When it comes to manicures, I am very much a summer nail trend girlie. It’s a conclusion I came to last winter when I felt completely uninspired by every red wine nail salon swatch.
With summer, however, comes the colour. The bright cobalt blues, the neon greens and over-enthusiastic pinks. Yes, I may not be a fan of the June to August temperatures, but I am a fan of the options they bring.
If, like me, you’ve been waiting for this moment, I thought we could get ahead and pre-plan our appointments by becoming early adopters of this summer’s hottest nail trends.
Whether you’re 4 or 34, The Little Mermaid is the film that will make you return to the cinema, so of course our reignited Ariel obsession is spilling over into our nail art.
When I think of mermaids, I do instantly conjure up images of unicorns and therefore 4-year-olds, but trust me, there are several ways to approach this trend without even the slightest hint of cringe.
In fact, you think to need to think of ‘mermaid nails’ as more of an umbrella term for several techniques and styles that are inspired by water.
Don’t have the time, money or patience to book a salon appointment? I’ve included the best products you can use to achieve the looks yourself at home.
Swimming pool nails
You may not have a holiday booked this summer, but who needs one when your fingertips can reflect your own private pool?
I’m not someone that likes to be fully submerged. These chrome blue textured tips give the same watery illusion with a little more subtlety.
Seashell nails
Textured chrome is set to be one of this season’s biggest trend techniques and in this instance, brushing a pattern in your base is used to mimic the texture of an actual seashell.
Take it one step further by asking your nail tech to use a hard gel or builder gel to create a 3D effect.
Or, DIY it by painting translucent stripes in a polish that is one shade lighter than your base colour.
Pearly nails
3D nail art is a trend we’ve seen come over from Korea and while embellished nails aren’t always the most practical, they do look beautiful, as Hailey Bieber proves with her chrome base.
Negative space chrome
Chrome nails aren’t going anywhere (thank god), but rather than an all-over glazed doughnut finish, we’re getting a little more complex with our designs.
I love that this trend combines the negative space with both Korean puddle art and the Barbiecore colour palette we’re seeing everywhere. Speaking of which…
Barbiecore nails
Yes, Margot Robbie is going to be influencing your manicure choices as well and let’s be real, unlike that first look at Ryan Gosling as Ken, we’re not mad about it.
Watermelon nails
I don’t know if we can blame Harry Styles for this seeing as the song was released four years ago now (oh my god where is time going?), but yes, the watermelon has become a style icon.
Whether you take the clashing colour theme quite literally or just opt for that translucent, wet, juicy gloss, it works.
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