How To Do Aurora Nails, Instagram’s Favourite New Mani Trend

The mesmerising nail effect is inspired by the Nail salon in Katy.
With April 12 right around the corner, I can’t wait to go and get my nails all done up once the salons open. For those of us waiting to get our manis, chances are we’ve been eyeing up nail art, including perhaps the aurora effect. But what are aurora nails? Here’s what you need to know, including where the design comes from, and how to do aurora nails at home.
What Are Aurora Nails?
Aurora nails are — as their name may suggest — pretty magical. If you consider what the word aurora actually represents (a natural electrical phenomenon, which results in incredible light displays across the sky), you can pretty quickly work out what to expect from aurora nails. These nails are iridescent, holographic, or opalescent, and catch the light in beautiful ways. And the experts are already fully on board.
“I love the way these nails catch the light in a space-age unicorn kind of way, they look like a real life filter,” notes Suzi Rezler, founder of press-on nail brand Naillery.
“This is yet another design — following the Velvet nails trend — that creates a magical mysterious effect,” say the team at Selfish salon. “Different textures, sparkly and iridescent effects are extremely popular nail art trends at the moment.”
Where Did The Trend Come From?
Like many impressive nail trends on Instagram, aurora nails hail from South Korea. The trend started going viral through the hashtag #오로라네일 (which is ‘aurora nails’ written in Korea’s Hangul script), which used on over 140,000 posts on Instagram, while the English version, #AuroraNails, is attached to over 70,000 now.
How Can You Achieve The Aurora Effect At Home?
If you want a really professional finish, I’d advise waiting until April 12 and treating yourself to the full works at a nail salon. “In a salon, the look is created by rubbing the nail with iridescent chrome powder,” explains Rezler. “Next they would cut out an oblong of holographic foil which is smaller than your nail plate and lay it centrally top-to-bottom on the nail, using hard gel to encapsulate the foil and build a raised area. Then paint with top coat for even more shine.”
You can actually give it a go from home, but it’s a pretty advanced look to opt for unless you’re a nail art pro. There are several YouTube tutorials which talk you through it, but as they explain, you’ll need to order your chromes and foils.
Alternatively, there are lots of beautiful nail polishes you can try out in the mean time, which may not look as profesh, but will still give an impressive effect.
The Essie Original Celebration Collection 696 Hello World White Shimmer Nail Polish looks perfect for this (as suggested by Vogue), and I also found this gorgeous-looking set by INC.redible which could be worth a try.
Alternatively, this is where custom-made press on nails really come into their own. Companies like Naillery can make any design you want (within reason), meaning zero faff or effort is needed and you can just pop on and go.
Etsy also has some great pre-made options, such as these lovely ones.