11 aesthetic green nail colours and designs to try this summer

green nails

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Beauty


11 aesthetic green nail colours and designs to try this summer

By Morgan Fargo

3 years ago

1 min read

Spotted everywhere at Stylist HQ, green nails have quietly come to the fore this sunny season.

It’s one thing to spot a trend on Instagram, it’s another thing when you see it happening IRL. This week, in the Stylist offices, there’s been a nail colour that’s usurped all others. It’s been popping up on fingers, toes, in myriad shapes and shades but always the same – some form of green. 

Call it a backlash against the magenta and fuschia tones splattered across the beauty and fashion world, because green is making a case to be the colour of the summer. Bright, muted, neon and Frenched, there seems to be no end to the ways green can make its way into your best nail life. 

Sitting at the beauty desk, with my own clean-look manicure, the itch to immediately greenify my style lead me directly to Instagram. Here are the 11 aesthetic green manicures I fell in love with – fast. 

1/3

70s swirl

Fluid and undulating, this take on a classic French style mixes liquid-like shapes with two shades of green – a pale mint and bright lime.


2/3

French Lime

A summery take on the skinny French manicure, lime (or neon, or bright) tips are chic and functional – the natural-colour base extending wear time and concealing new nail growth.


3/3

Mint

Like that first lick of a mint chocolate chip cone on holiday, this colour feels instantly reinvigorating and refreshing.


1/3

Off-neon

Not neon but not not neon, this bright, square shape pairs a classic square shape with the vibrancy of an off-neon green. 


2/3

Pastel tips

Soft and subtle, a very thin line of pastel or muted green at the top of your nail creates the illusion of length with that little added extra. Delicate nail designs for the win.


3/3

Blocked and bright

Block colours will never go out of fashion, especially when they’re as attention grabbing as this shiny, bright green. Reach for a gloss topcoat to intensify the mirror-shine.


1/3

Emerald hearts

Heart nails usually come to the fore around Valentine’s Day but the sweet design has a place on non-Cupid days, too. Use a colour, like green, to keep it feeling chic, rather than Hallmark. 


2/3

Wasabi

Smooth and suitable for any occasion, this fresh, soft green colour feels like a reinvented classic.


3/3

Olive

Just missing a martini glass, this robust green looks modern and elegant on short, mid and long rounded lengths. 


1/2

Negative space

Negative space nail designs have gained huge popularity this year, thanks to the myriad and varied ways you can make them your own. If you’re just starting out, make like nail artist Iram Shelton and alternate between a classic green French manicure and negative-inspired nails.


2/2

Accents

Fancy a little bit of everything? Find a colour palette that includes a complementary green shade and use it on just a couple of digits. 


Main image: Getty

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