The 20 best mismatched nails on Instagram

Screenshot these and take them on your next salon visit.

What started as a strange and incredibily teenager-like nail trend on the various nail art pages I follow on Instagram has lifted off my phone screen and moved into my daily life.

As of this week, mismatched nails are on the hands of three colleagues, two friends and various other hands I have interacted with as I go about my life: the barista who handed me my coffee, the security staff who checked my ticket at a concert, the hand I shook at a meeting. If three times makes a trend, mismatched nails have gone quite viral in my life.

The trend is relatively simple – take a range of shades in preferably the same colour palette, like various tones of green, pastels or Crayola brights and paint a different shade on each nail like you’re fourteen and just received a multi-pack of nail varnish as a gift.

Is this inability to choose a single colour a reflection of being desperately overstimulated with far too much to choose from in absolutely every capacity in life from tv shows to takeaways to news channels?

The thought of picking out five colours for my nails gives me a headache. I have decision fatigue, meaning I frequently scroll Netflix for an hour then give up and watch the same show on repeat, always order the same thing from the takeaway and get my nails repainted the exact same shade every single time – Gelish’s delicious pillarbox red shade in Wish Upon A Starboard, if you’re asking.

If you are not this person, and you’re suffering from tonal fatigue over your next set of mismatched nails, allow me to share a selection of favourites from my Instagram feed…

 

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A post shared by Madeline Poole (@mpnails) on Jun 7, 2019 at 5:41pm PDT

 

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A post shared by NAILS by MEI (@nailsbymei) on Sep 18, 2019 at 10:09am PDT

 

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A post shared by Betina R. Goldstein (@betina_goldstein) on Jan 28, 2019 at 7:03am PST

 

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A post shared by Olive & June (@oliveandjune) on Sep 17, 2019 at 9:02am PDT

 

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A post shared by Betina R. Goldstein (@betina_goldstein) on Sep 16, 2019 at 7:02am PDT

 

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A post shared by Betina R. Goldstein (@betina_goldstein) on Sep 17, 2019 at 11:05am PDT

 

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A post shared by Betina R. Goldstein (@betina_goldstein) on Sep 6, 2019 at 9:32am PDT

 

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A post shared by Betina R. Goldstein (@betina_goldstein) on Aug 11, 2019 at 4:50pm PDT

 

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A post shared by Olive & June (@oliveandjune) on Sep 12, 2019 at 4:31pm PDT

 

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A post shared by Olive & June (@oliveandjune) on Sep 8, 2019 at 5:39pm PDT

 

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A post shared by Betina R. Goldstein (@betina_goldstein) on Apr 8, 2019 at 10:59am PDT

 

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A post shared by Nails inc (@nailsinc) on Jul 29, 2019 at 2:11am PDT

 

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A post shared by Michelle Li (@himichelleli) on Feb 14, 2019 at 9:53am PST

 

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A post shared by Betina R. Goldstein (@betina_goldstein) on Feb 13, 2019 at 4:17pm PST

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A post shared by Michelle Lee (@heymichellelee) on Jul 17, 2019 at 5:53pm PDT

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A post shared by Miss Pop (@misspopnails) on May 8, 2019 at 4:31pm PDT

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A post shared by DRYBY (@drybylondon) on Jun 26, 2019 at 8:04am PDT

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A post shared by sundays (@sundays_studio) on Sep 5, 2019 at 3:20pm PDT

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A post shared by sundays (@sundays_studio) on Aug 27, 2019 at 2:51pm PDT

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A post shared by sundays (@sundays_studio) on Aug 22, 2019 at 12:53pm PDT

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A post shared by sundays (@sundays_studio) on May 5, 2019 at 12:33pm PDT

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A post shared by Chillhouse (@chillhouse) on Apr 7, 2019 at 11:27am PDT

Photography by @betina_goldstein. 

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