Victoria Beckham Had The Perfect Proposal Manicure For Her Enagagment Ring.

A beauty expert has revealed that Victoria Beckham’s 1998 engagement manicure was perfectly on trend for what go-to proposal nails should look like – as simplicity is key. 

This follows a social media analysis by beauty brand fresha, which compiled the most common polish colours, nail shapes, styles, design elements, and nail art shown in over 500 posts tagged #proposal and #engagement across Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest. 

Victoria Beckham Had The Perfect Proposal Manicure For Her Enagagment Ring.
Image Getty
Victoria Beckham Had The Perfect Proposal Manicure For Her Enagagment Ring.

And it turns out that the ideal manicure features a classic nude base and a square nail shape and shouldn’t feature any nail art or embellishments – exactly the same as Victoria’s iconic manicure in 1998 when announcing her engagement to David Beckham. 

Across the social media posts, the most popular base choice was a French tip, appearing in a quarter (25%) of announcement posts, the second-most common base was nude – in a fifth of photos (20%), with the second-most popular colour was milky white (15% of posts).

The most popular nail shape was long and squared (featured in 26% of the uploads), followed by pointed (15%) and then short squared (13%) – while embellishments like glitter and nail art were few and far between, as the ideal nails don’t draw attention from the ring. 

Victoria Beckham Had The Perfect Proposal Manicure For Her Enagagment Ring.
Credit Getty
Victoria Beckham Had The Perfect Proposal Manicure For Her Engagement Ring.

When announcing her engagement in a series of photos almost two decades ago, Victoria was pictured with a natural-looking French tip on a squared shape – absolutely nailing it.

Her demure manicure certainly kept her new ring as the focal point, as her first one was a three-carat marquise-cut diamond on a plain yellow gold band. 

The research shows that Victoria isn’t the only one who smashed her proposal style, with other on-trend celebrities coming out as Kim Kardashian – who opted for nude, short and square nails – Meghan Markle, Sophie Turner, Sofia Vergara and Brooke Sanson. 

Celebrities who missed the mark and instead opted for less-popular choices include Kate Middleton, Avril Lavigne, and Beyonce – who went for bright orange on short round nails. 

The least popular but still prevalent colours were opulent choices like gold and purple – which appeared in less than 1% of posts – and cold tones like silver, grey, and blue. 

Victoria Beckham Had The Perfect Proposal Manicure For Her Enagagment Ring.
Image Getty
Victoria Beckham Had The Perfect Proposal Manicure For Her Enagagment Ring.

For William Zeqiri, beauty expert and founder at Fresher favouring a natural and neutral base can help make your proposal pictures pop, as he says: “The main benefit of selecting a nude or light nail colour when you suspect you’re getting engaged is that it means there are no brash colours or designs to distract from your ring – which should be the main event.

“Of course, for those who are completely surprised, other autumnal colours like burgundy, red, and black will still look great – but they might steal some attention if your ring is silver.”  

There was also a huge discrepancy in nail shape across the social media uploads, although this is primarily due to preference, with the majority of posts showing mid-length square nails (26%) and then pointed (15%), while the least popular shape was – surprisingly – coffin (2%). 

Victoria Beckham Had The Perfect Proposal Manicure For Her Enagagment Ring.
Image Getty
Victoria Beckham Had The Perfect Proposal Manicure For Her Enagagment Ring.

William says: “Nail shape is less of a key consideration for many compared to colour, as it’s just as likely to be influenced by your day-to-day life – for example, if you use your hands a lot – as it is your personal preferences and how you prefer to convey your style.

“However, if you want your ring to be the focus in your proposal pics, you may want to swap out a more attention-grabbing style, like stiletto or pointed, for something softer, like a shorter square or rounded shape – which will look even better when paired with a nude polish.”

Victoria Beckham Had The Perfect Proposal Manicure For Her Enagagment Ring.
Credit Getty
Victoria Beckham Had The Perfect Proposal Manicure For Her Enagagment Ring.

For anyone who suspects they’ll be proposed to soon and want to freshen up the classic look, the analysis reveals that the best way to do so is to make your French manicure or nude nails chrome – as this has appeared in 25% of uploads posted over the last year. 

Speaking on the trend that’s still going strong, William said: “The main benefit of making your manicure chrome is that it’s an easy way to add some personality and to bring it up to current fashion without completely changing the neutral and demure vibes you started with. 

“All adding chrome to a nude or white manicure does is add some sheen and reflection without making the base colour unrecognisable – meaning you get the best of both worlds!”