1 Fair

Ask for: A barely-there nude, like OPI GelColor Put It In Neutral

When your skin is porcelain, it can seem like no colour is light enough – trust me, even the palest foundation shades are too dark for me. For a true nude, a sheer, barely-there polish is your best friend.

2 Light

Ask for: A milky nude, like OPI GelColor Samoan Sand

For those pale-but-not-basically-see-through skin tones, just add milk (vegan alternatives available). The beauty of pale polishes? The intensity is buildable. Keep it sheer for a subtler effect or layer for an opaque finish.

3 Medium

Ask for: A light mushroom nude, like CND Shellac Field Fox

Not just great in pasta dishes, mushroom is perfect for medium skin tones. Whether you're a funghi-lover – like me – or painstakingly pick them out of every meal (shout out to my sister), you can't deny it looks pretty darn good on your nails.

4 Medium Dark

Ask for: A pale taupe nude, like Gelish Hey Twirl Friend

For slightly deeper skin tones, the grey-ish brown hue of a pale taupe, like this one from Gelish, ensures your nude is perfectly matched without running the risk of looking flat or dull.

5 Dark

Ask for: A deep taupe nude, like CND Shellac Unearthed

Brown-toned nail polishes of real quality can be hard to come by, but we think we’ve found it in this CND shade. For dark, rich skin tones, an earthy taupe is the perfect tonal nude.

With Treatwell, you can book beauty online at all your favourite salons – simple, hassle-free, and you can do it on the go. Discover amazing salons in your area.

We’ve found the most flattering nude nail colour for your skin tone

07/08/2019 / Editor's picks

On more than one occasion, I’ve been certain I’ve finally found the exact nude I’ve been searching for. Annoyingly, it’s always ended up looking completely different on my hand than it did on the colour wheel and, honestly, I haven’t felt disappointment like that since the series finale of Lost. Thankfully, we’ve sussed out the science (yes, really) of finding that perfect shade.

By Beth Ludolf

Image credits: Treatwell

Editor's picks

This is how to find the best nude nail polish for your skin tone 17/06/2018

Needless to say, we love neutral nails. When faced with a wall of red, blue and coral polish at our mani appointment, somehow our eye always drifts back to the familiar comfort of nude (sort of like putting on your favourite cardi, but a bit more chic). Of course, we know that 'nude' is not one-size-fits-all: skin tone varies hugely across the world, and it's time the nail industry caught up. But there is a shade of polish out there for everyone, so (kind of like colour matching your foundation) we're here to help you find the ideal colour for you, whatever your skin tone may…

Beauty board

Nearly nude nails 21/04/2016

No need to do away with your beloved nude nails this summer. The trends are firmly on your side and offer up some truly inventive ways to update classic shades of neutral nail polish. If you like to keep it simple we'd suggest merging your favourite nude with a flash of metallic nail art. A fine line of gold or silver adds a little something, something to taupes, tans, beiges and mid-browns. The payoff remains elegant and works brilliantly with a scattering of delicate stacking rings as you can see here. Alternatively, ask your manicurist to apply a glitter top…

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