I am one of those gals who NEVER has bare nails. While I often go a little more sporty with my clothing, I tend to still want my little nails shiny and polished.
I love, love the look of it…and the pop of color…and that sheen. My nails never grow long either, so pretty, short, polished nails are just my jam.
Trending Colors For Cute Fall Nails
And I thought the other day…there’s no better time than right now — heading into fall — to jazz up the ole polish collection and try out some new tones. (Like, spoiler alert, this one that’s my favorite!)
Did anyone see Kat DIY her nails the other day on Instagram? Color me so impressed. I went to art school, and I’m not sure I could be that patient with polish or do that fab of a job. If you are totes into DIY like she is, check out some of these manicures my assistant Nova rounded up. So cute! I personally love the blue tips and am always down for a pretty palette nail.
My friend and I recently tried out this no-light required It Takes Two gel polish duo from Sally Hansen, and it’s so far lasted me almost three days with no chips. Sweet. I’ll pop a photo below of the color we chose. It’s a little less fall-inspired, but a fun color nonetheless! OK, but now for fall nail shades…

01 | Essie tug at the harpstrings
Classic, but not too blue or too orange. SUCH a great red!
02 | OPI yes my condor can-do
I’m such a fan of dark purply shades for fall, and this is a great one. A dark shade always look so chic. I swear they look shinier, too.
03 | Sally Hansen leaf me be
This may be my favorite of the bunch. This green is beautiful…very dark and with some gray in it, so it doesn’t lean too yellow or too blue. Green is sometimes hard to wear, but this would look great on everyone.
04 | OPI olive green
I have this shade and love it. While it might be a little trickier to wear than the darker green, it’s still a fab shade for fall and goes great with earth tones and black.
05 | Essie slate blue
Well this is a gorgeous color. I can say that since I didn’t choose these, haha. So wearable and muted, but still interesting. A pretty neutral with just a bit of blue color for a tiny splash of fun? Heh.
06 | Sally Hansen blushed petal
SO pretty. I love an earthy pink for fall, and this one is probably the most wearable of the bunch. This would also be the easiest to DIY since lighter shades tend to be more forgiving when putting them on. So pretty, and has an argan oil base…hmm! Sounds more hydrating. I’m interested to try this line out. *This one seems to be going in and out of stock. I’m adoring this shade Eiffel In Love for a super-similar, slightly more muted pink.
Shop Our Fav Fall Nail Shades
One More Manicure Inspo Pic
This is the Sally Hansen It Takes Two Miracle Gel Duo in Sugar Fix. While it isn’t the smoothest application, so far it hasn’t chipped at all, so I’m impressed. I’m a sometimes-salon-mani gal and sometimes DIY at home, so these are great to have in my stash for between visits. This dried quickly, too, making it an easy quick fix when you don’t have loads of time to dedicate to just…sitting…still. Which I am decidedly not good at.
Nail Polish | Similar Watch Band | Bracelets | Fav Pants
I’ve also been loving trying out the various stick-on gel manicures lately, too, like these at Target in a similar earthy pink like the polish above. Has anyone tried that specific Dashing Diva brand? I go back and forth between thinking painting is easier and nail stickers are easier…I’ve had a review post on my to-do list forever, so hopefully I can get to that soon!
As usual, drop any favorite manicures or polish colors in the comments so we can continue to be inspired!
xo,
L
Would love to have you follow me over on Instagram @laurajansenstyle for more rad fashion picks, kitchen dance parties, donut reviews and a side of taking things not too seriously, all from Portland, OR.