Now Is the Time to Have Fun With Your French Manicure

There’s only one rule to the fun French: take things to the tip. “Everything’s still feeling super minimalistic in the nail look, but we’re taking the designs to the tip of the nail, which in my viewpoint still kind of represents a French,” says Bachik. For his part, Bachik suggests leaning into the season’s universal want of green polish, from moss to olive to emerald. “I love contrasting the colors, where you take like a light olive-y moss green and do a little micro French,” he says. Hguyen suggests trying a reverse French (simply swap the tips and base), adding geometric patterns in a similar color family, reaching for vibrant shades, and topping a classic French in chrome powder for an unexpected finish. 

As for length? For the most part, we’re still keeping things short. As we go into fall, normally people start to let their nails grow longer, and they get more pointed and luxurious— but we’re not going as long this year,” says Bachik. “I find that my clients in general, and kind of as I scour over social, people are keeping things minimal and chic.” Bachik suggests filing shorter nails on the squarer side, a detail that offers a nice full-circle evolution of early-aughts French. 

For the rest of the year, you’re invited to carry those off with a little kitsch—at least at nail-level.