Hello!

I’m so delighted to be back to share some more beauty tips with all of you Lovely Little Details readers! Today, I would like to bestow my guidelines for selecting the perfect manicure color for your wedding day. With so many of my brides this season asking my opinion on which hue is best, I decided to round up my top color selections and put together an easy instructional for how to find the perfect shade. First, you have to consider the 3 S’s:  Skin tone, Season & Style.

Lets begin with skin tone. Are you warm or cool? Women with a yellow or olive skin complexion are considered warm. Those with pink undertones are cool.  Are you fair, medium or dark skinned? The darker your skin, the more opaque you want the color to be. Sheer colors work best on fair skin. Ladies with a yellow base skin should select colors that are beigy-nude or peachy. If you have a cool skin, then select pinkish nudes. Easy, right?!

What season is your wedding? Light or bright colors are pretty during the Spring/Summer season and deeper, jeweled-tones are more appropriate for Fall/Winter. Summer-time brides with warm skin tones can play with orange-based brights and sheer corals. In the winter, opt for a chocolate brown. Cool skin tones can try blue-based brights, like fuschia, for a Spring wedding, and deep violet for Fall.

Now, for the most important of all the S’s - the “style” of your wedding. Are you getting married outside in a garden? Try a sheer lilac. Is the affair a formal, black-tie event?  Go for crimson red. Are you boho-chic or vintage-glam? Select a color that works with your overall approach. Neutrals are classic and always a safe bet. Though there are hordes of options out there, I have listed some of my top picks below. You can try Dutchess Kate’s custom blend manicure—Rose Lounge by Bourjois mixed with Essie’s Allure. Don’t be afraid to try some color-even if it’s a sheer tone. Nail polish is a fun way to show your personality and style! If you’re less daring and more traditional, perhaps you can keep your digits nude and be more playful with your pedicure? There is no rule stating you have to be matchy-matchy, by the way. In fact, I think it’s way more modern and sophisticated to wear non-matching mani-pedi colors!

There is also the question of traditional manicure vs. the shellac manicure. In case you’re unfamiliar with shellac, it’s a new non-chipping gel-based formula that last’s longer than a regular manicure. For some it’s the holy grail of manicures but there are pro’s and con’s. Let me break it down for you so you can decide for yourself:

Pros:
*lasts 14 days
*zero dry time
*glossy finish and no chipping

Cons:
*it’s more expensive (about 50% more!)
*limited color selection
*toxic ingredients & UV lights used.
*have to go back to the salon to have it removed

If you ask me, I say stick with a regular manicure for the wedding and for daily wear. My monday manicures are a ritual that I look forward to, and trying a new color each week is part of the fun! Though, I would suggest the shellac manicure for a 2 week vacation or your Honeymoon. You have your engagement to try different colors to see what works best. The first thing I did after he proposed was run off and get a manicure! Who else did the same?!

Here are my top picks for bridal polish colors:
Essie: (1)Blushing Bride, (2)Allure & (3)Sugar Daddy
Chanel: (4)Le Vernis Lilac Sky
Nars: (5)Ecume
Orly: (6)Flirty Girl
OPI: (7)Bare it in Trafalgar Square, (8)Coney Island Cotton Candy & (9)A to Zurich
Deborah Lippmann (I’m LOVIN’ her entire collection!): (10)Clean Bare Beige, (11)Sheer Champagne & (12)Bring on the Bling

I’m always available to answer your beauty questions and/or concerns. Feel free to contact me anytime! If you have a specific topic you would like me to cover, please let me know! Looking forward to hearing from you! In the mean time…..Happy Painting!

XO, jennie