Essie Nail Polish in Don't Sweater It, $8, is described as a "warm, cozy, creamy mauve," which is dead on. There's something truly fall-appropriate about this shade. On fair skin, it looks like the perfect marriage of beige and purple.
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Skin tone: fair
JINsoon Nail Polish in Nostalgia, $18, is a classic pinky-beige. The best thing about this polish is the incredible, glassy shine and chip-resistant formula. On fair skin, it looks feminine, not trying-too-hard stylish. And actually, the shade is super-flattering on all skin tones.
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Skin tone: medium
If your skin tone is medium, Pink says to look for polish colors with a warm base that's similar to your skin tone. You can pull off metallics, but you should avoid anything that's too silvery because the coolness will clash with your natural warm undertones.
If you find yourself attracted to shades of gray (insert raunchy literary comment here), then OPI Nail Color in Berlin There Done That, $8.50, will be your go-to this season. It's dark enough to work on medium skin tones, and it has a subtle, almost metallic gray undertone.
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Skin tone: medium
LCN Nail Polish in Paris Chic, $7.99, is described as "nougat beige," which is spot on. It's part of LCN's Urban Expression Collection, which was inspired by trends from fashion capitals around the world (other cities include London, New York, and Tokyo). If you've got medium skin and you're looking for a classic nude, this one's for you.
The hottest nail polish shade for fall is barely a color at all. It's nude.
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.
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.
