In early September, “toffee nails” were shaping up to be the it-manicure for fall, as forecasted by two of the top celebrity nail-fluencers, Hailey Bieber and Selena Gomez.
Dubbed “toffee nails” by Selena’s manicurist Tom Bachik, the Only Murders in the Building actor showed off her custom autumnal manicure at the Telluride Film Festival the same week Hailey declared herself “ready for fall” with a custom warm, butterscotch-toffee shade by manicurist Zola Ganzorigt. “Can’t tell you exact color [sic] because we mixed 5 different colors 🤎,” Zola wrote on the 3rd of September.
The message was clear: Summer is over and autumn nail trends are back.
Now that we’re mid-way through October, however, both Selena and Hailey seem ready to embrace a more subtle take on the autumn mani. After jumping between toffee, coffee chrome, and apple cider nails in September, Selena debuted “vanilla chai nails” in New York City in early October.
Tom has been favouring “skin tone-matching” shades on multiple clients the past few weeks, using shades like Kokoist USA’s Apricot Satin and Mia Secret’s Gelux Gel Polish in Natural to achieve the look for Selena, Après Gel Couleur in Forgotten Film for Jennifer Lopez, and Après Nail’s Quiet Table for Hailee Steinfeld.
“I would describe vanilla chai nails as a high-glossed, semi-opaque beigey nude,” Tom told GLAMOUR earlier this month. “The colour should be a shade lighter than your skin tone, matching the highlights, as this allows nails to stand out but remain deliberately understated.”
Zola seems to be on the same page when it comes to clients like Sabrina Carpenter, Kylie Jenner, and Sydney Sweeney — though the nail artist remains devoted to her signature “glazed donut” finish. The latest to come on board the vanilla chai train? Hailey Bieber, who debuted a chrome version of the look on the 9th of October.