The Nude Brigade

It’s been the secret style statement of the fashion and beauty elite for years. But are you ready to bare all..?

- Becci Vallis

Piercings, glitter dust, acrylics… when was the last time you really looked at your naked nail? Not a brief glance between chiselling off one coat of Shellac and layering on another. Not a cursory peep as you decide which novelty artwork to have airbrushed on. No, a long knowing look. If you did, you might find this: nails splitting at the ends, nails with cuticles gnarlier than a rose bush or, God forbid, nails that emit the sort of mustard glow that looks like you’ve been puffing on Marlboro Lights since you left the womb. The goodnews? The only nail hue you need this season is the one you were born with. Naked nails are back. And we’ve got one man to thank for it. 

Bastien Gonzalez is the prince of podiatry* and the man who has made a career out of convincing women that natural, buffed nails are the height of chic. He is the man who celebrities (Naomi Campbell, Gwyneth Paltrow, Cate Blanchett) go to to fix problem digits. He’s so fully booked in NYC he has had to stop taking on new clients, and has a waiting list of two months at his London clinic. Back in Paris, he’s the man responsible for crafting the peachy pink, smooth, effortlessly chic paint-free nails of the fashion elite (you’ll never see Anna Wintour or Emmanuelle Alt rocking colour). His point? “They focus on less is more. It’s fine to enjoy colour or nail art for fun moments, but nails are organs of protection, and even a nude polish will cause aggression on the bed. It’s simple – how long do you keep make-up on your face? You don’t; you take it off. To get beautiful shiny nails you need to stop painting them.”