Purple Nail Polish on Olive Skin

Olive skin has a warm cast the bottle never shows you. Something that looks perfectly neutral on a card will usually pull warm — or slightly green — once it’s on your hand.

Start with Espresso violet crème (RAR2018) — cool, near-black violet, and it stands well clear of your skin. 27 of the 29 will read as a real contrast on your hand. If you’d rather go lighter, Soft violet crème (BP67) is more of a lilac.

Change the nail shape and length as you go — the same purple is a different manicure short and round than it is long and stiletto.

The same purples on another skin tone: Pale skin · Fair skin · Tan skin · Brown skin · Dark skin

Or start wider: all purple shades · every color on olive skin