Play with primary colours 

Shelve the pastels, please. “My favourite summer nail trend is the return of bright, bold colours like those classic reds, oranges, pinks and blues,” says L’Oréal Paris Global Nail Designer Tom Bachik. Celebrity nail artist Mar y Sol Inzerillo is also feeling brights. “Thanks to Beyoncé and Lemonade, yellow is trending,” she says.

 

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L’Oréal Paris Le Vernis à L’Huile by Colour Riche in Bleu Royale ($9.99), at drugstores and mass market retailers.

 

Stop with the stiletto nails (for now) 

“I am noticing that a lot of people are going towards oval nails. It’s more vintage, classic, more elegant,” says Inzerillo. Bachik agrees. “For summer, because we’re more active, shapes are soft and classic. Instead of long stilettos, go with a soft almond.”

 

Your nails should complement your outfit 

We’re not saying match your red nails to your red lip to like it’s 1985 again (although Gigi did this last week and it looked amazing. But do play with complementary colours. This is how Bachik dreams up his red-carpet looks. “Most of the time it starts with the dress. Then I work really closely with the makeup [look] because we play off each other with colour – matching the lip to the nail, matching the eye to the nail. It doesn’t have to be matchy-matchy; it just has to be tonal. That means either contrasting like a deep royal blue nail with a deep plum lip or complementary like Pantone’s colours of the year, that baby blue and the soft, rosy pink, they complement each other even though they’re technically contrasting colours.”

 

Nail art is not dead; it’s minimalist 

Inzerillo is all about the negative space manicure this season. “I did my first negative space nail art for a show like four or five years ago. But it’s still here. It’s easy. It looks fun. It’s affordable. I always like to use a striping brush or dotting tool. You can get a stripping brush at an arts and crafts store.”

 

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Formula X The Colors Nail Polish ($13), at sephora.com.