I’ve Been Seeing Dark Pedicures Everywhere This Summer
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A few months ago, I had an urge to try a darkpedicure. I am adventurous with my nails but reliably conservative with my toes, sticking to a classic, thin French tip with a single coat of sheer pink for the base. But a singular Pinterest image began calling to me — a photo of a woman wearing flip-flops with brown toenails. I’d had the image saved for a while, maybe a year, but suddenly, it appeared chic, like something I might want to emulate. That’s usually a sign there is something in the trend waters. It’s rare I’m first, even if I’m early. During my next appointment, right before I headed to Antigua, I went with a deep, almost-black cool-toned brown and tested it out on my harshest critic: my little sister. She wasn’t impressed, but I liked it. There’s something edgy about wearing dark colors on toes in the summer, a time that seems to call for light pinks or bright shades. By the end of the trip, I was convinced I was on to something and felt certain that by sporting my own dark toes, I would become more attuned to the color trend I believed was emerging. It didn’t take long before I was seeing dark toenails everywhere.
DuringThe Odysseypress run, Zendaya wore a dark pedicure in a rare open-toe moment, an evolution for the actress, who often wears a nude, bare-looking shade. Then I spotted the fashion writerHeather Hurstwearing a dark-purple shade that I thought looked striking. When I asked her about it, she said she only wears dark polish and cycles between shades of purple and navy but finds dark brown particularly chic. “I just feel that dark brown looks so good with so many summer colors. Dark brown and mint? Dark brown and a bright coral red? Yum.”
During a recent trip to Spain, Madison Utendahl, who writes the newsletterBurnt,sported a dark toe. A few days later, I spotted Ghia founder Mélanie Masarin wearing dark polish on her Euro vacation too. I also noticed that while in Paris, the writerLaTonya Yvettewas rocking dark toes, a dark-but-not-quite-black brown. When I asked Yvette about her tendency toward a dark pedicure, she said it has been an evolution of her 30s. “While I’ve always loved bright colors, my 30s have been about owning my own sexiness without losing some of my mysticism, and something as simple as a darker pedicure does that for me,” she said. Strategist updates coordinator Najwa Jamal has also been experimenting with deeper, richer shades. “I usually circulate between red and some variation of a nude, but starting in February/March, I leaned into my navy-blue cravings,” she says.
Very few people I spoke to had exact shade recommendations. “I literally just pick in the book at the salon. I don’t know the brand name or the color name,” said Utendahl. She, like many others, including myself, gets her pedicures done in a salon. That said, I’ve asked around and looked through hundreds of shades to surface deep-toned nail polishes that fit the bill.
Dark browns
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Hurst says her go-to shade is similar to this color from Essie, which is a very deep coffee brown. It has red undertones, which keeps it from skewing too cool, and looks almost black in certain lighting.
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A little deeper than that but in the same warm-toned family is OPI’s Not Afraid of the Dark.
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For something even darker, Essie also has Take the Espresso. It’s in the brand’s quick-drying Expressie line, which dries in about a minute and doesn’t require a base- or topcoat.
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I also like this cool-toned brown, Spressotini, from one of our favorite long-wearing brands, Olive & June.
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J.Hannah is known for its sophisticated shades. The brand’s darkest brown, Carob, is a rich coffee shade that’s both nontoxic and cruelty free.
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Manucurist is a favorite of senior editor Crystal Martin, who uses the light-curing nail system to DIY a long-wearing manicure at home. This shade, Mocha, from the brand’s Green line, is a deep, cool-toned shade.
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If you’re willing to splurge, this Hermès nail polish, Brun Bistre, is the color of the brand’s signature dark brown.
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Nails.Inc’s Beach collection is an assortment of nudes that contain AHAs, which help smooth and hydrate nails. It also has a wide brush that makes application easier, ideal if you’re new to DIY-ing your manicure.
Dark purples
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This cool dark-plum shade is very nearly black but has added dimension.
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If you’re willing to take a little more time to achieve a long-lasting finish, Dazzle Dry could be a solid option. When three Strategist writers tested it, all of them agreed they achieved chip-free manicures longer. For a very deep purple, there’s Forbidden Passion, which the brand describes as a “sexy, near-black raisin purple.”
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This polish from OPI looks black at first glance but is really a deep eggplant.
Dark blues
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“I deeply dislike pure black or pure white as a polish color, so I do dark blue,” says Jamal. “It’s a perfect medium and very sexy.” She likes this rich deep-navy shade, Caviar Bar, from Essie’s Gel Couture line. The formula is contains chip-resistant technology that mimics the shine and sturdiness of gel polish.
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For an even deeper shade, Essie also makes this blue-black shade, After School Boy Blazer.
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I’m also a fan of this midnight blue from Dior, a stormy blue-gray.
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This one-step polish doesn’t require a base- or topcoat and still provides an ultrashiny finish. Stormy, the brand’s deepest blue, is a purplish-navy.
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