I Tried the Celebrity-Loved "Naked Nails" Trend, and Now I’m Hooked

Wanna know a secret? I just found out I love going naked. No, not when it comes to clothing (I actually found that out years ago). I'm talking about my manicure. I'm a beauty girlie, so I've tested plenty of nail trends, and I typically always err on the side of minimal (except that one time I tried vagina nails), so I'm always on the lookout for manicures that give me my-nails-but-better results. When I saw that "naked nails" were trending on TikTok, I was immediately intrigued and decided to do some digging.

"We saw the early phases of this trend take root with the rise of the 'invisible' manicure," Tenoverten founder Nadine Abramcyk says. "People have grown an appreciation for natural nails, the equivalent to the no-makeup look." The fun thing about naked nails is that you really can make the trend entirely your own. You can opt for bare nails without any polish, just the tiniest bit of shine with a topcoat, or you can go for a full-on gel manicure with a sheer color that gives a subtle wash of color.

I tried the completely bare-nails version of this trend for four months last summer, but because I have a bunch of events coming up this month, I wanted to try a more polished version that actually involved some color. I visited Labo Beauté, a nail salon in North Hollywood, Los Angeles, to try it out.

When I sat down in the chair, I showed the nail technician what I was looking to do, and I immediately started poring over the color options they had. We ended up trying on three or four different colors before I finally landed on one I liked. Once I picked a sheer color that looked similar to my natural nails, it was time to think about shape. At the time, my nails were round and they were getting pretty long, so I decided to opt for a short square shape. I also asked for builder gel, which makes my nails a little thicker and helps protect their health when getting frequent manicures.

After getting over the mild shock of having my nails cut super short, we got down to business. We used a clear builder gel and then did two very thin coats of polish. The polish had almost a lavender tint to it, which made my nails look similar to a subtle pink and white french manicure. After one final layer of topcoat, my nails were finished and looking really freaking good, if I do say so myself. They looked like — yes, I'm gonna say it again — my nails, but better. Clean, shaped, and ready to match with every single outfit I have planned for Coachella and Stagecoach. The final verdict? You really can't go wrong with naked nails.

Renee Rodriguez (she/her) is a staff writer and social producer for PS. She writes across all verticals, but her main areas of expertise focus on fashion and beauty content with an emphasis on reviews and editor experiments. She also produces social content for the PS TikTok and Instagram accounts.