Curate, elegant, discreet: neutral nail polish is the favorite manicure of many women. Partly because it is easier to apply (especially in the sun) than reds and burgundy, partly because it reveals fewer small defects and regrowths. Of course, it’s easy to say “natural” nail polish, less to find the right one: the color palette of so-called neutrals has an infinite wardrobe of shades to choose from wisely.
Some pinks “get lost” on the fingers, others make the skin look strangely yellow, greyish: how many have happened? A question of color harmony: you have to find the right match. Here’s how with tips from nail artists.
Understanding the type of skin
Try to understand if you are a “cool” type, with pink and bluish skin, “hot”, skin tending to yellow or “olive”, olive, with a green base. In principle, “if the veins are blue the undertone is cold, if they tend to green then you have a warm complexion” explains nail guru Deborah Lippman. This will show you the base category of the nail polish, whether hot nude or cold nude. “We need to look at the undertone of the skin and try to stay as close as possible to it .”
The basic rule
The basic rule: women with very light and transparent skin, typically “cold”, are fine with nude shades that turn to white; The hottest embodied can wear bare yellow and brown richer, for example tending to latte, mud, or mauve.
The most common mistake is to choose warm nude for cool skin or cool nude for warm skin. Why sticking to the rule is a matter of optics.
On the color wheel, yellow is opposite to purple, which makes yellow appear “more yellow”. So a cold bluish nude nail polish risks making the skin look golden… more yellowish.
Green, on the other hand, is the opposite of red: olive skin looks even greener and duller with a very pink, dense red.
The shortcut: look at the nail
An alternative is to observe the natural color of the nail bed. For some it is pink, for others it is more beige, others still perfectly match the skin.
Another good trick is « Choose a nail polish that is close to the natural base color of the nail: it is easy for it to integrate with the natural skin tones and really enhance it» continues Lippmann.
Never move to warmer or colder shades: you only play with intensity. Slightly lighter or slightly darker, lighter or more saturated.
In summary, here is a small guide to the main shades according to Betina R. Goldstein, a nail artist from Los Angeles very popular on Instagram.
Soft pink, with a white base
“The soft and milky pinks, full of white, baby, as well as the candy shades, are suitable for light skin with a pink undertone. Or on the contrary, for deep dark or tanned complexions, on which they contrast and illuminate the nail well ”. Nail artist Michela May ( @lacoachdelleunghie ) defines them as “lip gloss effect: little more than translucent, they give super chic shiny nails”.
Blush pink, rose
The cold pink rose, with a hint of blue, pastel, “create value from its clean, clear medium hides, always cold and pink, with blue veins”.
Caramel nude
There starts to be a hint of yellow, so the nude turns to skin color, eggshell, caramel: “nuances that go well with golden skins that tan easily, or with dark olive. On the other hand, pale and cold skins tend to turn gray “. Like all nudes, if they are right, they optically lengthen their fingers.
Capuchins and taupe
The more the enamel tends to latte, cappuccino, dense with beige and brown, “the more it adapts to dark skin, always tanned or deep complexions”. The taupe, license, the cold brownish, with a hint of blue (always avoid grigri), are a rather strong stance on fair skin than usual milky.
