How to wear the new nude nail

Natural Selection

Going for a buff nail look doesn't mean you have to bare all your finger flaws. At the Altuzarra show, Butter London rep and celebrity manicurist Katie Hughes simply used a flesh-tone basecoat to smooth out ridges and create a perfectly uniform and natural-looking nail color. "It's like BB cream for the nails," says Hughes, who finished the look with a subtly glossy top coat.

SHOP NOW: Butter London Nail Foundation Flawless Basecoat, $18

Think Pink

Carolina Herrera's collection was all about lightness and fluidity, with looks in beautiful chiffon, organza, tulle and twill. She kept her models' manicures equally elegant and feminine with a tried-and-true color: Essie Adore-a-Ball polish, a sheer soft pink that works with all skin tones. Use two coats to get an almost-opaque finish.

SHOP NOW: Essie Adore-a-Ball nail polish, $8

Cream of the Crop

Dashing Diva nail salons now offer a new ColorFX manicure service in which sticker-like appliqués are applied to nails, then quickly cured with a gel top coat. The benefits are a high-gloss, completely opaque finish that lasts for up to two weeks. At the Elie Tahari presentation, models' nails were impressed with Dashing Diva ColorFx in Watch My Milkshake, a pale ivory.

SHOP NOW: Dashing Diva ColorFx in-salon service, $30

Strike Gold

Need a neutral nail look worthy of your most glam ensemble? At the Houghton runway show, models wore one coat of OPI Don't Pretzel My Buttons nail lacquer, a creamy, opaque neutral topped with a generous coat of the limited-edition OPI The Man With the Golden Gun top coat, which is laced with glittering flecks of gold.

SHOP NOW: OPI Don't Pretzel My Buttons Nail Lacquer, $9; The Man With the Golden Gun top coat, $30

Nudes You Can Use

Nailing a nude look means finding just the right shade for your skin tone. Celebrity manicurist Jenna Hipp collaborated with RGB to create the HIPPxRGB Nail Foundation collection, a group of four creamy, full-coverage nude lacquers that not only correct and perfect your nails, but are also designed to match specific skin tones, from very light to deep dark. Models at the Lulu Frost spring 2013 accessories presentation wore shade F1 (very fair to light).

SHOP NOW: HIPPxRGB Nail Foundation, $16 each

Welcome Matte

Molten shades are still sizzling for spring, but even hotter is this low-shine, luxe gold nail look at Richard Chai's show. Indie nail brand Julep created this unique effect using their gold metallic Sienna nail polish, muted with a swipe of Suede Matte top coat. Not only is the texture new and interesting, but the shade is wearable on all skin tones since it's not too light, not too dark. 

SHOP NOW: Julep Sienna Nail Vernis and Suede Matte top coat, $14 each

Gray Area

"While soft nails are a clear trend for spring, I wanted to put a unique twist on this classic look," says celebrity nail pro Jin Soon Choi. At the Theyskens' Theory show, she first applied her own JINsoon polish in Muse, a sheer pink that works on every skin tone, then topped with a coat of JINsoon polish in Auspicious, a dirty-gray lavender.

SHOP NOW: JINsoon polish in Muse and Auspicious, $18 each

Sweetly Sexy

Masculine silhouettes at the Tocca spring show were softened up with feminine beauty touches, like this soft, shell-pink manicure, created with Priti NYC Dutch Baby Dahlia polish. The resulting look is confident, classic and cool.

SHOP NOW: Priti NYC Dutch Baby Dahlia, $14

Great "Greige"

The main theme at the Topshop show was androgyny; what better way to blur gender lines than with a buff nail look? Models' talons were filed down, shaped and coated with Topshop Make Up Nails in Nice 'n' Neutral, a taupe brown with a hint of gray. The trick to making brown look glamorous and not muddy? Avoid shades that have too much yellow in them, which can make hands look chalky, says makeup artist Sonia Kashuk.

SHOP NOW: Topshop Make Up Nails in Nice 'n' Neutral, $10, available in stores or through personal shopping at 212-966-9455

Spun Sugar

One of the sweetest nude nail looks spied backstage was at Christian Siriano's show. Manicurist Angi Wingle used CND Grapefruit Sparkle from the brand's new polish line debuting in the spring. This glimmering opaque pink looks as light and airy as cotton candy with a deliciously frosty finish. Our mouths will be watering until its launch date in March 2013.