Summer is the season for bright colors and your nails are no exception. There are quite a few nail colors out there that look like they’re designed for dark skin. The trick is knowing which colors will suit you best and great ways to show them off with the right nail shape. Finding the ultimate combination will be exactly what you need to complement your summer outfits.
5 Summer Colors for Dark Skin
1. Purple
Purple nail polish can give you a splash of color to a neutral outfit or act as an extension to what you’re wearing. The experts recommend trying everything from lavender to plum to see what works for you.
2. Red Shades
Just like purple, you’ll find a range of red shades that can work for you. Whether you’re working with fire red or deep burgundy, these colors can work nicely with dark skin.
3. Bright Metallics
There are a variety of options when it comes to bright metallics. You can choose a sparkly top coat over a neutral color or go for the straight metallic. Gold is a good bet but a chrome color that combines flecks of gold and silver suits dark skin too.
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4. Neon Colors
Bright yellow, green, orange, and pink are excellent options for dark skin. They’re a definite way to stand out – especially if you’re wearing a more neutral-colored ensemble.
5. Blue shades
The great thing about blue is that you’re guaranteed to find a shade to match your skin tone. From light to dark blue, there are several shades in between that might grab your eye. Things get even more interesting if you include blue-green mixtures like teal.
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How to Choose Your Color
The process of choosing your color is tied to whether you have a warm or cool undertone. If you’re good at spotting colors, look at your wrist. Seeing golds and yellows means you have a warm undertone while pinks, reds, and blues point to a cool undertone. Another test is placing gold and silver jewelry against your wrist. If gold suits you better, then you have a warm undertone, and vice versa if your skin looks great with silver. In the event there’s no difference, you may have a neutral skin tone.
Some of the colors that work for warm undertones include warm shades of red, coral, earthy tones, and gold. Cool undertones look good with light pink, blue, purple, and silver. Those who have neutral undertones can pull off a wide range of nail colors including bright red, pastel, and nude shades.
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Interestingly, your skin’s level of moisture can also affect how good a color looks on you. If you’re prone to dry skin, the experts recommend staying away from pearly or shimmery colors as they can make your skin look ashy.
Which Nail Shape is Right for You
The perfect summer nails don’t just stop at finding the right color. It pays to kick things up a notch with the best nail shape for your hands as well. Generally, there are four types of hands and they each match well with one or two of ten nail types.
A Hi-five hand has a long palm and short fingers. The best fit for this kind of hand is an oval shape as it can make your fingers look longer. Grounded hands have a wide palm and short fingers. If you have this kind of hand, your best matches are almond and oval-shaped nails as they make your fingers look longer while balancing your palm.
People with piano hands have wide palms and long fingers and should try coffin-shaped nails. These work because they complement long fingers and balance wide palms. If you have a long palm and long fingers, then that’s described as having generous hands. Your nails will look best in a square shape as their bluntness will give you balance.
Of course, your hands don’t have to match these four categories exactly, which gives you a chance to try different nail shapes for fun.
When you’re putting your summer outfit together, don’t forget your nails. You have a range of colors to choose from that will make your skin and nails pop. To go that extra mile, try out the nail shape that’s best for your hands.
