At first, even the thought of picking a special nail polish to match your jewellery or vice versa seems like a very impractical whim. However, this is exactly what is meant by “the smallest details can make the biggest difference”, this time in terms of style. This does not mean that you have to change your manicure every time you wear a different ring or a bracelet. Instead, by following a few simple tips you can come up with a couple of general ideas for balancing your look, which will be easy and pleasant to perform later on.
Naturalness and moderation
In some cases, too much attention to your jewellery or hands is somewhat irrelevant, for example in a bride’s outfit, in the office, or on a first date. For underlining the natural beauty of your hands and a plain ring, using a simple pattern in a natural colour is best. Pink polish looks very soft and feminine, perfectly matches and rings from white metal or rose gold. Jewellery pieces with pearls would also be a good match for such manicures. For a more interesting design decorate your nails with a polish matching the colour of the metal of the piece.
Balance of originality
Expressive rings with a unique design or large forms look good when combined with a simple manicure. Natural colour of your nails will direct the attention of onlookers to the unique piece. Don’t spend too much time on drawing intricate pictures and designs on your nails either. If the ring has a very active form, the most you should do is experiment with the colour of the nail polish. With complex rings without any gems you can try wearing a bright hue to add some colour to the appearance of your hands.
Classic polish colours and maximalism in jewellery
With one, two, or three simple small jewellery pieces it’s easier to choose an appropriate pattern and colour for the manicure, while when wearing more than four rings or big statement pieces such as rings with massive gems or wide bracelets with figurines it’s hard not to look kitsch. The best polish colour in this situation is a classic wine red or simple black. Another easy way to ‘fit in’ such jewellery pieces with your outfit is to select a nail polish in the same colour. This trick usually works really well with bulky and large jewellery, for example, wide bracelets. And if you want to wear a big statement ring with large gems or similar colour palettes, the best nail polish colour to choose is the same one as the gems.
The gem is the gem
Rings with large gems look very attractive and underline the elegance of a female hand. It’s a very active accessory which attracts a lot of attention. Such piece should be the only one on a hand. A large gem is a character and doesn’t need any unnecessary background. The manicure for such a ring should be chosen with great care. The best combination is a ring with a big gem of darker shades and nails in tone with it. When choosing a nail polish for jewellery you need to focus on the colour palette of the gem. A perfect match for amethyst is a dark purple polish, for rubies it’s a wine colour. If the end result is to create a neutral background, pick a natural coloured polish or make a simple French tip.
Accentuating the nail
There are situations where you want to draw attention to the ring itself. For example, a woman who just got engaged might want to focus the attention on her new relationship status. In such situation, you could do a manicure with an accent nail. Unique and bold pieces need matching designs too. The pattern on the accent nail in that case might repeat the geometrical shapes of the ring or underline the colours of the piece, following the bends and curves of the accessory.
What you might want to avoid
The hardest nail polishes to match are of bright neon colours. Wearing a lot of metal bracelets and rings as well as having an attention-grabbing manicure will make your hands the centre of attention. If the rest of your outfit permits such an expressive gesture, go with it, but if there are prints, it’s best to stick with a neutral-coloured polish. It’s also important to remember the simple rules of colour combinations, for example between two metallic hues of two bright colours together: silver and grey polishes are hard to seamlessly combine with golden jewellery pieces. The same goes for garish polishes and loud colourful jewellery.
