A Definitive Guide to All the Different Types of French Manicures You Can Get

If we had to crown one beauty trend the fan favorite of the year, it’d have to be the french manicure. This nail-art trend had quite the powerful resurgence over the last few years, and it’s still going strong. Not only did we see lots of the classic version of the old-made-new-again nail design, but countless spinoff iterations of the french mani have popped up, creating an entirely new kind of modern french manicure. And truthfully, they’ve been hard to keep track of.

Side-tip, inverted, double, two-toned, shadow — these are just a few of the popular twists people put on the french manicure recently. All you have to do is open Instagram, TikTok, or Pinterest, and we guarantee you’ll spot at least one of these — and if you follow stars like Megan Thee Stallion, Lizzo, and Dua Lipa, you’re bound to see them daily. Identifying each nail-art trend by name takes some studying, but luckily, you don’t have to feel out of the loop anymore. We created a guide to all of the different types of french-manicure designs ahead.

Once you know exactly what you want and can express that to your manicurist at your next appointment, the only thing left for you to do is decide on a color scheme. French-manicure colors change with the season. In the spring and summer, rainbow french manicures are popular — though you can rock them whenever you choose — and chrome french manicures are proving to be the go-to for winter. Experimenting with different styles of nail art is one of the best (and easiest) ways to express yourself, so don’t be afraid to step outside of your comfort zone and go bold. The options are never-ending. If you need french manicure ideas of your own, you have options. You can wear french manicures on short nails and even french manicures on your toes if you choose.

Get ready to be a pro at calling out all of the trendiest french-manicure styles out there.