“The future is now,” says New York City-based editorial nail artist Miss Pop—and it’s bright. The all-over glazed donut effect gets a 2025 update with pink, green, and blue hues. “These shades aren’t sparkly or glittery, they’re supernaturally shiny making our hands look like they’ve transported us into a totally glam future,” says Miss Pop. “AI wishes it could create tips as glossy and fun!”
Miss Pop likes to top off her iridescent nails with stickers, echoing the sentiment that this embellishment will be big in 2025.
Animal print nails
Instagram / @betina_goldstein
“Animal print is the new black,” proclaims Los Angeles-based nail artist Betina Goldstein. Earlier in 2024, the “mob wife” aesthetic trend on TikTok hinted at a return to maximalism including full glam makeup, fur coats, and luxe-printed nails. While tortoise nails have been leading in animal-print manicure category, Goldstein predicts the trend will expand in 2025 to include cow, leopard, and snake prints.
“I have done many versions of this [cow print], but I wanted this one to feel more realistic,” says Goldstein, who created the non-uniform cow spots pictured above by using a fine-line brush to paint splotches of brown polish onto a white base. Then, she blended out the edges of each spot with a thin veil of top coat that she swept on in a diagonal direction.
Glazed ombré
Instagram / @chuenails
