| Posted by Bel | The time is 9.37am here in Wellington NZ |

Knowing I'm a fan of OPI nail polish, Lou flicked me through a link to their latest Limited Edition offering. But this time I'm a little unsure.

Glitter nail polish. Are we ready to go back there?

 

OPI's Burlesque range

I'm pretty sure my mum's bathroom cupboard is still crammed with crusted-up half full bottles left over from my 90s childhood whence I sauntered about with fingernails looking like tacky mismatched discoballs.

There's been a few recommendations lately for Butter London nail polish, and their Fall 2010 range of polishes not only includes shades with holographic sparkles, but are also named in tribute to fashion designer Alexander McQueen. (This alone would probably be enough to sway me, let's be honest.)

Butter London's All Hail McQueen a "holographic taupe"

Sparkling and shimmering nails have been spotted on the catwalks too. Vogue UK states that glitter is officially a spring/summer 2011 beauty trend, with a fashion journalist breathlessly reporting that "the tips of the nails were dipped in multi-coloured glitter and layered with rhinestones". Apparently something referred to as 3D sculpture is also a rising trend in the world of avant-garde manicure but I think we plebs can safely ignore that.

PS Lou, did you know that your sports heroine Serena Williams is a qualified nail technician??

Assuming you don't have a weird foot thing, you can watch her giving Oprah a pedicure and gossiping about rich black women stuff in a video here!

Posted by Bel. The time is 12:01pm here in Wellington, NZ.

I know that Lou is the tennis fan, and that due to my lack of a television, there's a high chance everyone else has already seen this - but I'm posting it anyway. I love it.

Advertising for "women's sanitary products" tends to be rather coy, particularly in the American market from what I've read. Great to see this champion doing such an edgy and funny piece - I hope she got a lifetime supply as part of her endorsement! Jezebel has an article about the ad, questioning why aren't more famous faces used to sell such an essential product.

Along the same lines, copyranter praises a French print ad (Tampax again!) which actually emphasises the no-leakage benefits of a tampon (for when you're swimming with sharks, in particular), rather the demurely using blue liquid and euphemisms.

Posted by Lou. The time is 1.40pm here in London, UK.


Sing it, sister.

Posted by Lou. The time is 1.53pm here in London, UK.

Wilmbledon fever is in full throttle in London, and as we all go ga-ga over Federer (and Murray, if you're British) I'm once again reminded of the genius of the Williams sisters, and the extent to which they are often overlooked.

Serena has 20 Grand Slam titles and 2 Olympic gold medals, Venus 17 Grand Slam titles and 3 Olympic gold medals. Serena is the reigning champion in the Australian and US Opens, Venus the reigning Wimbledon champion.

They are fearsome competitors, high-achievers off the court (Venus has an honours degree and is CEO of her own successful interior design business!), charitable (Serena helped fund the construction of a secondary school in Kenya!), and - perhaps most impressively for me - constantly speak out against inequity and stupidity on the tennis circuit.

This fearless pursuit of what they believe to be right is best illustrated by Venus having spear-headed the final movement which gained equal prize money for women in the Grand Slams that had doggedly persisted in discriminating against female players (Wimbledon and the French Open). In this wonderful manifesto she argued the case for equality and won.

Here are a couple of extracts:

I’m disappointed not for myself but for all of my fellow women players who have struggled so hard to get here and who, just like the men, give their all on the courts of SW19. I’m disappointed for the great legends of the game, such as Billie Jean King, Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert, who have never stopped fighting for equality. And disappointed that the home of tennis is sending a message to women across the world that we are inferior.

I believe that athletes — especially female athletes in the world’s leading sport for women — should serve as role models. The message I like to convey to women and girls across the globe is that there is no glass ceiling. My fear is that Wimbledon is loudly and clearly sending the opposite message: 128 men and 128 women compete in the singles main draw at Wimbledon; the All England Club is saying that the accomplishments of the 128 women are worth less than those of the 128 men. It diminishes the stature and credibility of such a great event in the eyes of all women.

I am constantly being reminded how important female athletes are as role models in this culture of page three girls and reality tv, and hope that the Williams Sisters continue to dominate and to speak out for many years to come.