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- Nails
Chrome and velvet are still going strong.
By
Kara Nesvig
Kara Nesvig
Kara is a news writer for Byrdie. She got her start at the (dearly departed) xoVain as one of the site's core contributors.and currently contributes to Teen Vogue, Brides, Allure, Apartment Therapy and PEOPLE.
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Published on January 16, 2025 03:53PM
What’s on your manicure inspiration board for the next few months—or the next 11 months, to be exact? Maybe you’re considering some delicate nail art or ready to break out of your red and burgundy bubble. Maybe you want to be on the cutting edge of trends and try that new design style or bright color before any of your friends, or perhaps you’re a total minimalist and just want your nails to look nice without a ton of stress, but aren’t quite sure where to start.
The good news is that nail inspo is everywhere, from the colors of nature to the clothes in your closet. It’s on Instagram, your favorite celebrity, even on the fingers of the person sitting next to you at the nail salon. And because a manicure isn’t a permanent change, you can get creative and have fun—because what’s more fun than expressing yourself with color and nail art?
While we don’t have a magical crystal ball to predict all the nail trends that will surely emerge throughout the next 11 months, we have a feeling these will be some of the most popular looks of 2025. Better book that appointment now!
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Mocha Manis
Pantone crowned “mocha mousse” as the color of the year, and we were zero percent surprised, given that all our favorite nail trendsetters had been embracing the brown color palette. Follow Pantone’s lead with a lighter, cashmere-soft brown or indulge your dark side with a deeper espresso color. Mocha nails will continue to feel cozy and comforting throughout the winter and will probably have quite the comeback in fall 2025. Londontown’s Lakur in Mudslide checks all the boxes for the perfect mocha mani.
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Soap Nails
Go alllllll the way back to basics with the ultimate stripped-down manicure, which looks like you’re barely wearing polish at all. (And maybe you’re not!) Soap nails are meant to look freshly scrubbed and squeaky clean, with pristine cuticles and a shorter length. Simple, straightforward, to the point, and perfect for the mega minimalists among us. To get the look, make sure you’re treating your cuticles with an oil or cream every AM and PM and gently pushing them back, then trimming any ragged ends. Skip polish entirely in favor of a shiny topcoat or find a shade that matches your natural nail color almost exactly.
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Velvet Glass Nails
Are they velvet or are they glass? This shape-shifting manicure style has the coolest of vibes, changing from shiny and glass-like in one light, then changing to a rich, velvety texture in another. They can be created two ways: in the salon, with magnetic velvet gel polish under builder gel, or at home, via magnetic polish and topcoat, or press-ons like Olive + June’s Velvet Press-Ons.
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Metallic Finishes
In related news, metallics will continue to be a popular nail trend, with lots of futuristic finishes in shiny silvers and chromes. You can incorporate metallics into your mani a few different ways, like a French tip for a subtle hint of shine, texture like 3D charms or droplets, or magnetic textures like the aforementioned velvet glass nails and cats-eye nails. Try Mooncat’s magnetic silver Death Star for a frosty take on the trend.
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Feeling Blue
Baby blue, robin’s egg, navy, midnight, blue gray… we’ll be seeing them all in 2025. All shades of blue will have their moment, like a pastel sky blue come April or a dusky midnight shade as August fades into September. Though blue isn’t as popular as red or pink, it’s still a classic shade that feels fresh and exciting no matter which shade you roll with. We’re loving Chanel’s Le Vernis Longwear in the ultra-chic, pale blue-gray Muse.
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3D Texture
Nail art will be bigger and bolder in 2025. We’ll always love teeny-tiny, delicate art, but 3D nail art is a fun and playful way to incorporate more texture into your manicure. Feel free to get creative here, like incorporating charms and decals or asking your manicurist to layer builder gel in squiggles and other 3D shapes.
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Iridescent Shimmer
Pretend you’re a fairy princess with fanciful, color-shifting iridescent polishes. Shimmery chrome will continue to be popular, but take the look up a notch with an iridescent finish; it catches the light so beautifully and lets you play with a few different colors, like a blue-to-pink shift or an opalescent mix of blue, green, pink, and purple. ILNP’s blue holographic jelly Bluebell is an enchanting, spellbinding option.
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Fancy Framing
Your nails are a work of art, so why not put a beautiful frame around them? Framed nails are a cool way to experiment with negative space; typically, the center of the nail is left bare or painted a subtle color, and then surrounded on all sides with a thick glitter polishes or tiny rhinestones or pearls. You may need a little practice to master this one, but with a steady hand, it’ll turn a simple mani into a masterpiece. Looks like the coquette aesthetic is sticking around!
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Shorter Lengths
Don’t be surprised if you start seeing shorter and shorter lengths this year. As evidenced by the popularity of soap manicures, nail minimalists will be embracing short nails, whether they’re totally bare, almost bare, or painted a simple, classic shade like red, navy blue, or milky pink.