Rock or chic, rules for a successful black manicure

She perfected Sophie Marceau’s carbon fiber look on the front row of the Balenciaga fashion show. It has also been shown on the hands of Ana de Armas at the Louis Vuitton fashion show or on the hands of Clément Poesy at the opening gala of the Opéra Garnier season. Yes, black manicures were all the rage in Paris last month. It must be said that he has a good taste for playing on different tables. he certainly embraces the gothic trend Tim Burton brought up to date in the series. wednesday and the movie Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice. But she refuses to let herself be limited by this role, as evidenced by celebrities who embrace it without hesitation on the red carpet. Sometimes glamorous, sometimes rebellious, she bends desires and styles while maintaining a highly glamorous and desirable potential.

An icon of classic luxury

And not OPI brand manicure expert Alexandra Falba will tell us the opposite. “Generally, during fashion shoots, nail masters one could almost make do with two bottles of nail polish, nude and black. There’s no need to have other colors because these two work with everything (from jeans and sneakers to a formal dress) and everyone. And black also emphasizes jewelry very well, especially massive jewelry.” And if previously nude was loved by celebrities for its simplicity and ease of combination with all looks, then black was able to convince. “Sophie Marceau or Julia Roberts are usually women who wouldn’t wear anything but bare clothes at events like this. But things are changing, and I’m even surprised we don’t see more of it.” It must be said that for an expert, this color stands out as a symbol of classic luxury. “Personally, I wear it half the year.” Especially since you can distinguish pleasures, as he calls “fake blacks”, such as black plum, black blue or the famous black red, the iconic color of Chanel.

Be careful, though, unlike nudes, these dark shades don’t tolerate imperfections. And therefore requires precise and meticulous manicure. “You should not save on the quality of the latter, because it is the type of color that attracts a lot of attention. If we ignore the outline of the nail, if it is not well moisturized or accumulates small wounds or skin, the result can quickly approach the appearance of a “neglected teenager”.

About the importance of preparation

Therefore, the nail specialist recommends starting with treatments. “We take out our moisturizer and apply it to our hands and around the nails every night for at least a week, cutting off small pieces of skin close to the surface. And most importantly, we don’t risk them doing worse rather than better.” We can choose, for example, Shea 20% hand cream from L’Occitane, Matcha hand cream from Kure Bazaar or the iconic Crème Apricot from Dior.

For Alexandra Falba, nail quality is also important. “Black will be beautiful if the finish is very smooth and you get a very shiny mirror effect.” If it turns out that the nail is a little streaky, don’t panic, repair it with special products like OPI’s Repair Mode serum or Manucurist’s Active Smooth. It will cover the nail and therefore compensate for its irregularities. This is especially true of OPI’s Infinite Shine range, which conceals minimal imperfections and promises to last up to ten days, because the pro is a fan of the lady in black.

As for the application, there can be no question of inaccuracy. “If we are not really comfortable, we do not hesitate to make an appointment with a specialist. Especially since the black varnish that is being applied will be hard to touch.”

Focus on the shine

Another tip to ensure the gorgeous side of this onyx color. Show outlines with a chalk line. very precise and linear. “If you do your own manicure, you avoid getting as close to the skin as possible and leave a small space of 1 mm. It will be visually more beautiful than if we try to cover the entire surface of the nail and go over it.” And in order to have a very shiny result, we avoid the satin effect in the same way as we do not ignore the top layer. “You can even reapply it every 2-3 days for a perfect mirror effect.” We also think of gel-effect topcoats like Kilo Milano, Essie, Yves Rocher or Korres.

On the other hand, Alexandra Falba remains categorical. it’s an unforgiving shade over time. “In the first flake, we remove it. If we don’t consciously assume a grunge look.” To find an easily neutral nail, we take inspiration from this technique nail artist backstage, where you have to go quickly. “Using makeup remover or hydrophilic cotton, we saturate the pieces or balls with nail polish remover, which we place on each nail for 10-20 seconds to soften the polish. Then we start again with a very wet cotton disc, which we press for 5 seconds. At the end, we pull it in one direction, towards the tip of the nail. With this technique, there is no risk of the skin of the fingers being covered with varnish.

And no more excuses (finally) to flaunt this easy-to-wear color.