It’s this time of year again, mani/pedi season is among us!!!
Now that our toes are out again, I thought I’d share with you my favourite nail polish combos that I tend to gravitate towards this time of year. Of course, I’ve only picked from my Essie collection as those are the nail polishes that last for me the longest chip-free, but any brand will do.
First up, mint and red. I’m wearing Essie’s Turquoise & Caicos (mint) on my nails and Fifth Avenue (red) on my toes.
As a side note, all these colour combinations can be switched between the nails on the hands or toes, it doesn’t really matter as long as they are worn together they will look good!
This is what I like to call my “vintage” combination. For some reason this particular combo makes me think of 1950s fashion (even though mint nail polish for sure didn’t exist back then). It has me thinking of 50s swing dresses in fun pastels and polka dots.
Next is another classic pairing, red and white. Here I’m featuring Essie’s Fifth Avenue (red), Between The Seats (a slightly off-white taupe) and Blanc (pure white).
As I find pure white on my nails quite stark (it can easily look like you just painted Tippex on your nails), I tend to prefer slightly more off-white colours for this particular combination. Essie’s Between The Seats is my perfect find as it has a slight grey taupiness to it that tones down the harshness of the white.
This combination reminds me a lot of summer with strawberries and cream and hence July and Wimbledon.
Next is a combination I tend to bust out quite early on in the year (certainly before sandal season), and that is red and pink, perfect for February and Valentine’s Day!
Here I have Fifth Avenue (red), Free To Roam (baby pink) and Muchi, Muchi (milky pink).
My personal bottle of Muchi, Muchi has gotten quite bleached over time (even though none of my polishes get any direct sunlight as they are all stored in a dark drawer). And as I recently bought a fresh bottle (hence how I know it’s a favourite) that is a lot pinker and closer to baby pink, I’m no longer sure what pink it’s supposed to be to begin with. I know US and European Essies are sometimes different colours altogether, a prime example being their Mint Candy Apple which is bluer in Europe and greener in the US.
But that’s beside the point, milky pink is probably the colour I wear most often on my toes in the summer (that or the off-white mentioned above), as it’s a neutral so goes with most of my outfits.
I do have to keep in mind that my pedicures last me 4 weeks and my manicure 4 days, so I am rather more daring with my manicure colours than the pedicure ones since I know the latter will limit my outfit choices for longer if I’m not going for a neutral or classic colour.
My next favourite combination is pink and green, which always screams refreshing watermelon to me. And it’s apt in this case since the pink here is Essie’s Watermelon and the green is Vibrant Vibes.
This particular shade of pink from Essie is quite a chameleon on the nails, more often than not it looks like a red but every once in a while, it’s distinctly pink…must be witchcraft!!! But as watermelons do the same thing, it really is perfectly named!!!
Now this is more “out there” (definitely limiting on your outfit options for sure!) but I just love the combination of orange (Souq Up The Sun) and turquoise (Bustling Bazaar) or even their pastel counterparts peach and mint.
I especially like this colour combination as eyeshadows in the summer; orange or gold eyeshadow on the upper lid and turquoise/mint eyeliner on the lower lashline.
This one reminds me of a gorgeous sunset over a tropical blue sea, and what’s beautiful in nature can’t be a bad combination anywhere else, can it?
And finally one of my most recent discoveries, yellow and purple!
This combination was inspired by how well I thought the yellow and purple flowers looked together in my Galimard Perfume blog post.
Now finding a good yellow nail polish that is opaque in a couple of coats is quite a hard feat, but Essie’s Summer Soul Stice is a breeze to apply and if you don’t want to go full on purple with the combination then you could always try using a pinky purple instead, like Suits You Swell. But I do love my yellow with the full-on purple that is Worth The Tassel.
There you have it, my favourite mani/pedi combinations to wear in the hotter summer months.
Do you have any favourite colour combinations you think I need to try? Or are you more of a mani/pedi matcher (I do like to match every so often too)?
Did you also put Tippex on your nails as a kid when bored in class and hence now can’t get rid of that association as an adult?
Any fun summer/holiday plans now that travelling is back to normal again?
xxxemma