What’s actually worth trying versus what just looks good in photos.
Every summer I tell myself I’m going to be more adventurous with my nails. And every summer I end up with a pale pink or a nude because I second-guessed every other choice at the salon and panicked at the last second. This year I actually did the research beforehand, tried several things on purpose, and have opinions now.
Some of the trends circulating right now are genuinely good. Some look incredible in a flat lay photo with perfect lighting and fall apart the moment you’re in direct sunlight or, you know, have hands that move. I’ll tell you which is which.
This isn’t a definitive ranking of everything happening in nail art right now. It’s the stuff I’d actually recommend to a friend who asked what to get this summer. Which is a different and more useful list.
Glazed Nails — Still Going, Still Worth It
I know. Glazed nails have been everywhere for two years and there’s a version of you that is tired of seeing them. But here’s the thing: they became everywhere because they work, and they especially work in summer.
The look is a sheer, milky base with a chrome or pearl topcoat that gives your nails a wet, almost lit-from-within glow. It photograph beautifully, it complements every skin tone differently, and it somehow goes with both a sundress and a going-out outfit without looking like you made the wrong choice for one of them. That versatility is genuinely rare in a nail trend.
For summer specifically, the warmer versions — rosy glaze, peachy glaze, champagne glaze — work better than the cooler icy ones that were everywhere in winter. The warmth plays off tanned or sun-kissed skin in a way that the white-chrome version doesn’t. If your salon does chrome powder application rather than just a chrome topcoat, that version lasts longer and has more depth. Ask specifically for chrome powder if you want the real thing.
The downside: chips show immediately on glazed nails because the chrome layer is so thin. If you’re someone who destroys a manicure within three days, this isn’t your most practical option. Gel glazed nails solve that problem but add cost and removal time. Worth knowing before you book.
Fruit Nails — Better Than They Sound
I was prepared to dismiss fruit nails as a gimmick when I first saw them. Little painted watermelons, strawberries, citrus slices on each nail — it seemed like the kind of thing that looks charming on someone else and then feels embarrassing on your own hands forty minutes after you leave the salon.
I was wrong, and I’m annoyed about it.
The version that actually works isn’t the literal cartoon fruit that shows up in the Pinterest previews. It’s the abstract version: watermelon pink with tiny black seeds, or a sage green with a thin rind line at the tip, or a simple lemon yellow with nothing else. The reference is there if you’re looking for it but it’s not hitting you over the head. It’s playful without being costume-y, and in summer it reads as intentional rather than trying too hard.
The best execution I’ve seen does one or two accent nails with the fruit detail and keeps the rest simple — the same color as the fruit’s flesh or rind, clean and undecorated. That balance is the difference between a nail look you’ll wear confidently for three weeks and one you start covering up with your thumb on day four.
Watermelon and lemon are the two that translate best to real life. Cherry nail art is having a moment but tends to look better on shorter nails — the design needs space and longer nails make it look crowded. If you have longer nails and want the cherry, go abstract: deep red with tiny gold dot details instead of a full painted cherry illustration.
Negative Space Designs — Underrated for Summer
Negative space nails use the natural color of your nail as part of the design rather than covering it completely. A French tip with a gap. Geometric shapes that leave portions of the nail bare. A color that fades out before reaching the base. It sounds minimal and it is, but the effect is modern in a way that a lot of heavier nail art isn’t.
Summer is the right season for this because it lets your natural nail — hopefully healthy and slightly translucent from being kept moisturized — be part of the aesthetic. It also grows out more gracefully than a full-coverage design. When a regular dark polish grows out you get a visible gap at the cuticle that looks like you’ve been neglecting your nails. With negative space designs, the gap is part of the look. You get an extra week before it looks obviously grown out, which is useful when you’re busy.
The designs that work best for beginners or for people who want something low-maintenance: a simple half-moon at the base in a contrasting color, a diagonal color block that leaves one corner bare, or a classic French with a colored tip instead of white. The colored French tip — burnt orange, coral, cobalt blue, even black — is having a real moment right now and it’s easy to understand why. It’s familiar enough to not feel risky but different enough to actually notice.
One thing worth knowing if you’re doing this at home: negative space designs require a steady hand or good tape. The bare nail shows through, which means an uneven line is immediately visible in a way it wouldn’t be in a design where everything gets covered. Nail tape or striping tape from any beauty supply store makes straight lines achievable for people who are not naturally precise. Peel the tape off while the polish is still slightly wet, not after it’s fully dry, or you’ll pull the edge of the design with it.
Jelly Nails — The One That Surprised Me Most
Jelly nails are translucent. Not sheer like a tinted topcoat — actually see-through, like a piece of colored glass sitting on your finger. The effect when done well is genuinely unlike anything else in mainstream nail trends right now, and I did not expect to like them as much as I do.
They work in summer because of light. Indoors, jelly nails look interesting. In sunlight, they glow. The color picks up the light differently than a regular opaque polish and there’s a depth to them that photographs haven’t fully captured — you have to see them in person to get it. The best colors for this look in summer are coral, amber, cherry red, and a warm lilac that goes almost purple depending on the light. The cool-toned versions — grey jelly, navy jelly — are less impressive in my opinion. They lose something without the warmth.
The practical consideration is that jelly nails show everything. Every ridge on your nail surface, every imperfection, every bit of uneven growth. Prep matters more for this look than almost any other — buff your nails, use a ridge-filling base coat, and take your time. At a salon, mention you want the surface prep taken seriously before a jelly application. Some nail techs rush the prep because the color goes on fast and they’re focused on that. The prep is where this look succeeds or fails.
They also require multiple thin coats to build the right depth of color without going opaque. Two coats of a jelly polish usually looks better than one thick one. If you’re doing it at home, be patient with drying time between layers or you’ll get streaks that are very visible through the translucent finish.
Minimal French With a Twist — For When You Want Something You Won’t Regret
There’s a version of the French manicure right now that isn’t the thick white-tipped French of twenty years ago. It’s thinner, softer, and available in colors that make no attempt to look natural — rust, dusty rose, pistachio, sky blue, terracotta. The white tip has been quietly replaced and the result is a manicure that has the clean classic structure of a French but reads completely differently.
I keep coming back to this one for a specific reason: it’s the look you choose when you genuinely don’t know what you want but you know you don’t want to make a mistake. It’s polished without being boring, and the colored-tip variation makes it feel current without committing to something more trend-specific that you might feel differently about in six weeks.
The terracotta French is the one I’ve seen look good on the widest range of skin tones this summer. It’s warm without being orange, earthy without being dull, and it pairs with literally everything you’d wear between June and September. The pistachio version is a close second. Dusty blue is the riskiest of the colored French options — it’s striking but it doesn’t play as nicely with certain skin undertones. If you’re warm-toned, stick with the earthy versions. If you’re cool-toned, the dusty blue and lavender tips are your moment.
Nail length matters more for this look than for some others. The colored French tip works best on a medium to longer nail where you have real estate for the tip to show properly. On very short nails, the tip becomes a thin sliver and the effect gets lost. If your nails are short, a half-moon at the base gives you the same two-tone contrast with more impact on a smaller nail.
A Few Things That Work Everywhere
Nail oil is the single highest-return thing you can add to your nail routine this summer, and almost nobody uses it consistently. Your nails dry out in heat, sun, salt water, and chlorine the same way your skin does. A cuticle oil applied daily — not weekly, daily — keeps the skin around your nails from drying, cracking, and peeling, which makes every nail look better regardless of what color or design is on them. Solar Oil is the one most nail techs actually use. Jojoba-based oils work too. Keep it somewhere you’ll actually reach for it, like your desk or your nightstand, not the bathroom cabinet where it disappears.
Top coat matters more than people realize. A good top coat — Seche Vite if you’re doing it at home, or ask your nail tech to use a high-gloss gel top coat — extends wear by several days and changes how polished the finished look appears. A bad or old top coat yellows, peels at the edges, and makes a fresh manicure look shabby within a week. If your at-home manicures never look quite right, the top coat is usually why.
And finally: the color you’re drawn to is usually the right choice. I’ve second-guessed myself into a boring nude more times than I can count, standing at the color wall in a salon choosing between something I actually wanted and something I thought was safer. The bold color you keep picking up and putting back down is almost certainly the one you’ll be happiest with. Summer is the season where you actually get away with it. Pick the fun one.