It’s so easy to get stuck in a nail rut. Nudes and pale pinks seem the perfect fit for every occasion, and hey, we don’t have anything against a glossy peach slick of polish. But if you’ve picked up this week’s issue of Grazia, you’ll know that summer 2013 is all about colour. Be brave. Be bold. Go seriously loud, and colour block!

If you haven’t already garnered enough inspiration from our gorgeous Manicure Monday posts, here are some ideas from Mavala’s Professional Manager Lynn Gray on getting colour happy this summer. Begin by getting nails polish ready with a mini-mani:

5 Simple Steps To The Perfect Mini-Mani

1. Prepare nails with nail polish remover to take off any old polish as well as oil and dirt.
2. Gently push back cuticles with a soft-tipped cuticle stick and file nails to your desired shape.
3. Apply a protective basecoat such as Mavala’s 002 Base Coat, £11.85 to help the polish last and prevent staining.
4. Using long strokes apply your chosen polish down the centre of the nail in one stroke from base to tip, leaving a small space between polish and cuticle. Apply the polish width ways to the cuticle base, stopping just short of the cuticle.  To finish, stroke on both sides of the nail from base to the tip, avoiding the cuticle. Repeat for two coats of colour.
5. After your polish has dried apply a top coat such as Mavala Colorfix Top Coat, £11.00 to prevent chipping and enhance your nail colour.  To finish use Mavala’s Oil Seal Dryer, £11.85, which leaves nails touch-dry in seconds and nourishes cuticles.

Lynn Gray is all for vivid brights on nails this season. She says ‘Add a bright pop of colour; I love bright oranges, greens and blues. Try Mavala nail polish in Jaipur – a bright orange, or Trinidad a vibrant turquoise blue from Mavala’s new Chilli & Spice Collection, £4.50 each.  Either wear them on their own or if you want to be more creative try an ombre effect, colour blocking, or a mix and match French Manicure’.

Well we’re convinced! Take a look at our gallery for some of the most sizzling nail shades around this summer…

by Annie Vischer.

Robert Pattinson for Dior Homme Fragrance

It was only a month ago that hunk-du-year Robert Pattinson was confirmed as the new face for Dior Homme’s forthcoming fragrance. Hours after the announcement, Dior teased us with a droolsome shot of the ‘Twilight’ star in moody black and white, and now we’ve been rewarded for having waited (not so) patiently with another shot of the actor turned model – in a bath tub no less! Hold on to your pants though, ladies, he’s fully dressed, but with a scorcher of a smile.

Photographed by American artist Nan Goldin and filmed by French director Romain Gavras, leaked shots from a Dior event see the actor getting sultry in the ad alongside a barely-dressed lady. And now he’s in a bath tub, ooh we can barely contain our excitement for the rest of the campaign – which, annoyingly, is already being broadcast in Europe (minus the UK) and Asia (minus China and Japan).

Rob is reportedly soon set to take to the big screen again in David Cronenberg’s next film, Maps to the Stars before going on to star in Hold on to Me, directed by James Marsh and co-starring Carey Mulligan. 

Drool through some snaps of the scruffy scorcher in our gallery below…

We’ve got some exciting news Manicure Monday fans! We’ve teamed up with polish professionals nails inc. to make our weekly nail roundup even better. Every week going forward we’ll be hosting a vote and asking Grazia Daily readers which Manicure Monday entry they think is the most creative. The nail wizard with the most votes (to be announced on Tuesdays) will then receive a nails inc. goody bag worth £50 to help them with future manicures.

You can also book an appointment at a nails inc. store where you’ll find nail mats featuring the Grazia Daily logo so that when you’ve had your manicure done you can take a photo and tweet at @Grazia_LIVE and @Nailsinc with #ManicureMonday ready to be entered in the following week’s vote.

This week the competition is fierce with plenty of summery prints to choose from. @_burkatron has got us in the mood for fresh watermelon with her fruity design while @islaay_x and @TreatsBody played with Cath Kidston-esque florals. Mix and match seemed to be the theme of the day with @THISMADEUPLIFE, @rosiesouthward and @laurataylor_ incorporating different styles from leopard print and spots to clouds and palm trees into their quirky manicure creations. @melaniadg’s mozaics made us think of exotic holidays, @giovannaoliviaB and @gillianleerose experimented with colour fading dip-dye and @nlcorner played it cool with her ‘All White Everything’ design.

Vote for your favourite Manicure Monday entry and the winner will receive a £50 nails inc. goody bag!

<a href=”http://polldaddy.com/poll/7251273/”>Manicure Monday: Vote For Your Favourite Nails…</a>

Last week John Mayer dedicated a song to her in front of a crowd of thousands, but Miss Perry stole our hearts long before then. California girl Katy Perry has been brightening up our celeb news feeds since the release of her first big hit ‘I Kissed A Girl’ in 2008. Since then she has kept us on our toes both in terms of her constant style makeovers and her romantic dalliances. Any girl that manages to put a ring on Russell Brand’s finger has to be pretty special right Apparently their wedding (a Hindu ceremony in India) involved elephants and camels. Well she’s never really been a tone-it-down kinda girl.

The (usually) raven-haired beauty has become renowned for her cheeky lyrics, elaborate stage performances and deliciously garish outfits. Who could forget her shorter-than-short denim hotpants in the ‘Teenage Dream’ video, or the cream squirting ruby bra in ‘California Gurls’ Her on-off friendship with Rihanna has kept us all enthralled, almost as much as her on-off relationship with John Mayer.

Katy Perry, in her style and hairvolution seems to be the embodiment of her hit ‘Hot ‘n Cold’…well almost. We’re pretty sure she’s always been hot.

Take a look at our gallery for a thorough run down of Katy Perry’s most memorable dos. Grab your shades girls, it’s a colourful one!

by Annie Vischer.

The glossiest couple in New York, Olivia Palermo and blue-boater-wearing-beau Johannas Huebl were parading their thoroughbred selves again last night. They hit the red carpet of the Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions’ Girl Most likely screening hosted by The Cinema Society & Brooks Brothers at Landmark’s Sunshine Cinema.

Those of you who, like us, keep your eyes trained on Miss Palermo for her latest fashion and beauty exploit, might have picked up on a little change of hair colour when she floated serenely past photographers at the presentation of Christian Dior’s haute couture collection at the Hotel Des Invalides in Paris this month.

Last night we got to see the reinvention in all its sun kissed glory.  Olivia Palermo’s previously brunette blow dry has been transformed into the must-have hair look of the season. We call it the ‘born again beach glow’. It’s all about hair nostalgia. Giving your hair the same sun-streaked shades it took on so effortlessly back in the BC years (before colour)….get it!

Olivia Palermo at the Christian Dior Haute Couture AW13 show earlier this month…

Look closely and you can see that Olivia has kept her natural colour in top sections of her hair. The colour then begins to lighten in a very gentle ombre manner beginning at a much higher point than the dip-dyes we have become accustomed to over the past few seasons. Her stylist has also delicately lightened the front tendrils of hair that frame her face across their whole length.

The effect is a gleaming sun-brightened shade that enhances Olivia’s features and skintone to perfection. But…and this is a BIG but…don’t even think about hitting the print button and taking the pic over to your colourist! The beauty of this new summer look is that it is bespoke. What works for Olivia won’t necessarily work for you. take pride in your own individual colouring and work with it, not against it.

Well ahoy there summer hair inspiration!

If your hair is coloured, look back over old holiday photos to when your hair was still ‘virgin’. Check out the change in your hair colour after a good dose of sun.Take one of these pictures to your next hair appointment and explain that you would like to achieve the same natural sun kissed effect to a slightly higher degree. If your photo was from a week in the Bahamas, say you want to look like you’ve stayed there for six.

A good colourist will pick up on what shade your hair changed to when it lightened, and where the bleaching was more intense, to give you the ultimate bespoke ‘born again beach glow’.

Once you have swished out of the salon, give your skin the summer treatment too. Miss Palermo may opt to enhance her new do with a golden tan courtesy of Cannes, but we’ve been topping ours up in…fine…with St Tropez. That’s our summer hair sorted ladies! Merci bien Olivia.

by Annie Vischer.