If you're bored of a classic mani and bold nail art seems a bit too bling, look to ELLE cover star Emma Watson's nails for inspiration in this month's issue.

Emma's nails are a sort of grungy ombre that is super cool, yet low key. I spoke to manicurist Hiro, who created the nail effect on the shoot day in Paris, to find out how you can get the look.

Hiro's first impression on meeting Emma was that she was 'naturally cute, and had a boyish style’. She wanted to create a manicure that reflected Emma's personality, which is how she came up with this unusual look.

Hiro tidied Emma's cuticles and shaped them with rounded edges. Using an airbushing tool she created gradation of colour around the nails near to the cuticle and sides, but left the middle and edges bare. 'I used a very dark shade, the was almost, but not completely, black,' Hiro told me.

But, what if we want to get the look at home? It's pretty simple. Hiro suggests taking small pieces of scotch tape and cutting them to fit the shape of your nail, but so they are slightly smaller leaving the edge by the cuticle and sides free. Next apply your nail polish shade of choice over the areas that don't have tape. Remove the tape once the paint is half dry. Quickly apply your top coat - this should drag the half dry polish to create a slight ombre blur to the nails.

We're predicting this to be a big trend since Sophy Robson created a similar look at the House of Holland show at London Fashion Week last month. So get practising...