Key takeaways
- Hailey Bieber coordinated custom chocolate brown nails with her recently darkened brunette hair at Paris Fashion Week.
- Manicurist Kim Truong blended Chaun Legend Gel Polishes—Knock on Wood and Bite Me—to create a rich, multidimensional brown shade.
- The chocolate brown nail color works across skin tones and matches a broader celebrity trend toward deeper hair colors for fall.
- The look can be recreated by mixing a dark brown and warm brown gel polish, or by selecting similar shades from other brands.
Hailey Bieber brought autumnal polish to Paris Fashion Week in the form of chocolate brown nails that harmonized seamlessly with her recently deepened hair color. The Rhode founder attended the Saint Laurent Spring/Summer 2027 show as a brand ambassador, pairing a crisp black suit with a manicure that proved you don’t need bold color to make a beauty statement.
The Manicure Moment at Saint Laurent
According to Allure, the chocolate brown nails came together through collaboration between Bieber and her frequent manicurist, Kim Truong. Rather than selecting a single polish from the shelf, Truong custom mixed a shade to achieve the exact tone Bieber wanted. The result is a rich brown that evokes melted chocolate, deep enough to read as sophisticated, warm enough to avoid looking austere against skin.
Bieber had requested “a deep, dark rich brown color,” and Truong’s response was to combine rather than compromise with a single option. This approach allows manicurists to address the gap between what exists commercially and what an individual’s skin tone, undertone, and preference demand. A custom blend can be more flattering and dimensionally interesting than any single shade available off-the-shelf.
The Reasoning Behind Custom Mixing
The two polishes Truong selected were both from Chaun Legend Gel Polish: Knock on Wood, a dark brown, and Bite Me, a warmer and lighter brown. Together, according to Allure’s description, these created a finish that felt “melty, luscious chocolate” rather than harsh or one-dimensional. The darker polish provides depth while the warmer shade softens the overall effect, creating a brown that neither looks black nor warm to the point of being muddy.

Coordination with a Darker Brunette
The timing of this manicure was not accidental. Bieber’s longtime colorist, Matt Rez, had recently deepened her brunette several shades beyond her summer tone. The darker hair and chocolate nails created intentional visual continuity, with both moving toward warmer, richer palettes appropriate for fall.
This represents a shift in Bieber’s seasonal color strategy. A few weeks prior, she had celebrated her anniversary with a soft taupe manicure, a cooler-toned shade from a different corner of the fall palette. The two manicures together demonstrate the range available within autumn’s color story.
The Celebrity Trend Toward Deeper Brunettes
Bieber is not alone in reaching for richer tones. According to Allure, Off Campus star Ella Bright unveiled a significantly darker hair color at the 2026 VMAs. Dakota Johnson recently deepened her signature brunette as well. These simultaneous shifts suggest that moving toward deeper, more dramatic tones represents a cohesive aesthetic movement for the season, one that extends across both hair and nail color.
The Specific Polishes and Custom Blend
For readers interested in recreating the look, knowing the exact products is the starting point. Chaun Legend Gel Polish in Knock on Wood and Bite Me are the two shades Truong used. Knock on Wood grounds the blend with its dark brown tone, providing the depth Bieber wanted. Bite Me’s warmer, lighter character softens and warms the overall effect.
The proportions Truong used are not publicly specified. The goal was balance: a brown that reads as neither too dark nor too warm. Achieving this requires either having a manicurist test the blend or requesting a small swatch to preview before application to the full manicure.
Substitutions and Accessibility
Not every manicurist will have Chaun Legend Gel Polish in stock. However, the principle transfers: any dark brown gel and any medium warm brown gel, when mixed thoughtfully, can approximate the effect. The key is ensuring neither shade dominates, which would skew the result too cool or too warm. Testing on a practice nail or swatch before full application is the safest approach.
How to Recreate the Look
Chocolate brown nails work across multiple contexts and outfit choices. Bieber paired them with a structured black suit at an official event, but the shade transitions equally well to casual settings, formal dinners, or editorial shoots. The color reads as timeless rather than trend-dependent, making it a lower-risk choice for those hesitant about bold color.
The shade also flatters across skin tones. While undertone matching (cool versus warm) may shift which ratio of the two polishes feels best for an individual, brown itself is universally workable. This universal appeal, combined with its seasonal relevance, explains why chocolate brown appears across celebrity manicures as autumn approaches and why Bieber’s choice serves as a template rather than a departure.
The Versatility of Chocolate Brown
Brown nails strike a balance between understated elegance and seasonal relevance. Unlike trend-heavy neon shades that date quickly, chocolate brown reads as sophisticated and will not appear outdated in six months. At the same time, the richness acknowledges fall’s visual language of warmth and depth. Bieber’s choice to wear chocolate nails with a formal black suit demonstrates the shade’s ability to complement rather than compete with other elements of an outfit.
Source: Allure
Frequently Asked Questions
What nail polish did Hailey Bieber use at Paris Fashion Week?
Manicurist Kim Truong custom blended two Chaun Legend Gel Polishes: Knock on Wood (dark brown) and Bite Me (warm, lighter brown) to create the chocolate brown shade.
How does Hailey Bieber's nail color coordinate with her recent hair change?
Her colorist Matt Rez deepened her brunette several shades, and the darker hair color harmonizes with the rich chocolate brown nails, both reflecting warm fall tones.
How can I recreate this chocolate brown nail look?
You can ask a manicurist to blend a dark brown gel polish with a medium, warm brown gel, similar to the Chaun Legend shades used, or use any comparable dark and medium brown gel polishes from other brands.