If your manicure is toast before you’ve even had breakfast, we’ve got some handy advice.

Promising to last two weeks (ours lasted three), shellac manicures are ultra-glossy, dry in mere seconds, and virtually un-chippable.

Using a patent developed by their dentist dad, a brother-sister team built CND (Creative Nail Design), whose shellac is known as the “power polish.”

While we opted for a neutral pale pink called Romantique (as seen on the Spring runways of Phillip Lim), colours can be layered for an ombré effect or made iridescent with a rainbow of metallic powders.

Colour gets soaked off at the salon (or DIY at home in 10 minutes) and the nail bed is as healthy and strong as ever.

Now, about that breakfast. —Sarah Bancroft

$90 at the Four Seasons Whistler Spa and $55 at Frilly Lilly Yaletown, 1076 Hamilton St., Vancouver, 604-623-3330, www.frillylilly.ca

To see a gallery of our favourite runway images with CND, visit our Editors' Diary.

We’re spicing up our mani in the most fashionable way possible.

Thakoon – a favourite designer of everyone from the U.S.A’s fashionable First Lady to Hollywood style-setters like Rachel Bilson and Jessica Alba – has teamed up with Nars to create a Bollywood-inspired nail polish collection that hits counters tomorrow.

Must-have shades include Anardana, a pomegranate-esque pink and Amchoor, a gorgeous yellow reminiscent of the citrusy spice common in India.

Don’t let the $21 per bottle price tag scare you: With his dresses starting at a cool $725, these polishes are affordable, at least by Thakoon standards! —Christine Laroche

The Bay, 674 Granville Street, Vancouver, 514-281-4422, www.hbc.com

Dreamy pastels are on everyone’s mind this spring, from the runways of Phillip Lim, to Chanel’s beauty counters.

One Canadian brand, Jacob, serves up the finest confectionary colour palette with a line of affordable and formaldehyde-free nail lacquers. Their freshest concoctions include Retro Chic, a frothy cantaloupe hue, Miss Mousseline, a cotton candy pink, and Sunny Capri, a soft lemon meringue yellow. They might make you crave a cupcake or two, but your nails will look just as delicious. —Anya Georgijevic

$6 at Jacob, www.jacob.ca

Even the most die hard nail fanatic can get a bit bored of the sheer number of new nail polishes launched on a monthly basis.

We’ve seen it all when it comes to trendy colours, quick dry, or crazy nail art, but it is rare to find something completely new in the world of nail polish. That’s why we got very excited when we discovered Nails Inc’s new magnetic nail polish. Coat your nail with the polish, which includes metallic particles, and then use the magnet embedded in the cap to create shapes and patterns.

And make sure to apply it a good distance away from your fridge! —Alexandra Suhner Isenberg

Nails Inc Magnetic Polish, $16 from Sephora, www.sephora.com

But Miss Piggy is back and she’s bigger than ever!

In a new role as a French Vogue fashion editor in The Muppets, our favourite swine has conquered every headline. Between her spread in InStyle and feuds with fellow blondes Carrie Underwood and Lady Gaga, Piggy has found time to delight us with two beauty collections. We can now be glam a la Piggy, with the Miss Piggy for M.A.C. eyeliner ($21) and luscious falsies ($18). And we can let our nails shine in a festive glittery red with O.P.I Muppets Collection’s Gettin’ Miss Piggy With It ($10.95), although (shhh, don’t tell her) the colour we really covet is Pepe’s Purple Passion.

Let’s face it: this swine is truly divine. —Anya Georgijevic

O.P.I’s Muppets Collection is available now at Pure Nail Bar, www.purenailbar.com, and Miss Piggy for M.A.C arrives November 14th at www.maccosmetics.com

Image Credit: Instyle Magazine

Butter London bids goodbye to Kate Middleton’s singledom.

She landed the world’s most eligible bachelor, and now Kate is landing on everyone’s best-dressed list. Girl deserves it: she’s been waiting for the Prince to pop the question for, like, ever!

To celebrate her, well, 'achievement,' Butter London was inspired to create “No More Waity Katie,” a soft rose greige with a little bit of festive lilac glitter. One can’t go royal without a little bit of sparkle! —AG

$17 at BeautyMark, 103-1120 Hamilton St., Vancouver, 604-642-2294, www.beautymark.ca

'Tis the season to sparkle. Too bad about that library of matte nail lacquers in your medicine cabinet.

Now, hold on, don’t throw the buff out with the bathwater. A shimmery top coat from Sephora by OPI will make any shade fit for the holiday season. For gilded girls, there’s “Only Gold For Me,” and for silver foxes “Flurry Up,” both clear with specks of glitter to add a festive flourish on top of whatever hue you already have on your fingertips.

No fading back to flat black.

$9 at www.sephora.com