Boundary-pushing beauty trends: Yellow nail polish! Temporary face tattoos! And… polka-dotted lips?

As it turns out, Lady Gaga does NOT have the market cornered on out-there beauty looks. Or perhaps her influence is just rubbing off on the rest of us.

Can you remember a time when wearing blue nail polish was considered, well, a bit freaky? Those days are LONG gone—obvs—but I think we’ve truly crossed a bridge with this summer’s de rigeur shade, yellow. And that’s the mildest of the three trends I spotted this weekend on various celebs. How do you feel about sporting a heart on your cheek? Or adorning your lips with polka-dots? Let’s find out…

BOUNDARY-PUSHING BEAUTY TREND #1: YELLOW NAIL POLISH

Here’s a recently re-blondified Miss Hilary Duff at a dinner the other night, looking from the neck up not that trendy at all really…

…until you notice the nails. See?

Now, yes, I know that we’ve seen hundreds of unusual nail polish shades over the past few years, as well as the rise of “nart”—that’s the best abbreviation evah for nail art—but I think the arrival of yellow as a trend is really saying something. It just might be the hardest shade in the rainbow to wear… and yet, when Chanel says we should own it, then we listen (yes?).

This is the colour of the moment, called Mimosa, and what I suspect is on Hilary’s fingers:

I’ve tried it and if you subscribe to Essie Weingarten’s signature colour theory, then it’s a lot harder for some of us to wear than, say, even orange—but then again, I DID tell you that anything goes these days, didn’t I?

It’s also far less likely to raise eyebrows than this one…

BOUNDARY-PUSHING BEAUTY TREND #2: TEMPORARY FACE TATTOOS

Shenae Grimes is wearing her heart on her… cheek.

Is this a real temporary tatt or just drawn on with eyeliner? I think it’s the latter—and for an actress on the rise, a VERY good strategy for getting yourself talked about.

But there’s a more serious reason for this. Shenae was in Japan when the earthquake struck, and has now started the “Spread the Heart” movement to raise money for relief efforts.

Clever AND cute, non?

BOUNDARY-PUSHING BEAUTY TREND #3: PATTERNS ON YOUR LIPS

And now we take you to the most extreme end of Beauty Trend-Land… polka dots on model/TV presenter Hope Dworaczyk’s lips:

Apparently you achieve this look via a temporary lip tattoo from a company called Violent Lips:

If polka dots aren’t your thing, then rest assured there are loads of other patterns to choose from: gold glitter, red fishnet, leopard print, cheetah print, rainbow… and coming soon, messages like “Kiss,” “XOXO” and “Muah!”

Um… right.

I was extremely pleased with the idea of nail “tattoos”—a.k.a the Sally Hansen Salon Effects Real Nail Polish Strips, which come in a variety of cool patterns and go on like stickers—but this, I think, goes a bit too far.

But then again, had anyone else heard of Hope Dworaczyk before today?

Tell me:

Will you try yellow nails this summer?
How about drawing a heart (or other shape) on your face?
Is a lip tatt—even a temporary one—fabulous or freaky?