The “Angel Mani” Is Fall’s Heaven-Sent Nude Nail Trend

There are angels among us. ABBA said it—”I believe in angels, something good in everything I see”—so it has to be true.

If you’re having trouble seeing them, though, there are a couple of ways to tell when you’ve met an angel in real life. Some of them will give you advice out of the blue or say something to you that you know you needed to hear. Some of them will give you a present (a free pastry with your morning matcha, maybe?) or do something that reminds you of someone you love. And some of them will just look angelic.

Selena Gomez is an angel. Actually, she’s the perfect example here. And though you couldn’t physically see her halo on her wedding day, a simple glance at her nails was all it took to tell she’s an ethereal being.

The Angel Mani Trend

Nude manicures with a little extra something special have been *the* most popular form of nail art for the past few years. We’ve seen soap nails, glazed nails, naked French tips, and nude jellies. But angel nails are the most heaven-sent version of the trend yet.

The look comes from Gomez’s go-to nail artist, Tom Bachik, who called her wedding nails an “angel mani” when breaking down the products he used to get the look in a recent Instagram post. In another photo, he called it an “angel worthy wedding mani,” and the whole world agreed.

At its most basic, an Angel Mani is a soft nude manicure with just a touch of chrome powder and glossy top coat. There’s not enough chrome happening to call these nails glazed, and there’s not enough pink to the hue to go lip gloss. Instead, you’ll find a simple but unmistakable glow going on.

To add to their mystique, this is also a look you’d see on a Victoria’s Secret angel making her way down the runway.

“We wanted to keep all the girls chic, beautiful, and glossy,” lead nail artist Dawn Sterling told Harper’s Bazaar about her vision for the 2024 show. “Our team is doing a natural sheer manicure, not too pink, not too white, that illuminates with the lighting and their wings. There’s so much going on with the colors and diamonds, so we just wanted to do a minimal-yet-fabulous nail moment.”

It just happens to be easier to carry around than a giant pair of wings.

Get the Look

Bachik started the manicure with his signature set of Tweezerman nail tools. To get that divine soft-almond shape, he custom fit some of Aprés Nail’s Gel-X Medium Length Coffin Tips. Then, he painted the nails with Aprés Nail’s buildable sheer gel polish in When It Hits and finished things off with his own Shop Tom Bachik Cosmic Chrome powder in Angel, an “icy clear that gleams like frosted glass,” and Click Colors nail polish in Super Clear.

The truth of the matter is that angels come in all shapes and sizes, so you can be a little choosy when it comes to your Angel Mani shape. If you like short nails, go for it. Stilettos will do the trick, too. This is a look that any salon would happily replicate, or you could pick up some similar press-ons like Glamnetic’s Los Angeles pack (it’s the city of angels, baby!) and tackle it at home.

When your fingernails hit the light just right, I swear they’ll each have a tiny halo of their own. Oh yeah! You might be an angel, too.