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Imagine: You just left the nail salon, J.Lo’s first single is playing on every radio, pastel blue shadows adorn every eye, ultra-thin eyebrows are the norm, your mini-skirt is mini-ing, and your jeans are riding low. It is, of course, the 90s.
Fashion and beauty have long been obsessed with the decade on the other side of the millennium. And it feels like now—with nostalgia at its peak—is the perfect time to reflect on nail trends that really defined the ’90s. In the realms of ’90s Hollywood, the likes of Jennifer Aniston wore fiery reds or dark purples that matched her mini-dresses, while supermodels like Naomi Campbell bet on nails in chocolate brown shades, and Claudia Schiffer had a penchant for pastel. If you’re looking for lighter and even more minimalist designs, you’ll find inspiration in vintage pics of Alicia Silverstone, a very small Lindsay Lohan, and Courteney Cox. All of them opted for white nail polishes and the classic, now very viral French.
Below, find the best of the trending, minimalist ’90s nails to see you through summer into fall, and the pictures to show your nail artist.
Before “blueberry milk nails” there was a particular shade of sky blue nails dominated the ’90s (ah, Hard Candy Sky, I miss you). This type of malty, shaded polish came back into style thanks to TikTok recently, but Alicia Silverstone was a total devotee all the way through the 1990s. The light blue polish is cute and matchy-matchy when worn by the Clueless star way back when.
Rosé wine nails have already that their moment at the hands of eternal nail inspiration Hailey Bieber. This shade of light pink, with an added layer of sparkles, is ultra feminine and subtle enough for everyday and more formal events. It’s ideal if you’re looking for an understated polish, but one that makes your nails look as sleek and chic as a young Gwyneth Paltrow attending the Oscars.
While white French nail tips have proven themselves to be an enduring classic, in the ’90s, they were typically worn sharp and square. Both J.Lo and a mini Lindsay Lohan opted for this understated design at the time, and ever since, we’ve seen both O.G. takes and more contemporary twists on the French—and then there’s brides who have returned to wearing it as they say ‘I do.’
Claire Danes at the 1997 Oscar Awards is forever a reference: The actor wore a Narciso Rodriguez for Cerruti two-piece that paired perfectly with her oval-shaped silver nails with an opalescent finish. The metallic polish matched the dress, jewelry, and shoes in a similarly icy color palette that made a timeless monochromatic look. Don’t hesitate to commit to the chrome-like shades from summer into fall.
Milky white nails found their genesis in the ’90s. Both Friends co-stars Jennifer Aniston and Courteney Cox wore them casually and on the red carpet, keeping their shapes short with slightly rounded tips. White is an ideal color for summer—perfect with a golden suntan, while it lasts—and feels classic and understated for getting back into the rhythms of life in September.
The blueprint for glazed nails? No, it’s not Hailey Bieber—it was Jennifer Lopez at the Puerto Rican Day fashion show in New York, with the contemporarily described glazed donut nails. The pearly finish, achieved with a chrome powder, stays true to the ’90s era. Feeling even more nostalgic? Wear them with square-tipped acrylic nails.
Have a beauty or wellness trend you re curious about? We want to know! Send Vogue s senior beauty wellness editor an email at beauty@vogue.com.
