I've been slightly obsessed with the idea of silver nails ever since Lynnie posted about Chanel's catwalk silver manicure back in February. I'm usually a fan of dark, glossy shades on my own nails, but the clean, futuristic look on the models' nails drew me in. Sadly, the shade Chanel used was a limited edition that was no longer available and so the idea went out of my head.
And then I came across Gosh cosmetics nail polish in Silver, €8.50, as I browsed the shelf in my local chemist and that image from the Chanel show came back to me. Would I be able to pull off the smooth silver look with it? Well at that price I was certainly going to try.
I didn't know if I'd be able to get the smooth, polished finish they managed at Chanel as Gosh Silver looks more metallic and textured in the bottle. I knew this shade was one where I'd definitely need a basecoat - metallics can be really hard to remove when applied directly to a naked nail. My first attempt involved two layers of Silver, but I've since decided this looked too heavy on my nails, so read on to see the results with one coat of Silver applied over a base coat.
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Try as I might, I just can't get it to look as smooth as the Chanel nails, but then I didn't really think I would. I do quite like it on me, though I still think dark glossy shades are more flattering against my skintone. I actually think the Silver may be more flattering during winter, when it will contrast against darker, heavier clothes. In warm summer light it can tend to look a bit too pale and frosty on me, but indoors in low light it looks much better (and yes, I'm aware that it sounds like I'm trying to convince myself that I like it here, but I do see it as very much a "going-out" shade for myself).
I get the best finish if I apply one coat, but make sure to have a good bit of polish on the brush when applying it. The finish can be uneven if I wipe too much of the polish off the brush when applying, so I place a drop of polish onto the nail with the brush to begin with and then spread it out with the brush to get the most even result. The resulting silver manicure may not be Chanel, but I like it anyway.
I do recommend trying to be as neat as possible in applying a shade like this, as it doesn't clean easily off finger tips and cuticles. This also means it's not the easiest shade to remove - the metallic formula requires a bit of patience and effort, but try soaking a cotton pad in remover and pressing it down over the nail for 30 seconds to soften the polish before wiping it off and it makes it a bit easier.
