Nathaniel Chalobah When it comes to manicures, I’ve found that people generally fall into two colour camps: basic but chic (reds, navy blues, nudes—you know the drill) or trending nail art (negative-space manis and glitter topcoats). Personally, cute nail designs like mismatched manis are my idea of beauty heaven, so I fall firmly into the second school of thought. Which is why I’m so excited to see that nail art is trending this summer, with all of the fashion set stepping out with bold colours, floral designs, and plenty of sparkle.
With so many colourful designs filling up my Instagram feed, I decided to take a careful look through and decided which of them I’m actually going to try this summer. Keep scrolling for my top ten summer nail-art picks—and to shop the products you’ll need to re-create them at home.
1. Checkerboard
Easily the biggest print trend of 2021, checkerboard motifs initially began taking over our wardrobes, but now, they’re proving even more popular on the nail art circuit. Choose classic black and white or, for a summery spin, opt for pastel tones like The Hang Edit. The easiest way to achieve this look is to paint your nails a base colour, then use a dotting tool or toothpick to create the squares on top of it using a contrasting colour. Once you’ve mastered this technique, you can try adding negative space into the equation.
