From Coast to Coast, This Is How the Fashion Set Is Updating Their French Manis
I'm trying this immediately.

Okay, it's about time I admit my love affair with French tips is real. While the style supposedly fell out of favor a few years back, it's back thanks to the return of Y2K-inspired nail designs and the subsequent shift toward longer nail lengths. That said, because I grew up studying classical ballet and was often discouraged from partaking in many of the bold nail trends that graced the pages of magazines and, later, social media platforms, it took me years to step out of my comfort zone and look for ways to jazz up my beloved French mani.
That's when I discovered the combined magic of Instagram's "save post" function and Pinterest boards from the fashion set as a source of endless inspiration for my nail appointments. Plus, they made it easier to describe exactly what I want to my manicurist. With that being said, I spent hours scouring the internet for the best fashion-forward ways to upgrade your everyday French manicure. Keep scrolling to see which ones caught my eye. Get ready to screenshot.
Trendy French Manicure Designs
If you're looking for a playful and unexpected way to upgrade your nail game, consider adding a floral design to the tips. To create this look, nail artist Paiwa opted for an elevated French manicure made with the same fleshy pink and white shade used on the other nails.
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Playful Pastel Tips
If you use pastel shades for the tips of your French manicure, your nails will be beyond eye-catching. Here, content creator Amaka Hamelijnck rocks a pastel-toned French manicure from an Amsterdam-based nail artist. To pull off these brightly colored nails, consider investing in a pre-curated nail polish set.
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Playing With Fire
Content creator Lauren Crowe is no stranger to exploring fun and fashionable ways to upgrade a French manicure. To recreate this bold manicure, use your favorite blush pink as your base color and then create barely-there tips and a flame-inspired design using a black polish. Try Essie's nail polish in Licorice.
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Tri-Color Cow Print
One of our favorite trends this season has to be the comeback of the cow print (perhaps this can be traced back to the space and coastal cowgirl aesthetics). We love nail artist Betina Goldstein's take on the trend: a clear polish base coat with off-white and chocolate brown shades used to create the wild cow print pattern.
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Electric Blue
We're embracing bold nails with elegant French tips that feature bright, electric blues. Why not match your manicure with your outfit like Hamelijnck does so well in the pic above?
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The Coquette French
From time to time,Best Knockoff Luxury Clothing editors love to play with the coquette aesthetic. Celeb nail artist Zola Ganzorigt created this coquettish manicure for content creator Catherine McBroom last June, and we're still in love with it.
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Juicy Berry Tones
Another chic way to create an elegant French manicure? Playing with almost monochromatic tones. Check out how Crowe created a berry-toned look using just two shades: a juicy burgundy and a classic navy blue. Crowe painted three nails in the style of a French manicure and then filled in the nail on the pinky finger with the shade of her choice.
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black and white overlap
Who What Wear beauty editors are all for incorporating patterns and layering into our nail designs. Here, Piawa uses two shades for her tips (a bold white and black) for an unexpected and modern approach to a French manicure.
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Putting It In Neutral
Are bright shades not your style? I'm more of a neutral girl myself. Good thing nothing is stopping you from using neutrals and minimal nail designs to create a showstopping look. If you look closely at Crowe's manicure, you'll spot tiny chocolate hearts across the tips of her nails where a delicately arched line could have been.
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The Barely There French
We always love a micro approach to any beauty trend, manicures included. Here's an example of one way to do it: Use a sweep of nude polish as the base and drag a white shade across the tips to create a thin line. This look is great for anyone who tends to keep their nails short but wants to add the look of length.
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Dripping in Gold
I'm a firm believer that everyone looks good in gold (you just have to find the right tones to compliment your skin tone). Embrace your gold era by wearing this color in an unexpected way. Use metallic gold polish to highlight and decorate the tips of your nails like runway and editorial nail artist Holly Falcone did.
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Geometric Details
Leave it to nail artist Hang Nguyen to dive into the world of geometry to create a unique and stylish nail design. To recreate it, select two nail polishes for the tips of your nails and make sure to match their placement and avoid rounding out their funky shape.
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Orange Micro-Tips
When it comes to selecting my nail polish shades at home or the salon, I'm normally not attracted to bright orange. The way Mateja Novakovic incorporates it into her micro French mani, however, has definitely changed my mind.
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Vibrant Violet
We've spotted similar nail polish shades on several celebrities this year. Here, Crowe shows us just how wearable violet can be by using the shade on just the tips of her French manicure (no other nail art required). It's simple, easy, and contributes the perfect punch of color for any look.
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If you find yourself to be savy with builder gel, you'll appreciate these scale-like french tips with a chrome finish. Sure, it may be a time consuming design, but trust that it's sure to stand out.
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This story was published at an earlier date and has since been updated.

Maya Thomas is an Associate Beauty Editor atBest Knockoff Luxury Clothing . Her strong love for all things beauty and fashion stems from a strong childhood interest in the fine arts. During a gap year spent in Paris studying the history of French fashion, she shifted her focus to English literature and journalism as a student at Loyola Marymount University. After graduating in May 2021, Maya began freelancing for Parade.com as a contributing commerce writer. When she's not writing, Maya spends her free time catching up on reading, perusing art galleries, and enjoying a night out at the ballet every now and then.
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