No plans tonight? Experiment with a new trend

Every now and again, I take a litmus test on the latest style trends and report back. The insane ones --like daily colonics and implanted eyelashes -- are best left to the crazies.  Here are a few easy, quick and sane fads suited for everyone.

Crystal Pout
Lips color trends veer from matte red to sheer nude overnight, but the latest look —clear gloss — has got to be the easiest to master. Both Cameron Diaz and Mary-Kate Olsen have been spotted wearing just transparent shine on their pouts. The fave in Hollywood? C.O. Bigelow Mentha lip shine in the green tube ($7.50; bigelowchemists.com). Peppermint oil freshens breath and they just came out with a gloss with a slight hint of pink too.

Iron Maidens
Say so long to kinky stars. Nicole Kidman, Demi Moore, and Beyonce have all been spotted with pin-straight hair. The style begs for more dramatic make-up because the look can be severe, so play up your eyes if you decide to go straight. The Sephora purse-sized cordless straightening iron ($225; sephora.com) will come in handy if you need to flatten your locks on the go.

Purple is the New Black
When it comes to nail color anyway. YSL's new Black Tulip ($19; yslbeauty.com) and OPI’s Siberian Nights (opi.com) are both vamp-y takes on the midnight hue. Mandy Moore likes a plum onyx blend called Branwen’s Feather by Butter London Free 3 ($12; butterlondon).  Keep nails short and square if you try this look or you'll resemble a corpse.

Photo credits:  C.O. Bigelow; Kidman, Getty Images; OPI.com

Comments

[j.brown]

That look really flatters Nicole.

[kat]

Monica,

I really , really enjoy your blog, but do you have to cite one of the Olson twins in the same breath as anything vaguely relating to fashion? Must you? Those two little creatures look more like hideous characters out of a Grimms fairly tale than anything seen in the three dimenional world. They remind me more of a couple of geckos or little green tree frogs than the female of our species. They're both down right creepy. I wonder if they have a film over their eyeballs that stays for a few seconds after their eyelids go up. Can they see in the dark I wonder?

Am I totally out of the fashion loop on this one? Does anyone over 20 really look to the Olseon twins for fashion inspiration or validation of a trend?

What's next here, Miley Cyrus?

No offense Monica. Maybe your distracted by having to share a room with a perfect stranger who may or may not do any number of unpleasant things in his or her sleep.

Have fun.