Nails
12 Nude Nail Polishes for Every Skin ToneFinding the perfect nude nail polish for your skin tone can be as tricky as finding your ideal foundation shade. Here's how to pick a color without looking like a corpse |
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We know what you're thinking — "ugh, so boring." But trust us, it's so much prettier than it sounds. We're not talking about baby pinks or sheer beige tones. The nude nail polish colors that we're most excited about this season are opaque enough to make a statement, and they have trendy undertones that range from mauve to gold.
Skip ahead to see the best nude nail polish shades for your skin tone.
Choosing a nude nail polish color may seem easy, but it's actually harder than you might think. More than any other shade, nudes are susceptible to that all-too-common scenario where it looks gorgeous in the bottle, but you walk out of the nail salon hating your manicure. And that's because nude nail polish needs to perfectly complement your skin tone in order to work.
"You want a polish that's close to your own skin tone — but better," explains Katie Cazorla, star of the show "Nail Files." She recommends matching the polish to your foundation color — not your hands.
Don't get duped by the matte trend either. "With a neutral color, you want a high shine finish," says nail guru Jin Soon Choi. "It makes the nail stand out against your skin rather than blend in and look dead."
We rounded up our favorite nude nail polishes and divided them into categories for fair, medium, olive, and dark skin tones. They're all super-shiny, saturated colors — perfect for when you want to take a break from that four-tone glitter ombré manicure that's become your go-to.
Image via Imaxtree
SEE NEXT PAGE: Skin tone: fair
Older comments
Gorgeous! I love nude nails, and when a chip occurs it is a lot less noticeable than when wearing vivid colors.
by GigiSD Saturday, April 13, 2013 at 11:09PM Report as inappropriate
These are nice but I prefer bright colors on my nails.
by justmilly Friday, March 29, 2013 at 06:47PM Report as inappropriate
I was surprised not to see Essie's Barefoot and Topless on the list!
by BlondeCupcake Friday, March 29, 2013 at 11:32AM Report as inappropriate
lovely neutrals
by AstridB Friday, March 8, 2013 at 07:16AM Report as inappropriate
Nice colors , i like.
by mlira Monday, February 18, 2013 at 10:18AM Report as inappropriate
Those nude shades are very pretty for any skin tone. I would have liked to see more cheaper brands since there were some that are very expensive and some I've never heard of, but the shade range gave me an idea on what to look for in my skin tone.
by darkangel81 Thursday, February 7, 2013 at 08:11AM Report as inappropriate
nice shades.
by Monique3 Tuesday, February 5, 2013 at 08:22AM Report as inappropriate
Lovely colors and a nice variety of skin tones covered. I can totally see which shades I went wrong with. Good article!
by Chantilly Wednesday, January 9, 2013 at 12:33AM Report as inappropriate
Nudes are a nice change every now and then but as my favorite "accessory", I love to have more color on my nails. Though you can subtly perk up the nudes with some clear rhinestone or some light nail paint
by BeautyBoss Tuesday, January 8, 2013 at 06:36PM Report as inappropriate
Love nude polish and this article was a huge help! with very fair skin, some colors look all wrong on me...now I know why! Pinky-beige-lavender is what i'll look for going forward.
by shimmergurl Friday, January 4, 2013 at 08:15PM Report as inappropriate