Expert’s guide | The best nail shapes to flatter your hands

Cienna Rose founder Carla Opoku helps you nail the perfect shape with her handy tips

Oval: oval shaped nails work best with medium to long nails and give the illusion of long slender fingers. To achieve this shape, file nails down the sides and round the tip. Perfectly suited to short palms and fingers and those who find it difficult to grow their nails

A selection of nail colours from the Cienna Rose range

Almond: almond shaped is one of our favourites for fingers as it’s great for pretty much everyone. Very similar to oval but nails are filed to a round peak, it’s an instantly easy and chic shape to achieve. Another good shape for small palms and fingers

Ballerina: mimicking the pointe of a ballerina shoe, this shape helps elongate short and wider fingers and make them look more delicate and is an ideal shape for longer palms and fingers. Healthy nail growth, however, is essential for achieving this length so you’ll need to regularly use nourishing and strengthening treatments to keep them in tip top condition

Square: flat on top with sharp corners, this shape looks great on both short nails and long, narrow nail beds and helps broaden the appearance of your nails. Avoid if you already have wide nail beds though as this shape will make your hands look stubby

Stiletto: similar to Almond but with a longer, sharp point at the tip, this works best with longer nails and again, will elongate shorter fingers. It looks great on shorter and wider fingers as it gives the illusion of long slim nails. We like this shape as its edgy but feminine but beware, you will need strong and healthy nails to pull this off so. You’ll need to regularly apply hardening treatment products like The Shield (£10.50) and Inner Strength (£10.50), both available from Cienna Rose

Squoval: always a popular choice, they are one of most flattering nail looks. Merging square and oval, the softer edges stretch fingers. An oval with a flatter tip, get this look by filing straight across your free edge, then around the corners in one smooth stroke
All nail colours available from Cienna Rose

Cienna Rose was founded in 2018 by Carla Opoku. Nail polishes are cruelty-free and vegan-friendly and follow the 12 free formula, meaning that they do not contain any of the chemical nasties often found in regular polishes and treatments including: formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin, camphor, DBP (dibutyl phthalate), ethyl tosylamide, xylene, toluene, triphenyl phosphate, MEHQ/HQ (hydroquinone monomethyl ether), MIT (methylisothiazolinone) and do not contain any animal derived ingredients or parabens. All formulas are enriched with nourishing and protecting plant, fruit and essential oils and are healthier and safer for nails.