Lean into the neutral tones of autumn with brown nails
Now the weather has had the decency to admit summer was a non-starter, I’m quite enjoying leaning into unequivocally autumnal beauty. A quick lap of the shops will leave you in no doubt that brown (preferably in corduroy, satin or cashmere) is the fashion colour of the season, but I predict it will figure as prominently on nails.
I type this with the tips of a milk chocolate manicure, The Gel Bottle’s Pudding Biab (£16.99, applied by Beth at BW Collective in Brighton), and as much as I hate to immediately repeat a nail colour, I doubt I’ll stray far from this cool cocoa shade at my next appointment.
When so many nail trends err on the side of gimmicky (glazed doughnut nails with marbled frosting? No, thank you, I’m not 12), there’s something so versatile, tasteful and easy about brown. As a neutral, it goes with every outfit while being a tad less obvious than nudes and softer than red or black. When deep and rich, as opposed to pale like tan, beige and camel, brown is flattering against any skin tone. More “fun” trendy colours invariably make my pink hands look like ham. Brown is a broad church, of course, but stay within the confines of a crunchy autumn leaf carpet, nut bowl or Thorntons selection box and you won’t go far wrong.
The convenience of CND polishes is that most colours come in both their salon shellac (cured with a UV lamp) and Vinylux at-home removable formulas (£10.95), meaning you can temporarily touch up the odd gel polish chip yourself and extend time between appointments. Cuppa Joe and Fedora are two shellac browns I have worn a lot over the years: the former is a rich, shimmery, true-chocolate brown and the latter a sparkle-free espresso with an almost imperceptible touch of violet. For a full fingers-dippedin-a-chocolate-fountain look, try Manucurist
Chestnut or (the ever so slightly warmer) Clove, both of which are vegan, cruelty free, made from 84% natural ingredients and cost £14.
Nailberry, like Manucurist, makes gorgeously packaged vegan polishes. Its Hot Coco polish (£16) is as dense, dark and expensive-looking as a bar of finest Valrhona and looks luxurious enough to give as a gift. Avon’s fastdrying, long-lasting nail polishes are one of beauty’s best kept secrets. Just £4 buys you into the brown nail trend via Naughty Brownie, a rich, truffly chocolate that’s dry in one minute flat.
Over the years I’ve worn a rich, shimmery, truechocolate brown and a sparkle-free espresso with a touch of violet