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Pastel-colored nails are a perennial favorite choice for spring. After all, a pretty pale hue can’t help but call to mind the season’s natural beauty: flowers returning to bloom, tiny leaf buds on branches, and the first warm days of sunshine.
For spring 2025, the sweetest nail polish color takes the pastel nail trend to the next level with a hue that feels especially fresh: periwinkle. A hybrid shade that toes the line between light blue and lilac, periwinkle offers a modern alternative to forever classics like lavender and lilac.
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The periwinkle nail trend for Spring 2025
Periwinkle is a flowering perennial plant that blooms between spring and summer. Its tiny blossoms are a unique blend of blue, purple, and gray—the intensity of which are captured in a range of periwinkle nail polish shades this season.
In its lightest version, the color leans in the direction of gray, revealing itself as a pale blue-violet. In the darker versions, the mid-point between soft blue and pastel purple is explored—the results of which match a shade that Pantone has named Deep Periwinkle.
The periwinkle nail polish trend for spring 2025 therefore, offers several options—from light colors suspended somewhere between lilac and light blue to dark, purple-blues that play with intensity and depth.
Oscillating between lilac, light blue, and gray, light periwinkle nails are the winning formula for those looking for a delicate pastel shade inspired by the sky and flower petals. Whether one opts for a classic manicure enhanced by shaded effects with touches of purple warming the center of the nail, or a colorful French manicure with mismatched tips, this shade lends itself well to any shape and length.
Glitter lends a shimmery touch to periwinkle nails, whether mottled with purple, as in Max Factor’s Bright Angelite, or fine, luminous silver, like OPI’s beloved Show Us Your Tips. In either case, the celestial pigment dominates, making for a dreamy manicure inspired by sparkling blue spring skies.
If you prefer a more dramatic look, dark periwinkle offers an intense pigment that matches the impact of periwinkle flower petals. A good compromise between lighter and darker shades are the creamy, dusty, purple-grays offered by nail polishes such as Kiko Milano’s Violet Veil and OPI’s All Is Berry Bright.
Dark purple-blue nail polish is the most intense yet when it comes to following the periwinkle nail trend. Suspended between deep blue and deep purple, the polish looks equally striking on short, square nails as it does on long, tapered nails. Try it with a veil of bright chrome powder to enhance the shades three-dimensionality.
