Wednesday, May 1, 2013

The Perfect Nude Nail

Y'all, I had this post all queued up, all I had to do was add one last picture, and what do I realize?  Never took the picture before I changed my nail polish.  Natch, my nails are dark blue right now.  Damn my wily habit.

Every once in a while, there comes at time during which I cannot be my usual, expressive self.  Not with my nails, at any rate.  As an actress, I like to look well-groomed when going into an audition, and when several audition days in a row pop up, I find it necessary to go with a low-maintenance manicure.  Enter:  The Perfect Nude Nail.

L to R: Essie Mademoiselle, Essie BBF Boy Best Friend, Essie Sandy Beach, NARS Candy Darling, 
OPI Bubble Bath, Revlon Naked Tips in Sandy Nude

Essie: Now, the first of these is a cult classic, as I'm sure you all know.  However, I find it unsuitable on it's own, as it's just a little too sheer and subtle for me.  It makes a lovely base for nail art, however.  The second and third, as you can probably tell from the bottles, are great favorites of mine.  Of all the colors here, I would recommend either of them for a sleek, natural manicure, with the second leaning slightly towards the pinker side of the spectrum.

NARS: Honest to God, I've never actually used the NARS polish, but in the bottle it seems to be a pretty opaque beige with a slight hint of yellow.  The only reason I've never used it is because I hate the stupid, short, spidery brushes on the NARS minis, but I promise I'll get over myself and give it a whirl just for you guys.

OPI: Juuuuuuust pink enough to please, this applies pretty nicely, and is ever so slightly sheer.  Definitely good for those of us who obsess over having clean fingernails 24/7 and can't stop cleaning them if we can see them.

Revlon Naked Tips:  I believe this line goes by the name "Mannequin Hands" in the UK, which I find much more amusing, but I suppose it doesn't rhyme with the "Neon Lips" part of the campaign in which it launched in the US.  I quite liked this, Revlon is, in my opinion, the best drugstore nail polish brand, with good coverage and solid wear.  I more or less got the color right with this one, but because it is opaque, it doesn't entirely give the impression that your nails are just stunning all on their own, which is what I want from the perfect nude nail.

The Winner
I'm going to have to throw it to Essie's Sandy Beach on this one!  Without a doubt, a true "your nails but better" color.  The color is just the right shade to convince the unsuspecting viewer that you are freakishly healthy enough to have manicured-looking nails naturally, and keeps small chips from being noticed on day 3 of auditions.  Of course, it's not just good for auditions, but any situation in which you want to impress someone with your utterly sophisticated style.

1 comment:

Harris said...

Theatre, primarily!