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Kylie Jenner has long been a source of beauty inspo for many, whether it’s her pink hair (King Kylie era, anyone?), surprising manicures, or plastic surgery. She manages to create trends before they’re even on anyone’s radar and to lean into popular trends while making them her own. Case in point: Marrying fashion and beauty together, her latest manicure features one of fashion’s most popular pattern for this summer—polka dots—and takes it to the next level with a shiny, mirrorball finish. They’re giving disco ball, so we’re officially deeming them disco polka-dot nails.
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Jenner took to Instagram to share a snap of her latest summer nail look on her IG Stories. It’s a classic white French manicure on long, almond-shaped nails with silver chrome polka dots placed evenly across each nail.
Celebrity manicurist Michelle Humphrey is responsible for the disco ball design. It’s certainly not the first (or last) out-of-the-box mani she’s created for a star like Jenner: Humphrey also gave Dua Lipa a similar manicure earlier this summer featuring black-and-white Frenchies with polka dots. She also can be credited for creating Dua Lipa’s diamante floral nails earlier this summer and has worked with everyone from Tate McRae and Charli XCX to Julianne Moore and Cate Banchett. Talk about a client roster!
Polka-dot nails are having a serious moment this summer. Beyond Jenner’s and Dua Lipa’s most recent manis, we’ve spotted (ha!) the retro pattern on Hailey Bieber’s nails twice (in both lemon drop yellow and clear glass) and on Sabrina Carpenter for the music video of her latest single “Manchild”—so the celebs are definitely on board.
Though polka dots have of course been around for much longer than just this summer, why is the 1960s-esque pattern having a resurgence right now? “I think polka dots have become popular because it gives a mod feel to your classic manicure,” says Evelyn Lim, chief educator at MiniLuxe’s Paintbox studio in New York City. “Dua, Hailey, and Sabrina often pull inspiration from retro beauty trends. Polka dots fit their aesthetic perfectly.” These nails are playful, sophisticated, and best of all, easily recreated at home. All you need is a nail dotting tool to place dots all over your nails, though Lim suggests a bobby pin or ballpoint pen will do the trick if you’re in a pinch.
These trending polka dots aren’t the only creative mani we’ve seen from Jenner lately. Just this summer she’s worn impressively realistic snakeskin print nails and a studded French mani (both courtesy of celeb nail artist Zola Ganzorigt). It’s safe to say that Kylie Jenner is signing off on maximalist nail designs all summer long.
Catharine Malzahn is the contributing associate beauty editor at Glamour.