greige nails

chanel has been setting the nail trends lately- remember the jade-mania, which I'm definitely not over yet, and not planning to be anytime soon. 

this season, "the one" is called particuliére, a pretty taupe shade (or "greige" -for gray/beige-, as they say nowadays). first seen @ chanel's s/s 2010 fashion show, suiting the rustic, natural appeal of the collection, it quickly spread from runways to red carpets & streets.

as it's in a point between some of my favorite nail colors, it immediately appealed to me- certainly more neutral and flattering than gray and more interesting than beige/nude. cool without being overly dramatic. I can see it going very well with this spring's sheer/boudoir trend, complementing english rose patterns -as always, my favorite for the spring, or balancing out brights. so, I'm almost certain to try it soon. do you think it's wearable, or planning to sport it yourself anytime soon?

lagerfeld's latest muse lilly allen sporting greige.

to complete the soft gray look in his a/w 2010 collection, marc jacobs went for a bunch of different custom-made greige shades on models' nails- check them out all here.

lovely gwyneth paltrow with greige nails- it looks delicious on navy, what a great work with colors!

here's our guy- chanel particuliére. for a more shimmery alternative, trapéze and kaléidoscope, both from chanel aswell, would do.

I don't think I've ever paid a bottle of nailpolish over 2 pounds (believe me, even that really hurt), and in that matter I don't really think anybody should either, leave alone 25 dollars, and it seems like a very dupe-able color.  

nails inc. jermyn street

OPI tickle my france-y

this swatch from makeup cafe seems like a good guideline.

you can even think of mixing one yourself: take a bottle of beige and just a little bit of black polish, et voila, perfect and dirt-cheap greige nails!

trend alert: jade nails

(collage from whowhatwear.com)

it first appeared in chanel rtw fall 2009 fashion show & fashion's night out, then, alexa chung's beautiful minty polish came along. the rest is nail polish history.

I think it's such a refreshing alternative to your usual winter polishes, while being light & creamy enough to keep you from that wacky nail look. I find it particularly surprising how well & classy it looks with black.

depending on your taste and your skin tone, you can go a bit greener or bluer, lighter or darker.

rachel bilson (chanel jade) / alexa chung (essie greenport) / leigh lezark (chanel jade)

in chanel fall/winter rtw fashion show, models sported limited edition chanel jade polish.

alexa chung with her highly anticipated essie greenport nails

Chanel Jade

MAC peppermint patti / OPI hey get in lime

 

china glaze for audrey / essie greenport

(I own a bottle of for audrey and I can say it looks much more greener in real life than this. it's pretty much a creamy color between blue and green - a true tiffany blue.)

Illamasqua MILF

 

LA Girl Flare Jade 

(swatches from all lacquered up, steph's closet , krissy's one stop beauty spot)

 chanel's limited edition shade Jade has been out of stock almost immediately and sold for well over $100 on ebay in average, so, if you're feeling crafty, as shefinds suggests, you can try mixing your own: put one-sixth of OPI Green-wich Village in a bottle of Essie Baby's Breath. she swears it looks exactly the same. chanel jade is basically a creamy minty green with pink reflections in it, right? then this formula must work.

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so, how are we supposed to wear this trend? 

if you ask me, I don't think you should try to match these polishes to your outfit. in fact, you should avoid being matchy-matchy. to balance, keep the rest of the color scheme more conservative. they look super-cool with subdued neutrals, blacks and grays.

essie greenport is such a girly shade to me, so I wanted to play up its girliness a bit, while keeping it à la moi slouchy. I think it ended up quite sweet & breezy. (as a sidenote, I am over-the-top obsessed with embellished sewn necklaces nowadays, especially this marlene birger beauty made with felt.)

pretty nails by popsiclepout featuring Christian Louboutin shoes

 jade green adds such a blast of freshness & youth to our beloved, good old rocker chic look and beautifully pops against blacks and grays. this outfit reminds me so much of the cool alexa chung!

jade green nails by popsiclepout featuring Loeffler Randall shoes

so, what do you think about this trend? how would you wear jade nails?

love.