Pastels for spring? Hardly groundbreaking. But one surprising shade is currently exploding all over TikTok, and it’s replacing seasonal peach nails and milky white manis. Enter “millennial mint” nail polish, the freshest trend for spring.
It’s no secret that Hulu’s nine-part series Love Story has sparked a ‘90s fashion and beauty resurgence, from slip skirts to brown eyeliner and matte skin. Now you can match your manicure to your nostalgia, too. Or perhaps our obsession with matcha has gone beyond the coffee shop to our fingertips. Fashion designer Marc Jacobs has even co-signed the trend with a “crystal-clear mint manicure”—that is, a glass nail with crystal appliqués—on the runway.
“Pastel nails are a prominent staple for spring, with mint in particular acting as a visual reset thanks to its natural crispness,” says Daisy Kalnina, founder of The GelBottle, who has just launched a bright teal-meets-mint polish shade called Cenote. “Earlier this season, we saw an intentional move away from sugary, sweet pastels toward cooler, dustier shades. Now that the days are getting longer, we are noticing a shift towards punchier, more vibrant iterations. The beauty of mint is that it can do both: It’s incredibly versatile and with such a wide spectrum of tones, there is a mint to suit every skin tone.”
“Millennial mint” nails also appeal to the minimalists out there as a soft pastel iteration is still a neutral tint. The color is only half the story, though. The reason mint rather than peach nails are taking off this summer is because they’re incredibly versatile for everything from cat-eye finishes to colorful tips. Keep scrolling for more mint nail polish inspo.
