From a warm beige to the deepest brown, flesh-toned nail polishes are now available for darker skins. But do we really want in?

Here's the backstory. We saw the beauty industry shift, seismically around 2011 when foundations for a huge spectrum of skin tones finally became available on the high-street. Cue celebratory high-fives and merriment all round. Now, the people who make nude polishes have come to the realisation that we don't all fall under the "one shade suits all" bracket for nails, either.

For me, nude polish has always been a gargantuan letdown. It's generally streaky, the wrong shade, as far as I'm concerned, and just doesn't suit darker skins. I'd relegated it to one of life's slightly racist annoyances, along with skin-toned underwear (I've only ever seen brown underwear in the US), nude tights (the same), even the common plaster (we're not all peachy pink). Irritating, but there are bigger battles to fight.

Enter the trend for mannequin nails (that's nails the same colour as your skin) in 2012, and seasons later we're still seeing nude tones at the fashion weeks. Put simply, nude nails will not become passé any time soon.

People seldom "enjoy" their hair and makeup, except for the occasional glance in a mirror or car window. But glancing down at your perfectly painted nails (now, that's a skill in itself: two coats, two minutes in between and Seche Vite topcoat) sends a surge of togetherness rippling through you. Even if your boss has just publicly trounced you and everything else in your life is crap.

I've added the Nails Inc shade below into my repertoire. It's a welcome, easy-to-apply shade just slightly lighter than my own skin tone. Choose your own from the following selection. Or don't. It's just nice to have options, isn't it?

Max Factor Max Effect Nail Polish in Soft Toffee 21, £3.99, (superdrug.com) Photograph: Martin Eidemak/PR company handout

Max Factor Max Effect Nail Polish in Soft Toffee 21, £3.99, superdrug.com

Photograph: PR company handout

Tom Ford Nail Polish in Mink Brulee, £26, selfridges.com

Photograph: PR company handout

Butter London Nail Lacquer in All Hail The Queen, £12, amazon.co.uk

Photograph: PR company handout

Clinique A Different Nail Enamel For Sensitive Skins in Do Not Disturb, £12, johnlewis.com

Photograph: PR company handout

Essie Nail Polish in Very Structured, £7.99, boots.com

Photograph: PR company handout

Illamasqua Nail Varnish in Taint, £14.50, illamasqua.com

Photograph: PR company handout

Nails Inc Perfect Nude in Montpellier Walk, £12, nailsinc.com