Mismatched nails are the official hot girl summer manicure

Calling all glazed donut nail fans! Hailey Bieber is leveling up from her minimalist chrome manicure to something much more artsy. Instead she’s sporting mismatched nails. In a recent Instagram post, Bieber ditched the clean, uniform nail look and wore different colours and designs on each finger.

Bieber’s not the only one doing mismatched nails. Our social meeds feeds are currently obsessed with clashing designs and contrasting colours. As for why the trend is taking off? Thea Green, founder of Nails.Inc says “it’s the era of the maximalist!” She also refers to the nails as the perfect canvas for creativity. You basically have 10 little blank slates to decorate.

Whether you’re having trouble deciding on just one colour or design or you get bored easily, a mismatched mani will keep you on your toes—pun intended—and allow you to indulge in a number of trends. Want some evil eyes? Great, those can go on one nail. Smiley faces? Put those on another. Nails.Inc’s Mani Marker Nail Art Pens are great if you’re DIYing your own designs. There are also plenty of stickers to choose from such as Inked by Dani Nail Art which features kitschy designs with everything from a slice of pizza to a pink alien.

If you don’t know where to start, a good place is with a basic mani and switching up the colours you would typically use. For instance, with a French manicure, you can do different coloured lines on each tip. Ready to level up from that? Add in some different coloured half moons on the base of the nail. The design winds up looking way more interesting and complicated than it actually is.

It can also be as simple as painting one hand one colour and the other hand another colour. You don’t have to go crazy with intricate nail art unless you really want to. Green recommends pairing pink and green or blue and white for major summer vibes.

Another way to try the mismatched trend is by deciding on five designs and switching up the placement of them from one hand to the next. This will ensure a cohesive look, but by doing the design on a different finger, it will appear like there’s more going on.

With all of the mismatched manis we’re seeing, it’s almost surprising to see when someone does have only one shade of polish on their hands. For inspo to take to your next nail appointment, we’ve rounded up some of the coolest (and most surprising) designs we’ve spotted.

Double French

Pride-inspired rainbow mani

Clashing Colours

Mismatched Aura

Graphic Designs

Spots and Flowers

Mismatched Neons

Mermaid Nails

Fun Fruits

Super Groovy

Nailing Neutrals