Dark Nail Polish For Fair Skin

Luxe nail laquers for porcelain beauties

Chic, porcelain-skinned beauties put the finishing touches on their favorite makeup looks with deep nail polish—it looks decadent and totally runway-worthy paired with a oversized cocktail ring or stackup of bracelets. Dark nail polish gets a boost of high gloss finish this season for a slick, patent leather effect that bucks last season’s matte nails trend (high gloss is not to be confused for sparkle or shimmer). As a general beauty rule, the best nail polishes for fair skin strike a contrast and are just shy of black, which can look too gothic or vampire-inspired for some women.

"Rock short, dark nails on fair skin for a luxe, fashion-forward look."

On light skin, try an intense raisin shade that goes with everything, such as Sephora by OPI's Beauty Junkie or In the Shadows, or Essie's Wicked nail polish. The trick to pulling off dark nail polish is to think short and sleek: keep your nails filed down in a “squoval”shape—a polished square/oval hybrid that will actually make the nails stronger and less prone to breakage.  Nails shouldn't be much longer than your finger tips for a high fashion look and the abrasive strip on the top of a matchbox can serve as an emergency file in a pinch.

Use a base coat to prevent stains. Dark polish tends to yellow the nails, so remove it and then apply it from scratch every few days. Finish with a high gloss top coat and apply it every other day to maintain your paint job, keep chips at bay and keep nails strong.

Nail polish shopping tricks

If you have fair skin, test drive a nail polish before you buy it by shopping at department stores or Sephora stores where open testers are lined up for comparison. Pick your two favorites and paint one hand with one color and the other with your second polish choice. Wear it for a day to see which one speaks to you and goes with the clothes you wear most. Try on makeup to go with your boldly dark nail polish in our virtual styling studio. --Stephanie Simons

TRY ON MAKEUP BY UPLOADING YOUR PHOTO TO TAAZ