Apparently this nail colour can boost your confidence

It’s time to go back to black

Holly Berckelman

3 min read

November 7, 2023 - 2:01PM

Are you ready to embrace your dark feminine with black nail theory? Image: Pinterest

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Next time you’re weighing up colour choices for a manicure, we suggest laying down the metallics and pastels and sticking with what you know. Black nail theory states sleek black nails will not only look good, but boost your confidence into the next realm.

If you’ve spent any time on TikTok this past year, you’ve probably come across the concept of ‘red nail theory’.

Coined by creator Robyn DelMonte (@girlbosstown), the ‘theory’ states that when women wear red nail polish, it makes men pay attention.

It was a concept based on her own anecdotal experience, but after posting the video, DelMonte was hit with an influx of messages with people citing the same phenomenon.

Be it a compliment specifically on the colour, increased attention generally, or a torrent of date invitations, the women were certain that when they wore red, they were in business.

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According to DelMonte, red nail theory comes back, as many things do, to mommy issues. Namely, a certain nostalgia associated with the colour.

“In the ’90s when we were growing up, women had red nails a lot, especially like our moms,” she said in the video. “And I weirdly think guys are attracted to red nails because it reminds them of their moms when they were growing up taking care of them.”

Freudian messaging aside, there is something to be said for colour theory when it comes to what we wear, on our bodies or our faces. Thus, TikTok creators have taken it upon themselves to issue in a new era: red nail theory’s dark and twisted little sister: black nail theory.

Black nail theory states that when you coat your claws in black polish, you lean into your ‘dark feminine energy’, which is not only sultry and alluring, but also makes you more confident.

Hailey Bieber flirts with a black nail every now and then. Image: Instagram

According to colour theory, certain shades do have the power to affect our emotions and state of mind. Omar Sabré, the creative director of luxury leather goods brand Maison de Sabré, says, colour “is considered one of the most powerful tools to convey certain feelings and emotions. So the same could be said in what we wear.”

While red is often attributed with passion, love and romance, according to colour theory, black is linked to power, elegance, mystery and sophistication. The thinking is that when you don black on your nails – without frills, patterns or any other embellishments – you embody those connotations, which others can detect.

Just as it did with red nails, beauty TikTok instantly assembled in support of the new iteration, swearing their allegiance to dark, feminine talons.

One person commented, “My personal black nail theory is that it makes you way more productive. I swear I get so much done when I paint my nails black and put on a musky perfume”

Another wrote “Yesssss black is deadly and comforting”, while one said “Stop i feel like i pulled so much with black nails”.

@janell.roberts
Forget the red nail theory ….Have you heard about the black nail theory? #blacknails #rednailtheory #nails #fypシ゚viral
♬ original sound - Jay

While the jury is out on whether black nails actually make people think you’re mysterious and powerful – or whether you’re just cosplaying as a guest at the 2018 ‘Heavenly Bodies’ Met Gala – there is something to be said for nails that go against the norm.

For the last 20-odd years, black nails haven’t been at the front and centre of the beauty zeitgeist. Pastels reigned supreme for much of the noughties, while nudes and neutrals were the hues of choice through the Kardashian-led 2010s.

For the past few years, especially off the back of the pandemic, domaine dressing and beauty have encouraged people to lean into colour, and take risks with shades they wouldn’t previously have tried. And now? It’s all about the girlification of makeup: glazed doughnut, blueberry milk and new wave french tips.

Thus, to don a black nail is to stand out. It’s to ignore the trends and lean into something deeper: true, classic style; minimalism; and a refusal to blend in.

So if you’re looking to boost your confidence with a hefty dose of power, and welcome your dark feminine energy, black nail theory is for you. Turns out going back to black is a good thing after all.