Without a Doubt, This "Sickly" Nail Color Is Going to Eclipse All Others
If you ask me, mauve is probably one of the most deeply misunderstood colors just in life, but especially so as it pertains to nail polish. Like puce (which is actually a dark purple-brown-red situation), glaucous (a powdery blue-gray), wenge (an earthy wooden brown), and plenty more, mauve really gets the short end of the stick where potential is concerned, and it sounds a lots less divine than it actually is. Maybe because it sounds like moth? (Honestly, I have no idea, but I don't think I'm alone here, right?) It just doesn't roll off the tongue or sound quite as exotic as other beloved hues like turquoise, lilac, or magenta.
Technically speaking, "mauve" is categorized as a pale shade of purple named after the mallow flower. Many people assume it's more dishwatery and gray than it actually is, and up until recently, it hasn't been a super-popular pick on the nail spectrum. However, I've noticed more and more nail polish brands launching iterations of the "sickly" shade, and it's inarguably gaining momentum as far as trending colors go. Of course, like all colors, there's a spectrum within the mauve family, and some will be more flattering than others depending on your skin tone and typical shade MO.
We like to be ahead of the crowd here at WWW, so below, you'll find our handpicked selection of mauve nail colors sure to suit every palette. Keep scrolling! You'll definitely want to snatch up two or three.
I honestly get frenetic whenever I enter Base Coat's polish shop. The formulas are just about as nontoxic as you can get (10-free), and the colors are just so, so good. I literally want every bottle, but while we're on the topic of mauve … This juicy color currently has my eye.
A prismatic, fast-drying, and pearly pink mauve, Sally Hansen's formula called Glow Getter rounds out our list of the best mauve nail colors money can buy.
Up next, 9 Pretty Valentine's Day Manicure Ideas That Aren't Cheesy
Erin has been writing a mix of beauty and wellness content forBest Knockoff Luxury Clothing for over five years. Prior to that, she spent two and half years writing for Byrdie. She now calls Santa Monica home but grew up in Minnetonka, Minnesota, and studied writing, rhetoric, and communication at University of Wisconsin, La Crosse. She studied abroad in Galway, Ireland, and spent a summer in L.A. interning with the Byrdie andBest Knockoff Luxury Clothing family. After graduating from UW, she spent one year in San Francisco, where she worked as a writer for Pottery Barn Kids and PBteen before moving down to L.A. to begin her career as a beauty editor.
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