Spring and Summer 2012 Color Trend : Turquoise / Aqua

I just got back from one of my favorite places - Nordstrom. Affectionately, I call Nordstrom "the mothership", as I feel as though I emanated from it - a place where I will be able to find almost anything that my heart desires. While I was having a browse, I was inspired by all of the colors. Bright blues, greens, and oranges filled the store. I wrote a few posts back about some of my favorite orange beauty products. To read that post and see swatches, click here.

One of my favorite parts of this time of year is that we go from neutrals to bright, bold, colors. I find it uplifting and see it as a reminder that nomatter how hard the winter of my life may be, the beauty of summer will always come again. Today's post is dedicated to the color turquoise and its little cousin, aqua.

I was so inspired by colors today that I rushed home to add a little more color to my life - by painting my toes. Most beauty bloggers paint fingernails to show off, but, I'm a bit lazy with my fingers since I work with my hands - polish rarely stays looking nice on my fingers. Honestly, I must apologize for my feet - they are not the most dainty, but they are mine and I shall have to accept them as they are. Here are my aqua toes. If anyone is interested, my cute bow flip flops are by Guess. They are called the Tutu flipflop. I bought them at - Surprise! - Nordstom.

I started off my painting my toes with Color Club Neon Nail Polish in Age of Aquarius. I received this little sample in my April Birchbox. Then, I topped it off with a golden glitter top coat by OPI. Here are the products I used.

While I was in my beauty bin, I decided to pull out one of my favorite matching eyeshadows. Aquadisiac by MAC is a beautiful shimmering aqua. If I want a simple look. I will just sweep Aquadisiac on my eyelids, curl lashes, and use tons of black mascara. It looks lovely with a tan.

My last turquoise colored love is my new bracelet that I ordered from Silpada. The company works a bit like Avon or Tupperware parties. You attend a party and play with jewelry. The bracelet I bought is about to be retired. I have no idea why though since it is absolutely adorable.

So there you are - my obsession with the spring and summer color trend continues. Thumbs up for the courage to put my toes on the internet.

Spring and Summer Color Trend 2012 : Orange

Every time that spring and summer come around, I always see the color orange. The color trend for 2012 has been no different and it makes sense. Bright orangey colors look lovely on sunkissed skin. I also love the look of bright pinks and turquoise on a tanned face and body (by body, I am referring to these colors on clothing - not putting makeup on the body :-). About a month ago, I received a bright orange beach bag from Nordstom as a gift with my cosmetics purchase. It was then, that I realized orange was back again. The other day, I decided to raid my makeup collection for bits of orange. Here is what I found:



I selected my four favorite orange lip colors, orangey color quad, and two orangey blushes. The lip products are below. Three of the products are lipsticks and one is a lip stain. On the top left is the Liqui - Gel Stain from Beaute Cosmetics in the color Flouron. Next to Fluoron is Revlon Colorburst Lip Butter in the color Tutti Fruiti. On the far right is Chanel Rouge Coco Shine in the color Liberte. On the bottom is Dior Addict Extreme in Riviera.

Here are the colors swatched, from left to right, they are Beaute Flouron, Revlon Tutti Fruiti, Chanel Liberte, and Dior Riviera. As you may be able to tell, the boldest of the colors is Fluoron. The other three colors give the lips the trendy orange look in a much more natural way.



The next item is the Tom Ford Eyeshadow Quad in Cognac Sable. I find that this quad looks lovely with blue eyeliner. Blue and orange are on opposite ends of the color wheel and they bring each other out. My eyes are brown, so, I will often wear a metallic blue eyeliner on my upper lash line to make my eyes stand out. Pairing the blue with the orangey color from the palette gives an almost fiery look.



Last but not least are the cheek colors. My skin is dry so I tend to prefer cream products. On the left is MAC Cream Color Base in Virgin Isle. On the right is Maybelline Dream Bouncy Blush in the color Hot Tamale. Neither of the colors come off orange on the cheeks. They both turn into more of a bright pink. On a side note, the bouncy blush truly is bouncy...Quite fun to play with if bored. :-)





Here are the colors swatched. On the left is Virgin Isle and on the right is Hot Tamale.



I love the colors of spring and summer. Moreover, I love makeup that looks daring and fiery. What better a color to pull of a bold look than orange! Thank you for reading!