In early September, “toffee nails” were shaping up to be the it-manicure for fall, as forecasted by two of the top celebrity nail-fluencers, Hailey Bieber and Selena Gomez.
Dubbed “toffee nails” by Gomez’s manicurist Tom Bachik, the Only Murders in the Building actor showed off her custom autumnal manicure at Telluride Film Festival the same week Bieber declared herself “ready for fall” with a custom warm, butterscotch-toffee shade by manicurist Zola Ganzorigt. “Can’t tell you exact color because we mixed 5 different colors,” Ganzorigt wrote on September 3.
The message was clear: Summer is over, fall nail trends are back.
Now that we’re mid-way through October, however, both Gomez and Bieber seem ready to embrace a more subtle take on the fall mani. After jumping between toffee, coffee chrome, and apple cider nails in September, Gomez debuted “vanilla chai nails” in New York City in early October.
Bachik has been favoring “skin tone-matching” shades on multiple clients the past few weeks, using shades like Kokoist USA’s Apricot Satin and Mia Secret’s Gelux Gel Polish in Natural to achieve the look for Gomez, Après Gel Couleur in Forgotten Film for Jennifer Lopez, and Après Nail’s Quiet Table for Hailee Steinfeld.
“I would describe vanilla chai nails as high-glossed, semi-opaque beigey nude,” Bachik told Glamour earlier this month. “The color should be a shade lighter than your skin tone matching the highlights, as this allows nails to stand out but remain deliberately understated.”