Psssst. Are we allowed to mention autumn yet or is it way to soon? We can still enjoy the summer – if the weather decides to pull its socks up – but, it's always good to have an eye on the upcoming trends early, right?
When it comes to autumn mani's things tend to get pretty predictable. Pastels make way for deep plums, hot pink morphes into merlot and sky blues become an inky navy. Sound familiar? And honestly, there's nothing wrong with that (always here for a berry shade). Even though the same edit of shades seem to get wheeled out every autumn, they're a classic for a reason.
If you prefer to stick to timeless shades rather than following fads like awkward gawky green (actually majorly "in" as it happens), there is another way around things.
Instead of moving away from your favoured nail shades, why not mix up the texture? Matte shades aren't just for autumn, but they do work particularly well for the season which is why they re-emerge as a mega trend amongst all our favourite nailfluencers around this time. Think: velvet miniskirts, buttery suede ankle boots and brushed cotton shirts. The same theory applies to nails.
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That said, if you're a shade rebel who wants to get your fingertips stuck into all the cray-cray shades (we salute you), you can use the top-coat trick to take your design to the next level.
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A simple change of top coat – specifically a matte top coat – can add a whole other dimension to nails, taking them from glossy and high-shine to soft, muted and something a bit different.
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Like our favourite battered biker jacket, a matte finish is edgy and alternative, but it also gives a soft, worn feel to our mani, taking it down a notch and making it feel less “done”. And, like our biker, it's also an easy way to toughen up a basic outfit, like a T-shirt and jeans.
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We've spotted nail artist, Iram Shelton, getting the party started early after cracking out the matte polish in a Spring green earlier this year.
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And our nail crush, Julia Diogo (aka @paintedbyjools) created a fresh matte white mani that would look incredible no matter what time of year.
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If you're #blessed at doing your own mani, you can have a go at experimenting with half and half matte nails.
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You could try matte tips...
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...or create a matte base to offset your nail art.
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Whichever way you want to wear it,we've rounded up our favourite matte top-coats to seal the deal.
