nude nails

Nude nail polish is such a huge trend right now, and will be right through until next Spring, but finding the perfect hue to match your skin tone can prove tricky. There are a variety of flesh-toned polishes that look chic, but which one is right for you? Nail artist Deborah Lippmann has an easy tip for picking your perfect polish. "Our bodies tell us a lot about what colours are right and wrong to wear," Lippmann says. "If you put a colour on, particularly a nude, and it doesn't fit you, your cuticle will look funky." In essence, the colour of your polish will play against the cuticle in a way that will make it look dark or slightly red and ruddy. And while this trick works best for nudes, you can use it with other colours, too.

But what if you fall in love with a shade that doesn't work the first time around? You can still sometimes fudge it. "There's this one shade that I love that doesn't look right on me," Lippmann says. "But if I put a thin layer down, let it dry completely, and then add another thin layer, it looks good." Finding the right system to cheat your polish might take some trial and error, but with a little patience, your perfect nude shade will present itself to you.

You don't have to be a nail art fanatic to pull off this easy-to-do nude look: all you need is a flesh-toned polish and neutral metallic. I used Deborah Lippmann Naked, a light beige shade — try OPI Nail Lacquer in Samoan Sand for a similar finish — along with MAC Glamour Daze Nail Lacquer in Girl Trouble ($22), for a barely there hint of pink.

After your base coat, apply two thin layers of nude polish. I recommend waiting a minimum of an hour before proceeding to the next step, which involves tape. Once the nude layer is completely dry, use regular tape to section off the outer part of your nail. Place it diagonally, leaving the part you want metallic bare. Paint over with one coat of metallic and peel the tape off while the polish is still wet. Now repeat on the rest of your fingers and seal the look with a high-shine top coat. The metallic mixed with a creamy nude offers a nice play of textures, and the muted look is suitable for even the most conservative workplaces.

The most fashion-forward manicures this year aren't necessarily the nail art and bright colours we've come to expect. Instead, the emerging look has trended towards delicate, translucent and creamy. It's almost as if the shades match the natural colour of your nail bed. While it's a beautifully understated look, it's not exactly forgiving. Sheer polish doesn't cover up flaws the way opaque colours do and not every polish shade is going to flatter your skin tone. Here's how you can wear the trend even if you don't have a professional manicurist on hand.

Ever since the Pulp Fiction era, Chanel has been setting nail polish trends. And for last few seasons, the brand's name has been synonymous with which polish will adorn our fingers and toes for the upcoming months. So much so that the polish names stand alone, recognisable without any mention of the iconic brand name. Jade. Particulière. Riva. Khaki Vert. Mimosa. We wanted them all. And so did everyone else. So it was with baited breath that we waited for the models to walk the catwalk at the Hôtel du Cap in France today to see which colour would be next. But alas, it wasn't to be. For Peter Philips, Global Director of Chanel Makeup, chose a naked nail for the Cruise collection 2011/12, in keeping with the "easiness" of the rest of the makeup palette. At first we were shocked, but given Chanel's penchant for trend-setting, we're predicting that it won't be long until we see a rise in nail polish remover sales. Thoughts?