Chrome French tips and polka dots may have been huge last year, yet nail artists are saying that trending manicures are now looking more and more low-maintenance.
"The reasoning is pretty much always some combo of ‘I want my nails to look natural’, and being over chipped polish and constant infills, work environments where loud nails feel like a lot, or just wanting that effortless low-maintenance style,” says celebrity manicurist Iram Shelton.
At Marc Jacobs’ Spring/Summer 2026 show, models walked the runway with short, bare-looking, deliberately unpolished nails.
The runway chimed with a wider trend known as "naked nails", where natural-looking nail beds, neat shapes and healthy shine replaced elaborate art and obvious colour – perhaps an extension of the now ubiquitously known "clean girl makeup".
Now, social media is taking the trend one step further with nailmaxxing – a term for maximising the appearance and health of your natural nails, from their shape and length, to the condition of your cuticles.
"It’s probably the biggest shift I’ve seen in my chair this past year,” says Shelton.
"People who used to come in begging for chrome or crazy nail art are now like ‘make it look like I’m not wearing anything’, which is kind of funny because that look actually takes way more skill than people think.”
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What actually is nailmaxxing?
Much like looksmaxxing or sleepmaxxing – the online suffix used to describe the pursuit of optimising a particular aspect of your appearance or lifestyle – nailmaxxing essentially means maximising every element of how your nails look.
"Nailmaxxing is essentially about maximising the appearance and health of your natural nails, looking at everything from the shape and length of the nail to the condition of the cuticles and surrounding skin,” explains nail technician Rhiannon Thayre at Paint Nails London.
"Rather than focusing solely on nail art, there is much more attention on making the natural nail itself look as healthy, elongated and well-groomed as possible.”
Thayre believes its popularity is part of the rejection of obviously "done" beauty in favour of more natural, effortless-looking results.
"There’s also a move towards treating nail care in a similar way to skincare,” she says.
"People are increasingly interested in the health of the nail and the skin around it, rather than only thinking about which colour they’re going to choose.”
So what is a ‘naked manicure’?
There are slightly different interpretations of just how naked your nails need to be.
For nail artist Hannah Johnson at Shoreditch Nails, it is about "a well-maintained natural nail (with) no product worn on the nail.
"The look is defined by a perfectly neat shape and healthy shine, achieved with cuticle oil and buffed to a shine.”
Thayre’s interpretation, however, requires a little more assistance.
"The naked manicure is all about enhancing what you naturally have rather than covering it up,” she says, suggesting, "a sheer wash of nude, pink or milky colour that allows the natural nail to remain visible”.
And despite the appetite for "bare" nails, Shelton says most of her clients aren’t abandoning nail varnish altogether – rather looking for their shade but better.
"As for the split, most people aren’t going fully bare. I’d say it’s like 80/20 toward that 'glazed doughnut, your nails but better’ look.”
How do you get healthier-looking nails?
If nailmaxxing has encouraged you to scrutinise your own nail beds, buying a cupboard full of strengthening products isn’t necessarily the answer.
Johnson says three of the most important steps are "not to pick or peel your gel (or) BIAB (builder in a bottle) off”, as well as going to a salon where time and care is taken with removals and with nail prep, with no over-filing or buffing of the nail plate.
For at home, "oil and protecting your nails with gloves when cleaning”, is a must, says Johnson.
Cuticle oil is also top of Thayre’s list, noting, "If I could get clients to adopt one nail habit, it would be applying a good-quality cuticle oil every day."
She adds: "Keeping the nail and surrounding skin conditioned helps maintain flexibility, and a flexible nail is generally less likely to become brittle and snap.”
Thayre recommends looking for nourishing oils such as jojoba, alongside protecting hands from excessive exposure to water and cleaning chemicals as Johnson also says.
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Do you need to give up gel and BIAB?
While we all know that gel manicures aren’t the healthiest thing for our nails, you don’t necessarily need to give them up when you’re pursuing nailmaxxing.
"You can absolutely maintain healthy natural nails while wearing gel or builder products such as BIAB,” says Thayre.
"In my experience, the biggest factor isn’t simply whether somebody wears an enhancement, it’s how well that product is applied, maintained and removed.”
Johnson similarly says a break isn’t always required "if your gel or BIAB is intact and not lifting”.
"Taking a break is good when your nails are brittle from dehydration or if there has been any damage from removing or over-prepping the nail,” she says.
Both, however, say peeling products off at home is the worst thing you can do for your nails. Johnson also says to never glue lifted gel back onto the nail and instead head to the salon for a proper application.
"Clients sometimes assume their nails need to ‘breathe’, but the nail plate itself is made from keratinised cells and doesn’t breathe in the way skin does,” explains Thayre.
"If there are signs of thinning, soreness, significant peeling or another problem, that’s when I would reassess what’s being used and whether a period without enhancements is best.”
How to recreate a naked manicure at home
The good news is that this is one viral nail trend that doesn’t require a particularly steady hand.
"The easiest way to recreate the naked manicure at home is taking your time to file the perfect shape, and using a nourishing cuticle oil to keep them hydrated and shiny,” says Johnson.
If you want some colour, Thayre recommends a sheer nude, soft pink or milky neutral rather than an opaque nail varnish.
"You want something that subtly blurs imperfections while still allowing the natural nail to show through. One or two very thin coats usually gives that effortless ‘your nails but better’ effect.”
Rather than automatically reaching for beige or baby pink, consider your undertones too.
"Some people suit a cooler sheer pink, while others with warm or green undertones look better with a warmer beige, peach or neutral nude,” says Thayre.
"Rather than trying to match your skin exactly, look for a shade that makes both the nail and surrounding skin look fresh and healthy.”
Finish with a glossy top coat and cuticle oil – or, for a genuinely naked manicure, skip the polish entirely and carefully buff the natural nail to a shine. – dpa
