There’s arguably no nail design more elegant or timeless than simple French tips. They flatter any nail shape and length, making you look instantly polished, and there are myriad ways you can play—from rainbow-topped manis to mix-and-match prints. The classic look will always have a place in my heart, but I’ll see your French tip and raise you a nail crown, a design that has been hot since the holidays and is showing no signs of cooling off.
If you love French manis, trust me. You’re going to fall head over heels for this trending iteration. (I, for one, have been obsessed since spotting it in WWW associate beauty editor Maya Thomas’s nail inspiration guide.) The tiny tweak ramps up the elegance by 1000%. But don’t just take my word for it! Below, celebrity nail artist Julie Kandalec spills all the details you need to know.
What are nail crowns, and why are they trending in 2025?
The name says it all—chic, tiny crowns for your nails. Yes, that basically refers to a gemstone-adorned French mani, but “nail crowns” has a much nicer ring to it, don’t you think?
Rather than a constellation of gems on the nail plate, nail crowns feature a uniform layer of jewels placed on the tip of the nail right where you’d paint a French tip. “Just outline the smile line,” Kandalec explains. She recommends using teeny-tiny gems for a minimal flash of sparkle. “It’s a little more chic,” she notes.
Of course, we have nothing against full-on Starry Night nails. Glitzy, bedazzled tips will always have their time and place—especially during the holidays—but there’s something about a tiny nail crown that just screams taste. “We were having a moment over the summer where jewels were sprinkled randomly around [the nail],” Kandalec adds. “This is more of a precise way to wear them when it’s just on the tip.”
How to Create Nail Crowns at Home
First things first: Choose your gemstones. Kandalec recommends placing the tiniest jewels in the corners, and gradually going larger, and placing the biggest gem in the center—a pretty tiara moment! “It’s more flush on the sides, and you’ll get much longer wear as well,” she notes. “A lot of kits nowadays come with multiple sizes [of jewels], so you can do this really easily without having to buy separate sizes.” (Don’t worry; she recommends some below.)
Once you have your jewels picked out, follow these easy steps.
- Work on one nail at a time. Apply one layer of topcoat on the entire nail plate, then dip a dotting tool into a little bit of topcoat to pick up your gem of choice.
- Place it on top of that wet polish (“It kind of comes up around the gem,” Kandalec explains), and hold it into place. Repeat this process until you have your whole nail crown outlined.
- “I usually go back over it with another coat of topcoat so it’s really encased in between the two layers,” Kandalec adds. Especially if you’re using a bigger gem, you’ll want to make sure it’s secure between those two coats.
- If you’re using gel polish, follow a similar format: “Pop that gem right into the uncured gel, cure it, outline it with a little more gel, then cure again,” she explains. It’s important to add your second layer of gel around the gemstones, not on top of them, as a top layer of gel will dull the jewels’ facets.
In terms of colors, feel free to go as minimal or bright as you please. A silver crown is always elegant, or you could opt for an array of colorful sparkles. Kandalec herself is partial to an Elphaba-Glinda moment (“Pink and green are just beautiful colors together, anyway,” she shares) or a bold pink-and-black combo.
“I’m someone that really likes colors that are next to each other on the color wheel—like blue and green, green and purple, red and yellow, pink and purple,” she continues. “I think those together are really subtle, and they can be really chic as well.” No matter which gems you choose, keep your base polish nude so those sparkles can really make an impact.
