Lifestyle Mirror

At the tents this morning, on Day 3 of Fashion Week, an editor glimpsed at a model's nails and smiled. "Nude again," she noted, and made her way to makeup. Indeed, for all the attention we pay to nail art and eccentricities, Fashion Week has been decidedly minimal (to start) this time around. Perhaps it's a simple explanation: Designers don't want nail designs to distract from the clothes. This I understand, but that still begs the question: What's with all the nude?

It's a staple, it always has been, it's easy, it's a go-to, it's just clean, are some of the reasons manicurists will give backstage for the widespread use of nude. But when one goes to seven shows in a day, it's nice to get a pleasant surprise. That's why it was a pleasure to see MAC's Keri Blair (who's doing a fabulous job sending us a view from the backstage with her LifestyleMirror Visual Diary) at Ruffian, creating Fabergé nail art. "It's a deconstructed filigree trimming," she explained. "We're bending them to fit the nails, and placing them only on the ring and pinky fingers as accents." But why not an oval shape to really recreate the fabulous, bejeweled eggs? "The Ruffian girl is an artist. She's a musician. She uses her hands, so she would wear noticeable but functional nail jewelry." The best part—Keri's colors were custom made for the show and are being considered for an upcoming MAC release. Talk about exclusive.

Backstage at Nicole Miller, our very own video nail artist, CND's Candice Manacchio created "Galaxy Glam" nails inspired by the designer's use of celestial prints. The metallic diamonds were a mix of a custom mint green with CND Sapphire Sparkle overlapped in Studio White (plus a pink from their upcoming Spring 2013 collection), edged out with their staple Blackjack. 

The folks at CND continued the fantasy at Behnaz Sarafpour with pro Shelena Robinson, who went for a prismatic glitter fade using Spectrum Shimmer and Antique Bronze additives with a top coat. A "Fairy Nail", indeed.

So in case you're looking for your beauty to be as dazzling as your outfits next season (or this one), we'll be keeping you posted on more nude alternatives. —Phillip Picardi (@pfpicardi)