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Anyone who visited a nail salon in the 2000s likely remembers the following shared experience: you walk in, Katy Perry [3]'s "I Kissed a Girl" is playing in the background, and you're told to select a nail-polish colour [4] from the wall. Once seated, you opt for a short square length (because truly no other shape seems to exist), and after a few coats of polish, you choose a single tiny design to get on your ring finger. If you're going on holiday, it's likely a white palm tree or tropical flower; for a school party, maybe a single rhinestone or a zebra print if you're feeling fancy.
The list of recently resurrected Y2K beauty trends [5] is a long one. From french manicures [6] to claw clips and lip gloss, the early Noughties are influencing every inch of the beauty industry again. In spite of all this, we still didn't expect single-finger accent nails to make it onto our 2023 bingo card — yet here we are. If you keep up with red carpet events, you may have noticed a startling number of celebrities opting to get nail art on only one finger, directly opposing the maximalist approach to designs — where every inch of every fingernail is covered — that has reigned supreme in the last few years.
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"Nail art is having a major minimalistic moment," celebrity manicurist Julie Kandalec [9] tells POPSUGAR. "With 'supermodel' nails [10], 'lip gloss' nails [11], and blush nails, everyone is loving an understated mani this summer. This also comes down to nail art just on one finger à la the 1990s, where we would only do one ring finger."
For this year's Met Gala, Kandalec created a manicure like this on Emily Blunt [12]. She used black polish as the base before adhering a Chanel charm to her ring finger on each hand. "It's a nod to the minimalistic vibe and also a throwback to the Y2K era," she says.
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And she's not the only one enjoying this throwback style. For fashion's biggest night of the year, celebrity manicurist Kim Truong [15] did Miranda Kerr [16]'s nails in a neutral base with a white flower on her pointer fingers, while celebrity manicurist Tom Bachik [17] paired a ring-finger accent nail with a matte base and a side french tip for Jennifer Lopez [18]. Similarly, celebrity nail artist Zola Ganzorigt [19] decorated Madelyn Cline's middle finger with a single fleur-de-lis. To bring this trend into the 2020s, less is more. You can pair it with additional minimal designs, like the manicure Lopez wore, or just opt for simple shapes, like a flower or the Chanel logo [20]. The key is to keep it uncomplicated. The proof is all over Instagram: accent nails are back.
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