I have hitherto dismissed this trend as creepy and rank, a kind of everything-must-be-beige Kardashian thing, and not for the likes of us.
But then I saw Chloe Samwell-Smith with just such nails (she is on Instagram as @chloelovestoshop – literally the first thing she said to me when we met was “Yes I know it’s an embarrassing Instagram name”, but she’s got 50k followers so it’s not that embarrassing.)
And hers just looked chic and pretty, not remotely creepy or rank. It also suddenly struck me suddenly as a way of FINALLY making a coloured nail varnish suit me (rather than just a sheer pink). I have awful hands; chubby, with stumpy fingers and ugly, pointless little nails – and any varnish of any colour makes it all so much worse, cutting the finger off where the colour starts (just a pathetic little dot).
If the entire finger plus nail is roughly all the same colour, surely that will serve to elongate the finger? Like back in the day when we were allowed to wear long, dark bootcut jeans and black heels therefore making us all look like we had these endless legs. *Reminisces for a bit*
But, goddamn, it is hard to find the right colour for you. Alas, Chloe’s nail colour was some sort of bespoke gel colour done by Dry By, which is a very smart nail salon in London, so I couldn’t pinch it off her.
Not that it would have worked, as my skin is a slightly weird colour. Yes, fine, I am white – probably the whitest of white people you will ever find, but within “white” there are so many shades. I am a sort of pink/blue/yellow mix and I guarantee that all those “classic” shades that “suit everyone”, like that MAC lipliner in “Spice” will not suit me.
You are probably the same. (Who is the person who suits this Spice MAC lipliner so well?) Therefore my recommendation to you, if you would like to have a go at this look – if you just fancy it or if you, too, have stubby little goat hands and would like to do absolutely anything you can to elongate your fingers, is spend an hour in your nearest available department store just trying all the nude varnishes on. It’s not easy. You don’t want it too pink, or too much like beige Dulux. The idea is that the colour is as close as possible to your skin tone, maybe just erring on the side of pink. See? I told you it’s complicated.
After a good 30 minutes messing about in the nail varnish section at John Lewis I arrived at this colour, Montpelier Walk from Nails Inc, which also went on very nicely and 100% does the job of elongating my stubby toad fingers. Have a go!
As someone whose ten year old son has longer fingers than I do, I welcome this bit of advice and will get searching. Now all I need is the willpower to stop chipping and picking at them approximately ten minutes after I’ve painted them….
Don’t laugh but for great shine, shape and lasting power, swear by Lychee by Barry M. It’s in the gel nail range – always looks like it’s been done by a professional.
Top tip for any nail polish though and POSSIBLY THE GREATEST GIFT I CAN PASS ON TO HUMANITY – Maybelline’s top coat with the red lid https://www.boots.com/maybelline-superstay-3d-gel-effect-plumping-top-coat-10209896 – leaves the best finish, dries in a minute and makes cheap nail polish last for weeks without chipping.
I love this look but have slightly olive skin and have yet to find a nude shade that doesn’t make me look either dead or like I’ve got a fungal infection. Can’t do nude lipsticks either.
Me too! How is it possible to be (predominantly) yellow yet blue/pink at the same time?? I manage it somehow.
I saw someone wearing it at an after school activity and she is a very groomed and stylish looking person whilst I look like I was designed by Jim Henson, so I got straight in on it, grasping at the hem of Jesus’s cloak. I do quite like it. I have two shades of it which both look all right I think. One was from my husband after a discussion about gifts where I said something to the effect of they didn’t have to be expensive, I would be happy with nail varnish, which led to him, of course, buying me nail varnish, because like Ron Burgundy he always follows the prompter to the letter.
Just a lolz at the Ron Burgundy reference 😉
Hi Esther I am one of those who suit Mac Spice lip liner! Have had it for years and years! I chuckled when I read your post as I’d just applied it and blended it in over the lips; looks good for my colouring I suppose… I remember you recommended NailsInc gel polish before (think M&S sold it) anyway I found it just didn’t even last 12 hours. Used the base and top coat too. Maybe I bought a bad batch?!
The one I like most at the moment is the Rimmel 60 sec in Caramel Cupcake. Fairly chip resistant after 2 coats.
In case you hadn’t seen it – I got this colour varnish free with this month’s red magazine (although just the colour not one which claims to make my nails any better)