In 2013, “self-expression” will be most intensely played out around color, according to this year’s SpaFinder Wellness Trend Report compiled by Susie Ellis, president of SpaFinder Wellness. Says Ellis:  “Because color is easily applied and relatively inexpensive, self-transformation will be painted on. Expect more in-your-face shades on hair and face from reverse ombre to neon lashes; more body art hitting bodies of every gender and age, performed at new, haute ‘tattoo spas’; and nail art will continue to ascend with less bling and more nuanced textures and designs from 3-D art to freehand mini-paintings.

“Look for less bling-for-the-sake-of-bling and more subtle, clever, and truly high-art effects. Nuanced textures/designs are everywhere, whether basket weave, 3-D, velvet-like, or hologram. Nail artists are now rendering amazing, freehand mini-paintings on each digit. That most staid of looks, the French manicure, is even being remade in reverse ombré mode: with light tips fading into darker/vibrant color. And the old corner ‘nail salon’ is being reimagined in incredibly trendy, serious-art ways.”