I’ve yet to meet a woman who wouldn’t love to own a piece of Chanel. But if you’re like me and can’t justify (okay more like afford) spending over £1,200 on a 2.55 quilted bag, then purchasing from the brand’s cosmetics range instead is a far less extravagant cost with that same warm fuzzy feeling (okay not quite the same, but almost)!

The big bosses sitting pretty on Avenue Charles de Gaulle, Paris, are aware that beyond the small collection of fashionistas who can afford Chanel, there’s an even larger group that can’t, but who desperately want to be a part of the iconic brand. Enter Peter Phillips, Chanel’s global creative director of cosmetics, who is not only responsible for satisfying this consumer demand but who is also solely responsible for starting the ‘nail madness’ craze that is currently sweeping the nation, with the limited edition pots of Chanel nail polish.

This is no ordinary polish, this tiny pot represents desirability and exclusivity, everything that Chanel stands for. Last summer, every beauty page that mattered featured Chanel’s ‘Jade’, followed by the A/W shade ‘Particulière’, a mushroom coloured beige, and just recently the number one colour of choice for the summer ahead is the ‘Nouvelle Vague’ – an electrifying tone of blue.

Never before have there been outrageous waiting lists for a mini pot of polish (months the orange tinged beauty assistants tell me), the extortionate prices on eBay or the copy-cats that have since followed (Essie do a good one called ‘Jazz’ by the way).

As we move from one season to the next, beauty fans wait with baited breath to see what’s going to be Chanel’s next hot nail colour. Whatever Chanel does, the rest follow.

Unless you’re living under a rock, I’d be shocked and stunned if you hadn’t, at some point, read, seen a picture of, or heard fashionistas gassing on about the ‘hottest’ new trend of the season – Chanel’s transfer tattoos.

Having caused a storm of launch anticipation since adorning Chanel models on the S/S 10 catwalk runways, waiting list hysteria has arrived.  The Les Trompe L’Oeil de Chanel, £49 for 55 individual Chanel Tattoos, is available exclusively at Selfridges.

At first sight, I too was pretty impressed.  Having worked in the beauty communications industry for ten years, it’s refreshing when something new comes to market and ignites a new trend. To be honest, it actually happens quite rarely and it’s often driven by Chanel (think back to the first time you saw someone wearing the iconic Rouge Noir nail polish and heard, more recently about the limited edition shade, ‘Jade’).  How often, does a beauty trend really coin a season – even an era?

On reflection, however, I’m starting to wonder about just how ‘inspirational’ this trend is.  After all, tattoo transfers are nothing new and are widely available.  But quite accidently, whilst researching this post, I stumbled upon the following transfer tattoo that, priced at £1.75, I would class as extraordinarily ‘inspirational’.  Not least because the vendor, JoJewels, suggests that it’s ‘ideal for a shaved/bald head’.  I’m going to buy one for Wadds so it’s bound to take off. Beat the inevitable waiting list and order today!

Lawn Mower Man transfer tattoo – available from www.jojewels.co.uk