From Chanel Models to Kylie Jenner, the Chicest Individuals Are Wearing Sea-Glass Nails This Summer

If I had to place a bet, I’d wager that summer inspires the most nail art trends of the entire year. From dreamy vacations to wedding season, there are so many reasons to keep routine nail appointments on the calendar—and the latest trend everyone will be itching to copy this season won't be nude nails or single polishes. Confirmed by headline-making Chanel runways and Kylie Jenner’s Instagram, summer’s hottest nail trend is ethereal, chromatic, shore-inspired sea-glass nails.

When Mattieu Blazy presented his fifth Chanel collection in Biarritz, France—Cruise 26/27, where models cascaded down the runway in a nautical palette of silk, feathers, and fishnet—we didn’t know that we’d also be downloading summer’s top nail trend. Keyed by celebrity nail artist Ama Quashie, the mermaid-like manicures that completed each look quickly became the talk of beauty editor town for the mismatched color stories and semisheer, dégradé chrome polishes. Quashie previously told Who What Wear that the key to each look was “finding colours that work by clashing as well as melting into one another,” resulting in a marine-inspired kaleidoscope that both minimalists and maximalists can appreciate.

What Are Sea-Glass Nails?

Sea-glass, or the frosted, smooth, semiopaque rocks sometimes found in shallow water or washed up in the sand, is the result of discarded broken glass being smoothed and rehydrated by rolling waves spanning multiple decades. There’s a sort of kinship between this natural phenomenon and this colorful manicure trend—one that celebrity manicurist Julie Kandalec says has been brewing for quite some time. “It's the perfect meeting point of several major trends: chrome, jelly, and Skittles,” she explains. All three trends—reflective chrome, translucent jelly, and multicolored nails—find perfect union in this layered mani. “It’s a way to incorporate all of them in a subtly chic way,” the manicurist adds. “I would describe it as the colors of an abalone shell or an opal (both needing water to form), which ties back perfectly to the ‘sea-glass’ nail [trend],” she explains.

We’ve seen these playful, colorful, and light-shifting nails often over the last two summers on the likes of It girls and our favorite manicurists alike, and still, inspiration continues to flow. Keep scrolling for the sea-glass nail ideas you’ll waste no time sending to your nail tech.

Sea-Glass Nail Ideas

Ocean Blues

One of the standout looks from Chanel’s cruise show was this gradient blue color progression. The set slowly becomes more saturated from the thumb to the pinky finger, with a playful, opalescent chrome turning each blue-variant nail into a shell-like surface. Though the exact shades used at this show are unreleased, these lookalike Chanel variants can tide you over.

She Sells Seashells

The youngest Kar-Jenner sister tends to influence us with just about everything she wears these days, but I’m still thinking about this vacation set by celebrity manicurist Zola Ganzorigt from last year. She demonstrated her process in an Instagram tutorial, starting with a cat-eye base before layering a different pastel-colored chrome on top of each nail.

Pool Glazed

Multicolored nails are fun, but not every manicure calls for them. If you want to keep things a bit more streamlined, try this "pool-glazed" manicure, as described by professional manicurist Mateja Novakovic. The nail artist layered a pale pink hue and blue chrome powder, both from Manucurist, to achieve this translucent, watery look. But if you lament using messy powder, a chrome-effect nail polish works wonders, too.

Mermaid Scales

Another showstopper from the Chanel cruise show. "This is a simple look to do at home—a single swipe of semi-sheer, shimmery lacquer or a shimmery jelly shade will give you that wash of color and slight transparency," Kandalec muses.

Aura Chrome

Sea-glass nails are essentially the trend-stacked outcome of jelly nails, chrome, and the multi-colored mani, but celebrity nail artist Queenie Nguyen discreetly added another: aura nails. By blending a gradient color onto the nail before layering on the chrome, you can accomplish yet another alluring sea-glass effect.

Iridescent Stones

For something on the simpler side, this sophisticated iridescent nail polish makes ocean-inspired nails a breeze to achieve at home. Simply apply two thin layers of Olive and June's Sequin Everything—a stunning sheer blue with a pearly finish—for that sea-glass look.

Textured Glass

This textured look takes marine-inspired nails to the next level. Use a pastel chrome polish or powder to get this ultra-reflective look, or blend colorful hues onto your nails (aura-style!) to get this opalescent effect.