Nail colour is one of the few things where the trend and the flattering choice usually agree, because the shades that persist do so by suiting most hands. The shades that come and go are the ones that only work on a narrow range.
These are grouped by family. Inside each one the shades run from the safest to the most demanding, so you can see how far along a family you want to go.
Hold the bottle against the back of your hand, not your palm and not your wrist. Palms and wrists both mislead on undertone.
Then check it in daylight. Salon lighting is warm and flattering, which is why a shade that looked perfect in the chair can read orange in the car.
Pinks and reds
Strawberry milk
Sheer pink with a faint white cast, warmer than a milky white and softer than a true pink. It suits more hands than any other shade on this page.
Three thin coats. Two leaves it patchy, four kills the translucency that makes it work.
Ballet pink
The palest opaque pink, with a satin rather than a hard gloss finish. Quieter than a nude and warmer than a white.
The most repurchased shade in most collections, because it goes with everything.
Cherry red
A blue-based red with real depth. The blue undertone is what keeps it from clashing, which is why it works across the widest range of skin tones.
The single most photographed shade of the last two years and still climbing.
Oxblood
Deep brownish red. A statement colour that behaves conservatively at short lengths.
Depth comes from the second coat. One coat of any dark shade looks streaky under overhead light.
Hot pink
Saturated blue-pink. It carries far better on short nails than long ones, because there is less of it.
The shade to try if you have wanted a bright and thought it was too much.
Neutrals
Skin-match nude
A cream nude matched to your own tone rather than a generic beige. Matched properly it extends the finger, because the eye does not register where the hand stops.
The hardest shade to buy online and the most worth buying in person.
Warm greige
Grey with brown in it, which stops it going cold and clinical the way a true grey does.
The neutral to reach for when nude reads washed out against your skin.
Milky white
Two sheer coats of off-white with the nail line still visible underneath. It is the most forgiving colour there is for a home manicure.
It hides an uneven free edge better than anything, because the eye stops at the softness.
Chocolate brown
Deep warm espresso brown with a high gloss. It has quietly replaced grey as the sophisticated non-colour.
Warm browns flatter the widest range. Anything pulling grey or purple goes ashy fast.
Ivory cream
Fully opaque off-white. The hardest colour to apply well and the most striking when it is right, because there is nowhere for a mistake to hide.
Three thin coats beats two thick ones. Thick white dries with visible brush lines.
Cool and dark
Navy
Stays quiet in daylight and turns almost black indoors. It suits people who want depth without the drama of true black.
Cap the free edge on both coats. Dark shades make a bare edge obvious.
Forest green
Deep green, and the one dark shade that carries from autumn straight into December without looking festive too early.
Pairs with gold jewellery in a way navy does not.
Sheer black wash
One coat of black over a bare nail, left deliberately sheer so it reads as smoky grey with the nail line showing.
One coat only. A second takes it to opaque and the effect is gone.
Plum
Purple-toned deep berry. Darker than burgundy and less expected.
Plum suits cool undertones where oxblood suits warm ones. Try both against the back of your hand.
Matte black
Full black under a matte topcoat. The matte is what makes it modern rather than gothic.
Matte dulls faster than gloss. Plan on refreshing after ten days.
Finishes that change everything
Glazed pearl
Iridescent chrome buffed over a sheer pink, shifting between pearl and lilac as the hand moves. Not a colour so much as a treatment.
Two passes of powder, no more. Heavy-handed chrome reads like foil.
Jelly red
Translucent red built in three sheer coats so it keeps a glassy depth instead of going flat.
Needs a buffed surface. Every ridge shows through a jelly.
Velvet burgundy
Magnetic gel worked into a soft cloud so it reads as crushed fabric rather than shimmer.
Photographs warm and wears cool. Check it in daylight before committing to a full set.
What is actually worth owning
Five bottles cover most of a year: a strawberry milk, a skin-match nude, a cherry red, a warm greige and one dark. Everything else on this page is a seasonal or occasional purchase rather than a staple.
If you want the same shades sorted by season instead of family, fall nail colors covers autumn and summer nail colors covers the warm months. For the designs these shades sit under, start with the designs guide.
Questions people actually ask
What nail color goes with everything?
A skin-match nude first, then strawberry milk. Both read as a finished hand rather than a chosen colour, which is why they never clash with an outfit.
What nail colors suit pale skin?
Cool-toned shades: plum, deep berry, cherry red, navy and ballet pink. Very warm oranges and golden browns can read sallow against cool undertones.
What nail colors suit deeper skin tones?
Saturated brights and true deeps both look excellent: cobalt, hot pink, oxblood, forest green and any chrome. Very pale opaque nudes tend to be the least flattering.
Which nail colors last longest before looking grown out?
Anything close to your natural nail. A skin-match nude hides the regrowth line for around four weeks where a dark shade shows it inside two.
