The best mismatched rainbow nails on Instagram for your next appointment

Screenshot these joyful mismatched rainbow nails for your next salon visit or lose a few hours attempting nail art this weekend.

When the strange, teenager-like trend of wearing mismatched nails first took over all of the various nail art pages I follow on Instagram, it was all about keeping to the same colour palette.

Various tones of green, every shade of pink from bubblegum to raspberry and light shades of pastels took over my feed for a while but have started to be replaced by an even more juvenile, joyful trend of mismatched nails; rainbow nails.

Essentially, you just paint a different shade of Crayola brights on each nail like you’re fourteen and just received a multi-pack of nail varnish as a gift, then bask in joy every time you look down at your hands.

If choosing a colour from the nail wheel gives you a headache, this is the trend for you. I have decision fatigue, so 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 pillarbox red shade in Wish Upon A Starboard, if you’re asking).

If you are not this person, but you’re suffering from tonal fatigue over your next set of mismatched rainbow nails, allow me to share a selection of favourites from my Instagram feed. Screenshot for your next trip to the salon, or fish out all your nail polishes and try it out yourself this weekend.

This article was originally published in February 2022.