Since you’re reading Who What Wear, it’s probably safe to assume that you enjoy keeping up with the latest and greatest in fashion and beauty. Even if that’s not the case, odds are you like to experiment with your personal style every now and again, and what better way to dip your toes—erm, fingers—into a new trend than with your manicure? Taking a new nail color, design, or technique for a test drive doesn’t have to be a major commitment, which is why we’re excited about experimenting with a bunch of exciting new nail trends in 2020.
Of course, as Who What Wear editors, we don’t just follow the trends—we discover them. Thanks to four of our favorite nail industry experts, we’re pretty sure these nail trends are going to be making waves in the next year (and new decade) to come. So whether you’re a classic French manicure devotee looking for a subtle way to change it up, enjoy experimenting every time you visit the nail salon, or prefer to go the DIY route at home, our experts have predicted 9 nail trends that should definitely be on your radar.
1. Metallics
For early 2020, Sarah Gibson Tuttle of Olive and June says we can expect to see metallics continue to dominate our feeds. “Everything from warm rose gold to icy platinum,” she predicts.
Celebrity crystal manicurist Mazz Hanna agrees, predicting we’ll see a variety of different hues with pearly metallic finishes.. “It’s been a while since frosty colors have been on trend, so I predict this making a comeback in a big way.”
2. Yellow
Editorial manicurist Jin Soon Choi predicts that yellow will see a major comeback due to its “undeniably young and fun spirit.” Eva Chen, pictured above, sported a bright yellow Jin Soon shade for the 2019 Met Gala
3. Dark Green
Lauren Dunne, co-founder and CEO of Varnish Lane, predicts that dark greens are going to be big in 2020. “It’s a shade that people weren’t comfortable wearing for a long time, and they’re just now realizing that it’s an extremely universally flattering shade that gets tons of compliments.”
4. Garden Party shades:
For spring, Tuttle expects to see shades reminiscent of a garden party. “We are in a sage, sunny yellow, and pinky lavender mood,” she explains. “Adding a higher concentration of white into shades really makes the color pop.”
5. Pastel:
Hanna predicts that pastel nails will be back in a big way. “It feels like a natural progression of the latest ’90s craze,” she explains.”Think Hard Candy–inspired colors with glossy topcoats.”
6. Soft Orange:
Dunne also predicts that we’ll start to see “soft orange” colors replacing the typical corals that Varnish Lane clients gravitate toward in the spring.
7. Blue:
“We’re so excited to see classic blue chosen as the Pantone color of the year for 2020 because we already see this color becoming more popular for nails,” says Dunne. Jin Soon Choi agrees, noting that blue is definitely an It color for next year.
8. Nude:
“I used various nudes during the 2020 fashion week shows for Tibi, Phillip Lim, Alexander Wang, Coach, and Longchamp,” recalls Choi. She recommends experimenting by using nude alone, nude/ombre, and nude in a matte finish for a cool spin on the nude trend.
9. Matte:
Matte manis are definitely making a comeback according to Tuttle. “Matte topcoat has become one of our most requested products as of late,” notes the Olive & June founder.
