Colored nails are now one of the most noticeable accessories in a woman's arsenal. Bright or dark- working a trend color into your look via your manicure is an instant update. And one of the cheapest splurges in fashion. No wonder nail polish sales jumped 24 percent last year. But for the color commitment-phobe bottles of pricey polish from places like Sephora can add up. Enter nail polish rentals. No really. Lacquerous.com will send you three bottles of designer polish ( Chanel, Nars, Dior etc.) for $18 per month. Less than the cost of one bottle of luxe lacquer from the likes of Nars,Tom Ford and Dior. There's a catch: you can only use each one three times. They measure how much is left upon return. Rent or buy? What do you think? 

 

  

Your ticket to easy spring glamour? Change your part. At the Golden Globes side parts channelled Old Hollywood glamour. And side-parts and side parted ponytails complimented the clothes on most spring runways. At Marc Jacobs parts were so severely side swept that they grazed the model's ears. Great for a full-throttle fashion statement. Maybe not so great for your face. But how to tell?  According to hair stylist  Jeffrey Mayo, a global educator for Eufora haircare, everyone has a 'best side' for their part. After drying your hair, he suggests these 4 steps to find your ideal side part. 

Happy Valentine's Day.  Romance. Chocolate. Seduction. Seduction for chocolate. What is seductive about a woman is almost always what is unseen and left to the active imagination of the viewer. N'est ce pas? Which seems positively quaint in the age of flogging your goodies like Kim K.  Or just very French. 

I'm mad at Tom Ford. With the launch of his new lipstick line a few weeks ago-at $45 a tube-he has created the lip color equivalent of the $1200 pump. Let me explain. While there are many drugstore products I swear by, I have always splurged on department store lipsticks reasoning that you get what you pay for. That just like a great pair of shoes, lipstick should look gorgeous, feel great and be long wearing. And let's not forget about the wow factor. Just as more expensive shoes are made of great materials, have a sophisticated designer palette and are beautifully packaged, well, so too expensive lipsticks.

A few weeks ago, I listened to a panel of fashion and beauty seers assembled by The Fashion Group International. Sarah Brown, senior beauty editor at Vogue had an interesting take on one of the hottest accessories for spring/summer. Nails. In a recession economy sales of nail polish have soared with an interesting mix of colors that are classic and irreverent. 

Along with variations on summer classics like peach, coral and shell pinks there are tough, futuristic colors like dark blue, hunter green and silver bullet gray that suggest an auto assembly line more than a bottle of lacquer. Neon yellows and hottest pinks are inspired by fashion's infatuation with sport clothes like neoprene surf gear. They have a New Wave 1982 look and are purely kid stuff. The ageless and modern look? Color with sophistication. There is nothing cooler-looking than a simply dressed woman with an unexpected color on her nails. Well, toes anyway. Some of  these colors can be pretty rough on mature hands but toes are an age-free zone so let it rip. The other day I spotted a good looking, 50ish woman on Madison Avenue wearing a very deep blue polish on her hands and feet as an accent to a minimalist outfit. She looked great. Experiment. 

My current favorites fall into two camps: Incendiary orange reds and the kind of taupe-gray mashups that looked so great on the spring runways at Chanel and Marc Jacobs. I love the way a fiery red lights up white and a pair of tan feet. And taupe adds edge to any look and toughens up soft colored clothes.