THE NUDE BRIGADE Why nakedness is now finally acceptable in public
It’s been the secret style statement of the fashion and beauty elite for years. But are you ready to bare all..?
Piercings, glitter dust, acrylics… when was the last time you really looked at your naked nail? Not a brief glance between chiselling off one coat of Shellac and layering on another. Not a cursory peep as you decide which novelty artwork to have airbrushed on. No, a long knowing look. If you did, you might find this: nails splitting at the ends, nails with cuticles gnarlier than a rose bush or, God forbid, nails that emit the sort of mustard glow that looks like you’ve been puffing on Marlboro Lights since you left the womb. The good news? The only nail hue you need this season is the one you were born with. Naked nails are back. And we’ve got one man to thank for it.
Bastien Gonzalez is the prince of podiatry* and the man who has made a career out of convincing women that natural, buffed nails are the height of chic. He is the man who celebrities (Naomi Campbell, Gwyneth Paltrow, Cate Blanchett) go to to fix problem digits. He’s so fully booked in NYC he has had to stop taking on new clients, and has a waiting list of two months at his London clinic. Back in Paris, he’s the man responsible for crafting the peachy pink, smooth, effortlessly
chic paint-free nails of the fashion elite (you’ll never see Anna Wintour or Emmanuelle Alt rocking colour). His point? “They focus on less is more. It’s fine to enjoy colour or nail art for fun moments, but nails are organs of protection, and even a nude polish will cause aggression on the bed. It’s simple – how long do you keep make-up on your face? You don’t; you take it off. To get beautiful shiny nails you need to stop painting them.”
The problem is we’re so used to spending money to mask our natural nails, we’ve forgotten what they’re meant to look like.“Gel manicures can be as hardy as car paint,” Gonzalez tells me. Not all that gentle on the nail, then. Yet, in a world of on-demand beauty apps, #nailart on Instagram and seemingly endless new manitrends (snowglobes and furballs, we’re looking at you), what’s on your fingers is now another way to demonstrate style and status. But are we losing something crucial in the interim?
The simple answer is yes. Everyone’s shade of natural pink is as unique as a fingerprint. Grab a baby’s hand (ideally ask the parents first) and study those milky-white tips and rosy nail beds. That’s what you should aim for, and we guarantee it will suit your skintone far better than any nude polish.
Getting that natural look sans Gonzalez isn’t easy, but there are short cuts.“Every time you wash your hands, dry them with a towel and buff gently to take the water away and keep a nice shine,” he recommends. Wearing your polish longer than three days (gel or not) is another big no-no in his books. After that, the pigment will burn the nail (even with a base coat) and allow water to seep in, causing splitting.
The chamois leather your dad uses to buff the car bonnet? Best beauty hack ever.“It’s a trick I learnt from my great-grandmother,” says Gonzalez. “It accelerates the blood circulation and brings oxygen and nutrients to the nail bed so the pink looks pinker and the white bits whiter.”
Next, file – don’t saw – your nails, going from the outer edges in towards the middle. And stay away from the sides where your nail presses against the skin, as this weakens them, as does moving the file horizontally across the top of the tips. Do not cut your cuticles; trimming living skin could cause calluses and infection. Yes, lots of manicurists do it, but that’s because they’ve most likely been taught by therapists with outdated nail know-how, says fashion’s favourite manicurist, Marian Newman: “It’s like soaking nails in water – it damages more than it helps. Using a cuticle remover with sodium hydroxide that breaks down dead skin is far more effective. I like CND Cuticle Eraser, which contains AHAs [naturally exfoliating fruit enzyme acids].”
As for those kale/spinach-infused base coats, you can forgo them. Nails are dead, ladies. You can’t ‘feed’ them, they don’t breathe and they get their nutrients from your bloodstream, so eat your greens, don’t paint them on. The exception to this is oils containing vitamin E, which can help protect those upper layers.
The final rule of going au naturel? Oval is the new squoval. An unspoken sign of elegance, that slightly tapered silhouette elongates fingers quicker than you can say “French tip”.
So there you have it. Naked is the new red. You heard it here first.
What’s f**king up your Frenchie? Sort these and feel confident putting your colour to one side
RIDGES Pressure from rough cuticle treatment can make nails buckle, says Lynn Fray, head of education at Mavala, but so can hormones, especially in pregnancy and menopause. Buffing once a week helps, but avoid the tips.
SPLIT NAILS Don’t be tempted by hardeners – they actually make nails more prone to breakage. Oil and moisture is the answer. Olive, sweet almond and jojoba are the only ones that can penetrate the upper layers.
WEAK NAILS “The nail plate is made of around 100 layers of cells joined with quite weak oils and natural bonds,” explains Newman. “Everything from washing to typing can help break those bonds, triggering peeling.”
GELS The pros’ preferred option is Shellac as it uses a UCV gel with solvents similar to that of a traditional polish. This makes it easier to remove and the nail doesn’t need to be buffed first, unlike other 100% gel formulas.
ACRYLICS Fine in the right circumstances (even Gonzalez uses them to repair broken nails), but they can suck up the nail’s natural oils in the top layers, so proceed with caution.
YELLOW NAILS Dehydrated nails show up as yellow – you’ll notice this after long stints wearing polish. It’s a warning that the nail is under attack.