One of the most frustrating things about Fashion Week is that because it happens a season in advance, half the trends you see—and fall in love with—don’t apply until fall rolls around. (You better believe we already have our shopping lists set for September.) One thing this doesn’t apply to, however, is nail polish. With the exception of a few first looks at shades to come later this year, there’s nothing stopping you from getting in on fall’s coolest nail ideas early. This season we saw plenty of inventive takes on the French manicure, fresh twists on neutrals (greige, for the win), and so many metallics. Scroll on to see the best nail trends for fall that’ll take you through 2019 and beyond.
We already know Meghan Markle is unafraid to rock a messy bun, no matter how critical fussy royal watchers might be of her protocol-breaking signature style. And after the British Fashion Awards, we can add another entry to the list of ways the Duchess of Sussex is doing this whole royalty thing her own way.
Markle made a surprise appearance at the 2018 award show on Monday to honor Clare Waight Keller, the designer of her wedding dress. She wore a one-shouldered Givenchy gown, a low hair bun, and dark nail polish that broke with a longstanding royal beauty “rule.”
PHOTO: Joe Maher/BFC/Getty Images
Typically, royals (including Markle’s sister-in-law Kate Middleton) will wear pale shades of polish on their well-manicured nails for official appearances. The reason? Rumor has it that Queen Elizabeth II prefers it that way because she finds colorful nail polish—even if it’s a classic, non-trendy shade—vulgar. Her Majesty herself has been wearing Essie’s Ballet Slippers for decades. And so far, the Duchess of Sussex has played it pretty by-the-book on this front… until tonight.
She was attending a fashion event, after all—and an award-show setting that must have reminded Markle of her past life as an actress. The dark (maybe even black) polish color looked amazing with her one-shouldered gown and gold bangles—and was far from vulgar, to be sure, as you can see in the close-up below.
PHOTO: Jeff Spicer/BFC
Given that press critical of Markle has basically become a cottage industry, we’re sure to hear from some naysayers—however, Twitter was pretty excited to see her change up her mani. “Good on Meghan for not only wearing nail polish that isn’t pink but a bold dark color,” one user wrote. “Mannnn, Meghan Markle DGAF! LOOK AT THE BEAUTY!!! HER BUMP! HER DRESSSSSSS!!! Black nail polish too? I STAN A GORGEOUS REBEL!” said another.
Now that Taylor Swift has broken her silence on politics, she can’t stop, won’t stop encouraging her followers to vote in the upcoming midterms. This week, she made yet another political statement, with a little extra help from a few bottles of nail polish.
On Wednesday morning (October 17), Swift posted two photos on Instagram; the first is a Polaroid of her toenails, which are adorned with either red, white, or blue polish, while the other is a relaxed selfie. “Something I wish I knew about when I was 18 and voting for the first time: ✨EARLY VOTING✨. It makes it so quick and easy to go and cast your vote before November 6. Early voting starts TODAY in Tennessee and goes to Nov 1,” she wrote in the caption. For those Swifties and followers not in Tennessee, she also pinned a calendar of the early voting dates for all 50 states in her IG bio.
“In the past I’ve been reluctant to publicly voice my political opinions, but due to several events in my life and in the world in the past two years, I feel very differently about that now. I always have and always will cast my vote based on which candidate will protect and fight for the human rights I believe we all deserve in this country,” she wrote on Instagram a few weeks back. “I believe in the fight for LGBTQ rights, and that any form of discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender is WRONG. I believe that the systemic racism we still see in this country towards people of color is terrifying, sickening and prevalent.”
In the hours after Swift’s first post, Vote.org reported a massive spike in voter registration. And a few days later at the American Music Awards, Swift once again reminded everyone to hit their local ballot boxes. “I just wanted to make a mention of the fact this award and every single award given out tonight were voted on by the people,” she said toward the end of her speech. “And you know what else is voted on by the people…is the midterm elections on November 6. Go out and vote, I love you guys.”
In the world of beauty, the word “toxins” has lost most meaning. Same with “non-toxic,” because the two words don’t have concrete, universal definitions. With nail polish, however, ingredients are becoming slightly more transparent. Brands have started to take note about the use of potentially harmful chemicals like formaldehyde, toluene, dibutyl phthalate (the “big three”), along with others like formaldehyde resin, camphor, ethyl tosylamide, and xylene. When a formula is free of those additives, that’s when you’ll see three-, five-, seven-, eight-, or nine-free written on the label. And while being cognizant of using safe(r) products is important, the trade-off shouldn’t be a disappointing non-toxic nail polish experience. Happily, it no longer is. Glamour‘s staff got down to testing a spate of chic, thoughtful formulas, and came away impressed with the below.
The most exciting Fall 2018 nail color is one you’ve probably never thought to grab off the polish wall: Green in all its variations. The shade has been permeating Instagram leading up to autumn, and there are a handful of particular shades that seem to be the most popular, from mossy forest green to Nickelodeon-level slime green.
We could have the runways to thank: Verdant greens gained steam last season thanks to designers including Tom Ford, Valentino, Sonia Rykiel and it continued during this past fashion month at Prada, Miu Miu and Maryam Nassir Zadeh.
But—because not everyone can or wants to rock a neon green Versace suit like Blake Lively—the color trend made its way into beauty. First it was through hair, when celebrities like SZA, Kim Kardashian and Dua Lipa went for bright shades, then it trickled down to nails, which is decidedly less noticeable but just as cool, as evidenced by Instagram:
Green nails look good running through your hair. They also look good while holding broccoli. As evidenced by pop star Kim Petras, neon green nail polish is so powerful it can even make a french tip cool again. It’s is also a great way to add color to an outfit without overdoing it. Plus, uploading a picture of your green nail manicure means you have an excuse to caption it with every green emoji possible. Finally, the T. Rex and Kiwi emoji can get the respect they deserve. Shop below for the best green nail polish shades for fall 2018.
Photo: OPI
Buy It: OPI Infinite Nail Polish in To The Finish Lime!, $12.50, Amazon
PHOTO: Nordstrom
Buy It: CHANEL Le Vernis Longwear Nail Color in 536 Emeraude, $28, Nordstrom
As great as putting together an elaborate Halloween costume sounds, between the time it takes to DIY and the practice that goes into executing the makeup, it can end up being a lot of effort for just a few hours at a crowded party or sitting at home handing out candy. (But by all means, if you’re the go-all-out type, we’ve got options for you.) For the rest of us, there’s Halloween nails. Our favorite takes on Halloween nail designs this year are basically twists on the trends already big for fall. Think matte blacks, half moons, and shades of orange that aren’t too on the nose, but just enough to get the point across. It’s almost October 31st. Let’s have some fun.
