How to get nailed by Justin Bieber and Katy Perry Celebrity nail polish at the tip of spring fashion By Sharon Miki & an’t afford that $600 LA.M.B. by Gwen Stefani tote bag or that $1800 Victoria Beckham dress? Don’t worry: you can still slather yourself in celebrity-endorsed design without depleting your credit limit. Simply indulge in the latest celebrity design trend: nail polish. Katy Perry recently released a five-bottle collection with nail polish mega-company O.P.I. which features four sparkly and shimmery shades named after Perry’s songs and a specially formulated polish called Black Shatter that creates an unusual leopard print effect when applied over dry nail lacquer. Naming the polishes after Perry songs is a nice touch; Teenage Dream is an appropriately whimsical sparkling pink shade that might get your heart racing in your skin-tight jeans. While the shatter effect doesn’t immediately scream “Katy Perry,” it does add a unique touch that might spawn compliments, thus giving the wearer the opportunity to brag a bit about her designer polish. The most surprising celebrity nail polish designer-slash-name-lender is also— bizarrely — probably the most popular. Canadian teen-dream pop star Justin Bieber released his massive 24-colour collection at Walmart and Shoppers Drug Mart stores late last year. Coinciding with the release of Bieber’s movie Never Say Never, the polish line sold out of stores early this month with sales topping over a million bottles. The collection (from Nicole by O.P.I.) is called One Less Lonely Girl and, like Perry’s, features cutesy shades inspired by Bieber and his songs. The pick of the season; a spring-ready frothy aqua called, obviously, /’m a Belieber. Ranging from around $8-$16 depending on the store, celebrity- branded polish is a tad more expensive than your traditional $2 Sally Hansen standby. However, in comparison to other superstar-designed products on the market, celebrity nail polish lines offer relatively high-quality product in unique and trendy shades as well as a tidbit of pop star-cachet—for less than the price of a Justin Bieber CD. ItFE ana StYIE Cosmetics on infinite Earths Analyzing MAC’s not so super Wonder Woman line By Angela Espinoza bout a week ago I found myself, A errennaes enough, venturing through Metropolis to run some errands. Passing by one of the many make- up stores in my haste, I noticed something personally unsettling; plastered all over the glass walls and entrances of this particular store were large posters and cardboard cut- outs of the popular super heroine Wonder Woman (WW). Now, I like to stray as far from my girly-side as physically possible, but I’m not stingy enough to expose the world to the horrors of my own unkempt appearance. With the addition of my beloved, ever-growing comic book collection, one would assume collaboration between DC Comics and MAC would be ideal for someone like me, right? Dead wrong. In a trailer for the spring 2011 line, we see a motion comic of WW battling Medusa, who is using her mythical gaze to turn the worlds’ young ladies into “plain Jane’s”. That right there should give away the line’s target audience. There were also many blogs and forums I sifted through where I learned the average consensus of what I assume to be women in the know generally agreed that the “Utility Belt (bag)” brush sets, amongst all other packaging, looked tacky and cheap. There’s a lot I don’t know about make-up, but even I can see where these women are coming from. The promotional jumbo sizes of various mirrors, lip glosses, and so on (something to do with her strength?) use the red, blue, and gold designs in a way that makes it seem like the line is aimed at kids. Obviously it is, but MAC isn’t going to tell you that. Realistically, any thirteen-year-old girl is going to see these sets and think because the modern day women is wearing WW make-up, she’ll therefore impress some boys with her knowledge of superheroes. I’m not saying that in itself is the negative outcome; we all do it. What bothers me about this line is seeing the image of this almighty Amazonian brought down to the level of self-conscious tween. MAC’s just going to end up confusing the target audience, thus further isolating young girls. If anything, DC shouldn’t have to worry about appealing to more women while Christian Bale still dons the cape and cowl.