Here comes the summer....

Just had a preview of the summer collection from Chanel, launching 25 May. Here's a little peek....

Pretty doesn't begin to cover it. Particularly lovely is the limited edition 'Holiday' nail varnish in bright orangey-red, together with lip gloss to match. It's a really zingy colour that stands out brilliantly against dark colours and will look fabulous with a tan (fake, of course). Anything take your fancy?

Rose-tinted spring

Martin Margiela rose gold-plated and metal cuff, £315

You might have noticed a rosy glow to fashion and beauty this season. It's not just Tiffany that's going big on rose gold right now: you can't move for adverts of their new Rubedo metal. You'll find a take on rose-gold in a myriad of jewellery collections right now, from Alexander McQueen to Alex Monroe and Monica Vinader (all at net-a-porter) through to Dominic Jones (see his rose gold-plated Jaw ring, £140) and Alexis Bittar (available at Liberty). This Margiela cuff is the pick of the bunch for me – sturdy and chunky yet with a strange elegance.

Alexander Wang Prisma leather tote with rose-gold metal corners £575

The metallic glow extended to beauty on the catwalks for spring – in its most subtle form as a pretty, sun-warmed glow. There were burnished, bronzed eyelids at Pucci, for example, through to a shimmery iridescence at Armani. Make-up collections from Bobbi Brown and Chanel (the desert gold-inspired Las Vegas limited collection) to NARS and St Tropez (loads of the make-up artists use their rose gold body illuminator to get glowing, sheeny skin on the catwalks) are going for a rose-centred, glowing beauty – so much edgier than all the pastels that flood in come spring.

And on the edgy note, I have to mention Tom Ford's small but perfectly formed spring collection – his first – which features four nail lacquers (€31) including silver, gold ('Guilt') and a delicious burnt red, Illicit, that seems to glow like hot coals. He's also done a gold lipgloss (€31) – fabulous as a glam top coat though unforgiving by itself – and cream eyeshadows in dusky metallic tones (€36). Reminiscent of Chanel's stunning Illusion d'Ombres, these have a great colour kick and staying power, and they're typically sultry. Only downside is they don't come with a brush, as Chanel's do, though it's easy enough to smudge them on with a finger. Ford's beauty collection – with the weight of Lauder's expertise and research behind it – is not only standing up to the hype, but maintaining its hold over us with the quality of its colours, formulations and heavyweight, retro-style packaging. And boy, wait til you see the stunning bronzers he's got in store for May... madly expensive, but so luxe. You'll also find the divine Neroli Portofino as a 'body splash' (€102), which is lighter than the edp. I'll post some photos of the nails and eyes in due course...

Nars lipgloss in Dolce Vita, £17.50

Tom Ford Bronzing Powder, €77 (available from May)

Tom Ford Nail Lacquer in Silver Smoke, €31

Tom Ford Nail Lacquer in Burnished Rouge, €31

Neroli Portofino Eau Fraiche Body Splash, €102