When doing our nails for the holidays, there are a few looks we gravitate toward: festive red, evergreen, white sparkles and maybe a gold or icy blue thrown in here and there. But there's a new trend in town, and this is one you're going to want to get your hands on -- literally.
Though the relative idea was popular around 2012, velvet nails have seen a resurgence, thanks to Instagram and Los Angeles-based nail artist Amy Le. Her posts showing off her velvet manicures have been spotlighted by many a beauty blog and publication for their shimmer, shine and texture.
In actuality, there isn't any texture to this manicure (in other words, it won't feel like tacky adhesives are stuck to your nail beds), but some fancy-pants polish and good lighting gives the nails that velvety-soft look that, with the right color scheme, screams holiday cheer.
While Le posted a tutorial for how she achieved the nail look via her Patreon page (which comes with a subscription fee), we did a little research and found out you can do it yourself! You may not get the same, salon-worthy results, but it's all about finding the right kind of polish, using a five-star top coat and using light to your advantage.
You can, for example, turn to Zoya's MatteVelvet line. Though it seems like this is just a basic matte polish, their product shots do reflect a very velvety finish. Their colors are oh-so seasonal, too.
We'd try the Zoya Honor and Iris MatteVelvet ($10 each).
Some manicurists have also had success with Think of Nail polish, a Korean brand that makes the perfect glitter polish. We bow before K-beauty, so it's a good bet.
The real star of the show, though, is flocking nail powder. It can be a little hard to find, but the powder application lends itself nicely to the velvet look you're after. Luckily, there are some options on Amazon, Etsy and at some other smaller retailers.