If our 2024 manicures were all about being bright and light, there’s a slight shift to how we’re approaching 2025 nail trends. Whether you’re one to attribute this call for radical transformation to Pluto entering Aquarius or just wanting something new and edgy for the upcoming year, the experts are predicting bolder nail designs and finishes and a major lean into texture play to motivate our nail choices moving forward.
Think dreamy milk bath tones and magnetic cat eye finishes. Shiny iridescent textures and smokey quartz tips. Next year’s nails are all about tapping into your inner artist. Below are the 10 biggest nail trends the experts say will be everywhere for 2025.
Oval Shapes
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While nail shape is all about personal preference, there are two that you’re most likely going to see everywhere. Celebrity nail artist Gina Edwards predicts that the hottest shape of them all will be the oval nail. Often likened to the shape of an egg, the oval nail is usually long and tapered, thus lending itself quite nicely for your most imaginative nail art desires.
Pointed Almonds
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The second shape Edwards predicts will be big for 2025 is the almond nail. Aptly named, this nail gradually gets slimmer as you get to the almond-shaped tip. Experts have called this a favorite for everyone and one of the most flattering nail shapes you can try.
Blush Layers
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Edwards says that it’s all about layering your favorite colors next year, but she especially loves mixing blush shades with bare neutrals for a look that goes with anything.
Iridescent Texture
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“It’ll be less about crazy design and more about the textures and effects,” says celebrity nail artist and Tweezerman Pro Artist Tom Bachik when talking about 2025 nail trends. “[They] are so popular because you can stick with the colors you love and know are flattering, but completely change it up with exciting effects.” You can go for shimmers and sparkles, but we specially love an iridescent chrome texture.
Soap Nails
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Bachik saw soap nails continue to trend all year and predicts that it will continue well into 2025. “This is all about the cleanest, freshest manicure that looks like it’s straight out of a spa day,” he says.
To get that clean look, he recommends using something like the Tweezerman Glass Nail Buffer to buff the nail and bring the nail to a high shine finish before you even put on polish.
Milky Tones
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Milk bath nails are dreamy and ethereal by nature, and are another pick from Edwards for a nail trend to be on the lookout for next year. You can mix any shade to get that milky tone, but she is especially fond of soft lavenders and pinks. And “quiet luxury” is still very much your vibe, she says this is the perfect nail for it.
Cat Eye Effect
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Sly like your favorite feline, the cat-eye nail is a very subtle elevation of the velvet nail and a look Edwards loves for 2025. Start off with a metallic texture before drawing a diagonal line at the center of the nail to get that cat-eye effect. Pro-tip: she says tools and knowing the basics on how to use them are key to executing this—and any other—nail vision. Great beginner tools include a dotter to drag color or create dots, a cosmetic sponge to blend color, and a thin liner brush for lines.
Smokey Quartz
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One of Edwards’s New York Fashion Week SS25 nail looks that she thinks will be big next year is the smokey quartz effect. Created for the Prabal Gurung show, these nails are elusive yet chic, and just a fun spin to a neutral shade. She used the KISS Bare But Better TruNude Fake Nails in Nude Drama as the base before mixing in a white polish on top for a more sheer look and swishing the shade in a back and forth “S” motion to get that smokey quartz-like look.
Magnetic Chrome
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A chrome nail is alluring and just all around very cool. For 2025, Edwards says you’ll see many elevate the look with different effects to make it even more mesmerizing, especially in the magnetic chrome realm.
Big & Bold French
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We’ll never be tired of the classic French tips. But for 2025, both Edwards and Bachik say for 2025, it’s all about going all out in color and design. “French manicures will continue to be popular, but with their own 2025 twists,” says Bachik. “For example, the 2025 version might include a line of bright color accenting the entire outside edge of the nail rather than the tip.”
“French nails have evolved from classic to fierce creativity,” adds Edwards. “It has pulled away from your traditional white tip and ventured into vibrant colors, 3D textures, and more.”
