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.