You may remember that my nail polish quest began with OPI’s Over The Taupe and the current craze for greiges. Since then, this trend has spread from muted minks into any shade vaguely reminiscent of fungus, mould or decay. Zoya’s Kelly is one such colour.
This, of course, makes it sound much yuckier than it is. There’s a reason Kelly has been picked up as a must-have shade by the likes of Vogue, Italian Elle and Daily Candy – it’s beautiful.
A unique blend of slate grey, pewter blue and smoky purple, it’s classically cool, wonderfully wearable and fantastically flattering. It’s the kind of colour I could imagine an aloof Hitchcock heroine wearing, fitted suit and all.
The formula is creamily consistent, richly pigmented and dries to a high-shine gloss. Two coats is pretty perfect and Zoya’s brush continues to do the business for me – somewhere between Essie’s too thin and OPI’s too fat, it’s just right.
I never thought that I’d be declaring grey a totally tempting colour choice for nails, but Kelly is just that. Clean, chic and minimalistic, it manages the trick of being sophisticated and edgy, whilst remaining absolutely alluring from any angle (sometimes pure charcoal, others almost navy blue).
Looks like Kelly lives up to its Hermes handbag namesake – an instant classic. Let the shameless knockoffs roll in!
Looks great with: smart/casual, tweed suits and just about everything else
Drying time: 5 mins
Coats required: 2
Chips: +5 days
Zoya Kelly nail polish, Fall 2010 Wonderful Collection, $80, Cher2
Through The Looking Glass 