Nail-art trends [1] are constantly evolving, but sometimes the best ones come from the past. The half-moon nail designs are seeing a resurgence but much like the buzzy trends that came before it — french manicures [2], chrome nails [3], crystal embellishments — the look is nothing new. It's just gotten a much-needed update.
For anyone who's not familiar, half-moon nails feature a half circle at the nail bed that's either a different colour from the base nail polish colour or clear. "The half-moon nail art trend represents yet another interesting variation of the french manicure - it's an exaggerated tip and is akin to negative space nail art through the absence of polish at the bottom of the nail," Jin Soon Choi, founder of JINsoon Nails [4], tells POPSUGAR.
The half-moon design on nails can be traced back to the Golden Age of Hollywood, but this fall, it's going to find itself seated back at in the number-one spot of the top nail trends for the season. "It's a great fall design because you are still painting a majority of the nail with a single shade, but the absent portion reads as another, showing your natural nail tone," says Choi. "This contrast lends itself to rich, unexpected fall colours [5]."
Choosing a deeper, earthy shade for the base colour creates even more of a contrast and makes the nails pop. Choosing a clear polish at the base, as explained in this TikTok video [6], makes for easier grow-out since you can stretch the time between salon visits. "It's also quite easy as a DIY [7] nail-art design because you don't have to apply nail polish all the way to the top of the cuticle," says Choi. As a hack, she recommends using tape or pre-cut nail stencils to mark off the area you don't want to paint.
Ahead, get inspiration for your own half-moon nails ahead.