Nail polish is a personal choice, but not a choice you want to make solely on your own judgment. Okay, you can, but its best to remember fingers are intimate appendages. While the nail polish you chose isn’t exactly lingerie, it generally is more visible. Your lingerie tastes may be between that sacred triangle of yourself, your boyfriend, and your wallet, but nail polish is blushingly public. Selecting high quality nail polish might require a little homework, requiring you to think in tandem with the top talent that designs the clothes to go with those fingers.
The nice thing about nail polish, unlike those best boy shorts and bikinis, is its a relatively inexpensive item for your wardrobe, and stocking up your collection generally won’t break the bank. So if you can spare to buy a few every paycheck shouldn’t you focus on what the professionals are choosing?
For example, Max Azria of his “good style, good attitude” brand BCBGMAXAZRIA had his models brushing their nails with OPI Samoan Sand and Coney Island Cotton Candy this past September. Michael Bastin worked Zoya’s sparkly Red Delilah into his fall advertising this year, while Erin Fetherston used a custom pale pink of Butter London nail polish at her 2012 show. Donna Karan recently received kudos for her use of the deep red-burgundy shade of Just Walk Away Renee by Deborah Lippmann, and designer Kimora Lee Honsou used a neon yellow polish from American Apparel to cap her own cuticles early this past summer.
Of course there are those designers who simply manufacture their own nail polish, such as Liz Claibrone and Anna Sui. The youthful Alexander Wang, who usually has his models work with nude nails, is also in collaboration with Sally Hansen to unveil his own nail polish line this fall. For us, it should be available early next year. We’ll assume the colors won’t be limited to shades of black.
Top fashion designers do have preferences for specific brands. Sure, we don’t need to follow their lead. After all, there certainly are lucrative financial reasons for a designer’s nail polish selections. But it is enjoyable to know what they are using. We may not always be able to afford the clothes, but we can certainly afford the polish that matches the work of our favorite designers.
