Ask your nail artist for Aurora nails in 2024

It's set to be the biggest trend of the year

Beauty Crew Beauty Editor / January 17 2024

When we predicted the biggest nail trends forecasted to make it big in 2024, we had no idea that there was one we missed that is speculated to be bigger than all of them. 

Introducing: Aurora nails. 

Currently boasting just shy of 162k posts on Instagram, the #auroranails trend is still finding it's feet, but it's gaining momentum, and fast. 

What are aurora nails?

Aurora nails get their name from aurora borealis (otherwise known as the northern lights) due to their holographic, light-refracting appearance. 

The effect is achieved using holographic nail foils and thick, 3D gel, which is layered onto the nail plate to create a new nail shape.

The trend originated in Korea, though it's also very popular in Japan, and now it's made it's way to western countries like America, France and Australia. 

Korean American nail artist Mary Koh has been a big proponent for the trend and teaches the K-beauty technique in online classes, as well as offering the service to her customers.

“In Korea it’s called uru uru nails. I wanted to bring it back as a simple yet fun design,” Koh recently told Glamour.

“I created my look by layering foils in a multistep process,” Koh explained to the publication. “Most importantly, I make sure the cuticle line is clean so that the design can take front and centre.” 

The beauty of the aurora nail trend is that there aren't any hard and fast rules about what you can and cannot do. 

The aim of the game is to simply find a foil and translucent gel combination that aligns with your style, so if your nail artist is up for it, this could be a great opportunity for creative collaboration. 

Aurora Nail Trend Inspiration

If you're stuck for ideas and don't know where to start, keep scrolling, we've found some of the best aurora nail trend inspiration the Internet has to offer...

Another nail trend we're loving right now? Celebrities like Elizabeth Debicki and Selena Gomez wearing affordable nail polish on the red carpet.

Main image credit: @kkoht_nails

Briar Clark got her start in the media industry in 2017, as an intern for Marie Claire and InStyle. Since then, her keen interest in fashion and beauty has landed her gigs as a Digital Content Producer and Beauty Editor with titles like Girlfriend, Refinery29, BEAUTYcrew and beautyheaven. She loves the way seemingly innocuous topics like skin care and style have the ability to put a smile on people’s faces or make them think about themselves a little differently. A big believer in self love and experimentation, Briar has made a point of becoming the Australian beauty industry’s unofficial guinea pig for unusual treatments and daring hair trends. When she’s not testing out the latest beauty launches, Briar is big on broadening her horizons, mostly in the form of food but she’s also partial to travelling to new destinations both near and far (and of course, allocating an extra bag to bring their best beauty offerings home with her).

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