Bay Area Fashionista

Fall 2012 fashion trends: Shades of dark blue and navy

 in Color Trends / General Fashion / Trends  tagged blue / cobalt / fall 2012 / navy by

Neiman Marcus has declared Navy Blue the “new neutral” for the fall 2012 season. Here at Bay Area Fashionista, we could not agree more. Shades of blue, from vivid medium blue through to navy, were spotted on the runways in Milan, Paris, London and New York; and store buyers seem to have stocked their shelves with the hue for the fall season.

Blue and navy blue are considered pleasant colors and tend to look fabulous on every skin tone, and with every hair color imaginable. Blue and navy are also easy shades to match with other colors and neutral tones. Navy blue and blue are being shown on everything imaginable including shoes, handbags, clothing and jewelry. In fact, lapis jewelry has become immensely popular and is an easy way to invest in something classic which also fits perfectly into the dark blue trend for fall 2012.

The one thing to consider when shopping for blue or navy, or pulling out an accessory or garment from a previous season, is the shade of navy or blue. Try to stay away from extremely dark navy blues which are difficult to tell apart from black. The lighter shade of navy is what is hot for fall 2012. Also, make sure your garment or accessory is not obviously from the spring season. Stay away from anything with ropes or with a nautical feel for fall.

We found a few fabulous blue and navy items from around the web and assembled them into the Polyvore set below. Hope you love it! Happy shopping and stay fabulous 

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Colorful watches for the summer 2012 season

 in General Fashion / Jewelry / Trends  tagged summer 2012 / watches by

Since spring and summer 2012 have been all about color, it is only natural that watches would follow suit. Gone are the days of the classic stainless steel watch. Summer 2012 is all about bright colored watches and pastel watches made from ceramic or rubber watch-bands. Any Swatch memories from the 1980’s coming to mind? Oh yes, they are back!

Watches this season are being shown in every bright hue imaginable, as well as every pastel shade which appeared on the Paris runways. In addition to bright and pastel hues, white ceramic watches are immensely popular due to the neutral nature of the shade.

The ceramic watches which are hot this season are being shown in many different sizes and also feature crystal or diamond bezels. White ceramic watches may just be the standout watch for the summer 2012 season.

In addition to white ceramic, ceramic watches can be found in every color imaginable; and shades such as canary yellow and Tangerine Tango have moved into the forefront of watch fashion. Rubber watchband styles are also huge this season and can be found in every shade under the sun. Shades of green, yellow and orange seen to be the standout pieces when it comes to the rubber watch band.

We found a few amazing ceramic and rubber watchband watches around the web which we assembled into the Polyvore set below. Hope you love it! Happy shopping and stay fabulous 

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Dolce & Gabbana Mint nail polish for spring and summer 2012 review

 in Beauty / Nail Polish  tagged dolce and gabbana / green / pastels / reviews / summer 2012 by

Dolce & Gabbana released their beautiful, runway inspired, “Bouquet” beauty collection for the spring and summer 2012 season. This fabulous collection of vivid colors includes several shades of nail polish which I could not pass up. Since “mint” is one of the hot colors of the season, and a shade I have not used in the past for nail polish, I decided to give the polish a whirl. Here is my review:

Dolce & Gabbana’s “Bouquet Collection” mint nail polish was my first test of the designing duo’s beauty products. I have always been in love with Dolce & Gabbana’s apparel and accessories collection, in fact, I have purchased several of their designs over the years. So, it was only natural for me to try their line of cosmetics.

Dolce & Gabbana’s mint nail polish is packaged in the designing duo’s classic long nail polish bottle. The applicator brush holds a lot of polish and as I began to apply the first coat I discovered right away that the brush needs to be rubbed along the side of the bottle opening a few times before brushing the polish onto my nails. After the first coat, I realized the polish was matte and found it dried nice and quick. Love that!

After my nails were ready, I applied the second coat and it went on smoothly and evenly. There was absolutely no streaking and the color was even. The matte nature of the color was intriguing and gave the otherwise feminine mint hue a little bit of an edge; which I love!

The polish has been wearing well and is extremely chip resistant. I have washed a few dishes by hand without gloves and the polish didn’t chip or crack; showing the high quality finish of Dolce & Gabbana’s nail polish. Fabulous!

I am giving Dolce & Gabbana’s mint nail polish from the “Bouquet Collection” five out of five stars.

Dolce & Gabbana cosmetics can be found at Saks Fifth Avenue and also at Dolce & Gabbana boutiques. The nail polish is priced at $20.

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Photo credits: Top photo of Dolce & Gabbana’s “Bouquet Collection” is courtesy of Dolce & Gabbana beauty. Bottom photo of mint nail polish and nails was taken by Cathy at Bay Area Fashionista.