Grey Nail Polish- Matte, OPI, Dark, Light & Essie Ideas

Thinking of doing, cool yet stunningly beautiful manicure? Grey nail polish is the way to go. Read on to find ideas on the shades of grey such as matte, dark, bright, blue, gunmetal in addition to the popular brands reviews- Essie and OPI.

Grey Nails

Grey nail polish is that neutral to cool shade that resembles the natural shades of stone, mortar, street grey, gunmetal, grey sky weather and other similar shades.

Since gray is not a bright color, it is appropriate for cold autumn or winter months and suits almost any color of outfit—this is the reason why older women aged 35 are frequently spotted with this shade, although younger women may sport this as well. 

It’s not an eye-catching color but it looks very elegant and polished on any nail and never looks cheap or too pretentious. If you want to make sure that your nails looks polished and elegant in any outfit color, this shade is ideal.

Matte Grey Nails Ideas

Matte grey nail polish is a very popular shade of grey as it copies the “cement” matte stone look and looks very interesting in pale skin with pink undertones.  Some matte grey polish shades and brands you could try out are:

• Avon magic effects in Cement. A good formula with a matte yet silky smooth finish that truly resembles the famous cement look. On the downside, the bottle of this is smaller comparing to other brans but it still enough for at least 3 applications and costs less than 6 dollars.
• Zoya ZP778 in TOVE. A true slate grey shade with satin matte finish that looks matte without looking too dry. Retails for $10-12 a bottle.
• Opi Metro Chic Nail Polish. A beautiful gray shade with very subtle pink undertones that has a semi-matte shine. Topped with matte top coat, the polish can last up to 10 days.

How to apply matte nail polish:

The application is the same with any ordinary nail polish color but if the nail polish still has a sheen to it that doesn’t look totally matte, you can achieve a long-lasting matte finish by applying matte top coat on top. Opi’s matte top coat and Sally Hansen’s Big Matte Top coat are great for this purpose.

OPI Grey Nail Polish

Opi nail polish brand is generally favored by online nail bloggers although some colors may perform better than others. Currently, OPI has more than 6 greys in their color palette and there are seasons where it launches limited edition grey shades such as the “fifty shades of grey”. The most popular OPI grey nail polish shades and their respective reviews are:

• OPI Cement The Deal. A true cement shade with a semi-glossy finish from the “50 shades of grey colletion”.  Both the shade and its formula have achieved a 4.8/5 star high score among online beauty review sites like MakeUpAlley and Amazon.
• OPI Embrace the Grey. Another beautiful shade from the “50 shades of grey collection” that’s very popular, with the majority of online reviewers giving it a 4.6-5 star score.
• OPI Staying Neutral. A light to medium grey shade with light nude brown undertones, perfect for getting that look that goes with anything. Although, this has a lower review score than the previous OPI grey shades due to some minor formula issues (on average 3.8-4 stars), it still a quite popular and useable shade.
• OPI Taupe-less Beach. A grey taupe shade with subtle nude brown/beige undertones that’s perfect for any season and matches almost any outfit. The shade has received a 4.5/5 star score in ulta.com and a similar score in other beauty review websites.

Essie Grey Nail Polish

Essie grey nail polishes are also very popular, especially in the U.S adult female population. If you want to explore some Essie grey shades, here are some ideas:

• Essie Grinchilly. A sleek granite shade that is a top seller among the grey shade collection of Essie with an average score of 4.9/5 star rating.
• Sew Psyched. A sage pewter grey shade that’s perfect for autumn and winter rainy months and any occasion and outfit. The formula has a cashmere soft glossy finish and lasts over 5 days, with an average user score of 4.8-5 stars.

Light Grey Nail Polish Ideas

Light grey nails are great for light to medium cool skin tones. If you want to try out some light gray nail polishes, here are some ideas:

• Nars Grey Matter. A perfect light grey shade with no obvious color undertones that almost looks like cloud in a light rainy day. Available at Sephora, Nars official online store and other big beauty retailers.
• Ciate paintponts in shade Soda Light Gray. A beautiful glossy shade with very subtle nude beige undertones that looks great on any skin tone and color outfit.

Dark Grey Nail Polish Ideas

If you want to create an interesting and more dramatic contrast with your natural skin color, perhaps you should try out a dark grey nail polish. Some dark grey shades you could try out are:

• Essie Smoking Hot. A dark grey shade with purple undertones that almost resemble the shade of smoke, after something gets burnt. This has a satin glossy finish and looks nicely opaque and even with just 1 or two strokes.
• NYX nail polish in Dark Grey. As its name suggests, this is a true dark grey smokey color with no obvious undertones. The polish sells for $6 or less per bottle and although its quality doesn’t totally match up with more expensive brands, it’s still a good option for its money.
• China Glaze Concrete Catwalk. An elegant dark grey cement shade with a nail hardening formula for breakage-resisting nails.

Blue Grey Nail Polish Ideas

Blue grey nail polish makes an interesting spin on ordinary grey nail polish as its blue hues almost resemble blue-gray denims. To get this blue-gray denim like look, here are some ideas:

• Icing in Icing Queen. A dark grey blue shade with a satin semi-matte finish.
• China Glaze in Sea Spray. A frosty light grey shade with pastel blue undertones.
• BK blue grey

Gunmetal Grey Nail Polish

Gunmetal is a metallic shade that is very “in” fashion this year. To sport the metallic trend with a grey gunmetal shade, here are some ideas:

• Sally Hansen Xtreme wear nail polish in shade Gunmetal. A true metallic gunmetal shade with tiny silver bits that brightens up any skin color.
• Opi Espresso Holiday Glow. A special holiday shade with silver specs and a frosty metallic finish.

Originally posted 2021-01-04 17:22:03.