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As of today Meghan Markle needs to add a new title to her ever-growing résumé: podcast host, Netflix chef, mother of two, actor, royal, and now manicure influencer. Earlier this week Markle (slash Sussex) dropped her full beauty routine via the site ShopMy with the caption “A handpicked and curated collection of the things I love—I hope you enjoy them!” adding that these were, indeed, affiliate links.
For somebody who has enjoyed the ambient coziness of With Love, Meghan, her ShopMy answered one of my many questions: What was her manicure shade? Close-up shots of cookies, cakes, and Markle tucking her hair behind her diamond-studded ears showed off a glossy, pinky white short manicure I began calling the Montecito Mani. The shade and style perfectly embody the Southern California coastal town the Sussex family moved to in 2020 after fleeing paparazzi-crazed Los Angeles: beachy, neutral, and quiet luxury. Her ShopMy revealed that it was actually two shades of polish layered: CND’s Satin Slippers and Romantique. So it was bespoke too.
“While looking at photos, I was struck by just how normal her manicure is,” Manhattan-based nail artist Julie Kandalec tells me as we sit in her private salon. Today, she’s transforming my red square-shaped nails into something more Montecito Manciure inspired. Of course, CND’s Satin Slippers and Romantique are sitting nearby; Kandalec is an educator with the brand. “Right now we really have two manicure trends—people who want custom, over-the-top nails, the more-is-more manicure, and those who want a super-neutral, goes-with-everything manicure. Obviously, she’s part of the latter.”
I, on the (literal) other hand, am far from subtle. I like thick lines of black eyeliner and long nails with rhinestones and color-morphing polish, so any hue of quiet-luxury neutral is far from compelling. Kandalec suggests the first step toward going full Markle mani is to change my nail shape; no more sharp-square nails but instead a more natural rounded almond. Next, we try a few different blends of layering the two polish shades to hit the right combo à la Meghan. “One of these polishes is a bit more pink, and the other is more white,” Kandalec says. “When there are two shades involved, you’re able to do thin layers to fully customize the finished look, like Meghan has.” After a few trials, we settle on a layer of Romantique followed by Satin Slippers, with a superhard, glossy topcoat.
When finished, my nails look like the beautiful little Jordan almonds handed out at the end of a wedding. They’re so curated, so sophisticated; they belong to somebody reading a first edition in a Nancy Meyers–inspired home, not on the 2 line back to Brooklyn at 10:30 p.m. But I guess it’s just one of the many gifts Markle has given us through her Netflix show. It’s, should we say, with love, Meghan.
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