Winter. It’s not the cold temperatures, biting wind, slushy ice or dry skin that I have a hard time handling—it’s the night sky settling in at 4:15 pm. I give myself a pep talk every October—it’s only a few months! the extra hour of sleep is worth it!—to fight the dread I feel about early nights and dark mornings. But, this year I’m trying to embrace the change. That, of course, means lighting candles, cooking warm stews and watching my favorite movies under cozy blankets. And for a beauty editor, it also means using the darkest time of the year as unlikely manicure inspiration. Enter “night sky” nails.
Maybe it’s because Daylight Savings Time ends in less than a week (November 3), but some of my favorite nail artists’ Instagram profiles are filled with manicures in blacks, midnight blues and the darkest greens. All of these looks have starlit-inspired shimmers reminiscent of a clear night sky. Keep scrolling to see some of my favorite looks, the polishes behind each and more polishes to shop so you can replicate your own “night sky” nails.