How to Wear Spring’s Hottest Nail Polish Colors

Although it's unseasonably warm here in New York today, it still feels like it's a little early to start thinking about spring fashion and beauty trends. To me, at least. To fashion designers and beauty tastemakers, it's the perfect time to be thinking about spring fashion and beauty trends. Enter pastel nail polishes.

Yes, those colors reminiscent of Easter eggs and Jordan almonds are what's hot for the warmer months. Light pinks, baby blues, faded mint greens. And to that I say: Gross.

I've never been a fan of any colors in the pastel family. I'm not sure why, but I've always been more of a bold -- or neon! -- person. Probably because those shades work best with my skin tone.The lighter, more muted tones make my pale self look washed out -- which is never a cute look.

But looks like pastels it is this spring. I say I don't like the nail colors now, but I know myself -- all it will take is me seeing one woman with a really great, super flattering pastel-colored manicure, and I'll give this trend a go. But which colors work best for whom?

So, okay, like I said, in the winter, I'm pretty pale. And those really light, soft colors -- the almost-white baby pinks and the pale yellows -- look horrendous on me. They actually make my pasty hands look like I have no nails whatsoever. The color just blends into the color of my fingers -- it's not attractive. So, if I -- or you, fellow untanned person -- am going to give any of the really light colors a whirl, I suggest we get our fake tan on first. My no-fail, go-to is Kate Somerville's Somerville360 Tanning Towels -- I swear, you won't streak or stink. If you're naturally more dark-toned, lucky you -- you can really wear any pastel polish and it will look good.

Another tip for rocking the pastels is to trim your nails! I know, this is obvious to most, but there are some people out there who still wear their nails super long when they've got crazy colors on them. It's not a cute look. And if you keep your nails long when wearing a mint green, you're going to wind up looking like you have dinosaur talons or something. Seriously, give them a little trim.

Lastly, when the polish starts to chip, take it off for God's sake. Chipped polish is always bad, but chipped blue polish is whole 'nother ball of wax.