Find the Best Polish for Your Skin Tone

Gel polish seems to be the new craze for women everywhere. It is mainly used to lengthen nails, or to provide a stronger top coat than regular nail polish. While gel polish can come in different colors, it mostly comes in clear or nude colors. It can be difficult to find a natural-colored gel polish that goes well with your skin tone. Essie gel nail polish comes in a variety of colors, and they even categorize each collection, making it a lot easier to find the best polish for your skin tone.

• LIGHT SKIN TONES

Women with lighter skin tones tend to favor light or pastel colored polishes. Most of the time, pastel works perfectly fine for lighter skin. For colors like purple, pink, yellow, or nude, pastel is usually best for achieving the right contrast. However, not all pastels are right for lighter skin tones, like the color blue, for example. While shades like turquoise, baby blue, and pastel blue may be among the favorite shades for most women, for women with lighter skin tones, darker blues are better, like navy blue. For colors like red, the brighter the shade, the better.

• MEDIUM SKIN TONES

Medium skin tones can range from olive-colored skin to a lighter bronze, which affects the way certain colors complement skin tone. There are, however, colors that universally compliment any medium-toned skin. While pastel purple may work for lighter skin, for medium-toned skin, darker shades are better suited, such as grape or violet-colored polish. With red, I find that reds with an orange or gold undertones can bring out any medium-toned skin's natural glow. Peachy pinks are best for flattering the skin. Pastel blue may not fit well for lighter skin, but for medium skin tones, pastel or sky blue creates a more vivid contrast.

• DARK/BROWN SKIN TONES

For darker skin tones, almost any shade of red compliments the skin, however, deep reds like rich, wine-colored reds, bring out more of the natural glow of darker skin. Women with darker skin should avoid light shades of pink, such as carnation or baby pink. Darker shades like fuchsia compliment darker-toned skin better. Light pinks may not work well for darker skin tones, but when it comes to blue, go as light as the sky! Light and pastel shades of blue are the perfect contrast to dark skin, but avoid blues that have too much of a white undertone. Beige or crème-colored nude polishes are perfect for dark skin tones. With purple, dark or light shades work equally well.

Finding a nail polish that compliments your skin tone may sometimes seem difficult when there are so many colors to choose from, and it can be especially difficult with gel polish. But with this guide, and a little since of style, finding the perfect color couldn’t be easier! The most important thing when it comes to your nails is to be true to YOUR style. Whatever your preference, Essie gel nail polish has exactly what you're looking for!