Midnight Oil press-on nails

Midnight Oil is for people who own one color and wear it well. Deep black glitter, a little brushed silver, and crystals scattered like someone knocked over a jewelry box in the dark. Indoors it reads plain black. Step into sunlight and it goes oil-slick.

Nail by nail

• Base, every nail: deep black glitter, fine rather than chunky.
• Thumbs: smoky circles, gray on one hand and dusty mauve on the other, under fine silver line work, with two iridescent crystals each.
• Index fingers: the loud pair. A brushed silver four-point star runs edge to edge on one; a brushed silver crescent moon, flanked by three crystals, sits on the other.
• Middle fingers: a sculpted silver star stud beside a smoky planet, violet on one hand and bronze on the other.
• Ring fingers: loops of hand-drawn silver line over smoke, finished with pearl beads.
• Pinkies: a silver nugget stud and a pair of iridescent crystals each.
• Crystals throughout are set at different heights, so the light finds them one at a time.

How it wears

Medium almond is long enough to look deliberate and short enough to type, cook and dig for your keys. The crescent and the four-point star are the biggest raised pieces, so the index fingers take a day to get used to. Because the crystals are set in gel instead of glued, a coat pocket will not steal them. If glitter usually reads as a craft project to you, this one reads as night sky. It suits gigs, late dinners, winter in general and any day spent entirely in black.

Want the same night sky over navy or oxblood? Start a custom set from Midnight Oil.