Why not express love on your nails for Valentine’s Day? Julie Kandelek, celebrity manicurist to celebrities like Jessica Chastain, Mariah Carey, and Emily Blunt, weighs in on some fun new trends. “You can do it for yourself. You can do this for Valentine’s Day. You can do it for your partner,” she says. Traditionally, Valentine’s nails would have been simple, she says: “A solid red nail or a cute little simple pink heart or a French manicure.” Now, thanks to social media, there are so many ideas. Candelec’s top five nail trends for Valentine’s Day:
coquette or kawaii nails
Candelec says he is passionate about it. Full of beauty, this maximalist manicure uses pastel pink and lilac filled with eye-catching charms, hearts, flowers, bows, stickers, gems, beads and all kinds of appliqués. Coquette nails were a trend a decade ago, she says, but “it’s been a while since we’ve been bringing it back with a fresh twist.” We’ll call it kawaii nails, which means ‘cute’ in Japanese, so I love that it’s coming back.”
French manicure/square nails
Candelec says square-shaped nails are back in style after a long absence. But this time the trend is of square French style. The nails are squared off at the top and given a French manicure – a natural colored nail with a white tip. She also noted that French nails are being associated with the “mob wife look” as a whole new trend.
‘mob wife’
This trend takes inspiration from mafia wives, both real and fictional, from Carmela Soprano to Karen Hill in fashion, makeup and, of course, nails. These nails are extra long, extra square, extra pointed, extra white with French tip. No milky white micro tip seen here. It’s over the top and gaudy, with animal prints and 3D patterns popular, as well as bright embellishments or the classic red color. Kandalek points out that the classic red manicure is also “having a major moment” that started last autumn and is continuing, and can be combined with the rush trend.
magnetic heart
These are big on Instagram and TikTok — Candelec calls them “3D puffy hearts.” This effect is achieved by a magnet placed on wet gel polish that contains magnetic particles. “What you do is, you place it perpendicular to the nail. And then it reverses the magnetic particles and it gives it a really cool 3D look. Some people call it velvet nails. They call it cat-eye nails. They call it magnetic nails..” “It’s really fun and also goes with the kawaii, coquette nails and jelly nails that I have right now,” she says.
jelly nails
It is often described as lip gloss for nails. They’re actually a clear type of polish. It can be any color. It’s basically color mixed with clear color, or it’s already been made so that it’s very, very transparent. So this color It’s like a wash of. This is a huge trend in Korea right now,” she says. And the trend is to “have a clear base on the cuticle, so there’s not that harsh line of color.” If the above Neither of the trends are flashy, so perhaps you could give a little dedication to someone special by adding their name or initials to the design. “Or even if you’re single,” Kandaliak says, “you know, you. You can make someone appear by placing a little pink heart or some small thing to attract that person towards you.”
