Your Guide To The Lip Gloss Nails Trend

One thing you can always rely on the nail community for is to continue to churn out new trends at an alarming rate. Well, that and the fact that cool nail art videos will never cease to exist. Over recent years, in the era of TikTok, beauty trends have become exceedingly viral. Suddenly, when a new beauty trend goes viral just about everyone knows about it and has gotten into it before you've even stumbled across it. Viral trends have been moving at the speed of light. Especially nail trends. 

2022 has been the unofficial year of the glazed donut nails. If you haven't popped into your nail salon wanting chrome polish and had your nail tech roll her eyes and ask "glazed donut nails?" yet then you are seriously behind. Glazed donut nails were originally made popular by Hailey Bieber during her promo tour of the skincare brand Rhode, per Allure

Something about the wet-looking, super shiny, and simple nail look spoke to just about everyone, and considering how easy it was to achieve and even easier to pull off it became a staple for most. Well, it's time to set the donuts aside and make way for a brand new nail trend that is set to be the next big thing — and things are only getting glossier.

What are lip gloss nails?

If you personally prefer to reach for the deepest and darkest of nail polishes every winter, then this trend might not be the one for you. As with any great beauty trend, this one is can be traced back to Y2K. Who could forget the era when juicy gloss tubes reigned supreme (via Elle)? They were all we needed really and all we loved to apply in excess. Don't worry, while the term lip gloss nails may seem jarring, it doesn't actually involve coating your nails in a gloopy lip gloss mess. It's much simpler than that. 

Lip gloss nails are the simplest, cleanest look you can give your nails, and considering we live in a 'clean girl' age it is guaranteed to spread like wildfire. Lip gloss nails are simply when you apply as sheer a coat possible of neutral pink nail polish, with as glossy a top coat as possible (per WIO News). The idea is to have your nails look similar to lips with only lip gloss on; super wet, super shiny, and barely any color there. Of course, as with the glazed donut nail trend, there's no saying the only way to achieve this look is with sheer neutral polishes. You could also get creative and apply a sheer coat of any color of your choice so long as you get it as glossy as possible. 

Why are lip gloss nails becoming so popular?

Scrolling through endless TikToks of lip gloss nails may have you doing double takes. If you think it looks familiar you aren't wrong. Lip gloss nails are essentially a throwback to the OG jelly nail polish days. In fact, many choose to opt for jelly nail polish to achieve the look. It isn't groundbreaking, but it is definitely a new trend that's set to be the next big thing. 

Celebrity nail artist Sonyua Belakhlef told Byrdie, "This trend is like the neutral version of the jelly trend that was big during the summer." Belakhlef adds, "This year we've seen a lot of really intricate and bold nail arts trending, including cool geometric looks and bright, neon colors. With nail trends, the pendulum always swings, and more minimal looks like this are like a breath, or a pause, between the bigger looks."

Similarly to glazed donut nails, what's so appealing about lip gloss nails is how easy they are to pull off. This is a classical trend that anyone can work into their nail rotation. You can incorporate it into your usual nail system whether you prefer gel polish or normal nail polish. When are glossy nails ever not in style? Belakhlef gave Byrdie some of her own tips on the best ways to achieve the lip gloss nail look. "While you don't need to have super long nails to rock this, they look great on nails with a little extra length."