Do you think nail varnish colour says something about you?

[Giraffe5]

I am very conscious when wearing colour on my nails. I either go pale pink or very dark but am conscious when I wear red.

Is it just me?

Essie No More Film is my favourite (almost navy). I stick to dark colours in winter. I struggle with nail varnish in the summer as I hate pale pinks and peachy colours.

I like dark, shiny or glittery...currently nails are short, boxy, gellished with a dark pewter with a slight metallic look

I do not like my nails in pastel colours I feel like they belong to a stranger

I also am very fond of a accent nail, or an assortment of colours :o

I love bright colours on other people
(especially on short, tidy nails) but as soon as I paint mine with anything other than clear varnish I suddenly feel like I have big man hands and that I'm just 'playing' at being a properly groomed lady!!

My job prevents me from wearing nail varnish/any individuality normally, but I'm on mat leave at the mo and really should be making the most of it.

What do you think about chipped nail varnish? I only applied my dark on Friday and already have a few chips. I'll remove it in the morning as I won't go out with chipped nail varnish if I can avoid it

Belly I do have big man hands and weirdly wide thumbs, which is partly why I don't usually do my fingernails - I feel like it just emphasises how un-petite my hands are. The other reason is that I do a lot with my hands all day (work, housework, and hobbies all full-on hands!) and it chips very fast.

On my toes to stop them chipping I use a clear top coat and kind of "wrap" it around the ends of the nails so the colour is sealed inside.

I am not keen on chipped varnish, so I either paint mine or touch them up pretty much every day. A good base and topcoat help. I painted mine a new colour last night, tonight I'll do an extra layer of colour then a topcoat, then tomorrow either the same again or take them off and re-do. I don't have kids though, so I appreciate that I have time to play with.

Don't do reds or pinks here. Mostly dark purple/berry/black/dark blue etc and sometimes silver or gold. Nails always short and neat.

Apparently China Glaze do an amazing base coat (self-adhesive something or other?) and people rave about Seche Vite as a top coat. The key to the latter is applying it in a thick layer while the nail varnish is still tacky.

I love darker shades, especially berry tones, though I do like a deep navy too. My skin is very pale, and light polish just seems to wash me out. Unfortunately I work in a restaurant, and all the hand washing means it never lasts very long so I mostly don't bother.

I'm reading this in awe (and slight envy).

I don't know what I'm doing wrong, but I cannot make nail polish last without chips for longer than a couple of hours. Literally. And I think it looks vile as soon as its chipped.

I don't know where I'm going wrong. I have an office job, I'm not exactly digging ditches with them, FFS

Therefore I wear nothing but clear!

I like any colour on a short tidy nail. I tend to only wear red about Christmas time. My every day colour Summer and Winter is usually black. I'm a right misery so probably says a lot about me. Today I'm wearing Rimmel Bestivsl which is a bright cornflower blue. It was sunny last week but weather turning autumnal here. Back to black

I don't know if it does say anything about me but I always have brightly coloured nails (pink, red, purple, blue, green, turquoise etc).

I have experimented with pastels and nudes but my nails don't feel like mine

I also always have an accent nail on my ring finger and often glitter features somewhere - the brighter and sparklier the better!

I have a professional job but as I have gel polish put on by a beautician, they always look neat, no chips etc so they look smart.

I have attached a couple of examples

I do mine as almost a therapeutic task, in front of the telly. My nail stuff and the humungous box of varnishes I have live in the front room.

I find some polishes are really rotten for chipping, and it isn't always the cheapo ones either. I've some Barry M ones which last nearly a week without topcoat (I don't often bother with top or under coats) and then some pricey Revlon ones which look crap after one day or so. Seche Vite chemically sets the varnish, but that means it can also peel off very easily!

I am in awe of the art. I can't do beyond dots with a hairpin end...I do like a glitter accent finger though.

I had a Seche Vite peeling moment last week. I was gutted!

Yes love Barry M. I've just bought red black and it looks amazing - not put it on yet.

My more expensive weaknesses are Essie and Zoya which are also good for not chipping.

I agree it's very therapeutic putting it on.

Yes it is. I'm doing mine just now. So relaxing.

I wear all colours except those vile beige/greige/taupe/mink nudes. Awful. And I do my own nail art.

I think I have almost every Essie nail varnish, I am slightly obsessed. I bought 18 in the US this summer . I love a neutral colour on my fingernails - Essie's Spin the Bottle is one I buy again and again.

Seche Vite peels off my nails. Essie do a really good new top coat.

I do my nails (feet and hands) every week without fail. I find it really relaxing and I am very good at it. I keep my nails short - can't bear to look at long or fake nails. (I have a colleague that has hers done in gels - long and square with all that glittery stuff with one nail different. They are chavvy naff imo.)

Isn't it funny how we all have different preferences - I love greige, beige, taupe, mink, etc etc. I think they look really smart and quite sophisticated if they're done well and with the right outfit. I really want a moss green or khaki or something in that vein for winter.

As far as what your nail varnish says about you, I dunno. I wouldn't wear something that doesn't feel like me that'd be about me and not what others might think or read into it.

Sigh, missed out a 'but' in there - let's play spot the poorly constructed sentence

I'm just applying Barry m raspberry. But bold and bright for me. I like it but bit conscious how it looks but enjoying wearing it

Holger I hope I didn't offend! I just think those shades can look a bit corpse-like on some skin tones, and when they were very fashionable everyone seemed to wear them without noticing that they just didn't suit them, in the same way colours of clothing might not. I can't pull off bright yellow, certain shades of peach and most mid to light purples on my nails.

I think I must have most Barry M ones by now. I haven't counted for a while but I reckon I must have around 150 total now

Oh no not at all I just mentioned it as a matter of interest.

As it happens I don't wear those colours much although I am planning to incorporate them more as my current wardrobe is more workable with those shades. But I love them on other people as long as the suit skin tone and so on.

It's kind of the same as those nude/taupe bags. I love them when they're done right. But it's not often someone gets it just right, and they can look really cheap and nasty if it's not quite right (IMO).

After seeing my sister in law in a grey varnish (a colour I would never have chosen) I tried it out and really like it. Had it on my toes for the summer too!