These 11 nail looks have convinced me that green nail polish is going to be *the* product of 2024

It's such a universal colour palette

Woman wearing a green nail polish look and a Prada bag
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Be it a single block colour or nail art, I love experimenting with nail designs and have a Pinterest board stacked full of the latest nail trends. Recently, I’ve noticed green nail ideas are becoming more and more popular, so it’s clearly a key colour trend for the winter 2023-24 season.

“People didn’t realise how chic it could look but now they’ve seen it doing the rounds, everyone is loving it,” luxury manicurist Julia Diogo tells me. “It’s elevated, chic and pairs well with lots of outfits, which helps!” This makes sense when you think about it, as green is such a versatile palette – think forest, sage, emerald, khaki and matcha, to name but a few shades.

“I love it as a full cover shade as it looks super elegant, however, I have been asked to pair the shade with a nude base for a micro French manicure and it also looks great – it’s not something people do often but it looks so good,” Julia adds. Ahead are 11 super wearable green nail ideas that should be on your radar for the year ahead. 

The best green nail polish looks to recreate now

1. Forest green

Forest green is such a brilliant dark, wintery colour, making it very appropriate for manicures at this time of year. The cool, deep tone is really flattering and is nice way of branching out from your more often seen pinks, reds and neutrals. 

2. Gold line accents

A metallic accent is a great way to really elevate your manicure to party-ready status. If you’re taking the DIY route, an ultra-fine nail art brush will help you to create the fine line with gold nail polish. 

3. Sage green

Sage is a cool-toned green that’s also great for winter wear, but is a fantastic one to wear into spring as we head into pastel season. It’s a great choice of green that compliments a lot of other colours outfits-wise.

4. Dark green French tips

As Julia notes, green tips make for a really cool statement manicure that’s a modern twist on the classic French mani. They also work well on just about any nail shape, whether you prefer almond, round, or square nails, for example.

5. Pistachio

A warmer and brighter shade, pistachio is a great choice for a manicure. The yellow-toned green is quite uplifting and has a boldness to it that's a change from the more often-seen bright reds, pinks, etc.

6. Emerald

Jewel tones like emerald green proved popular as autumn nail trends late last year, and that doesn’t look to be changing any time soon. It’s a flattering and chic shade of green. 

7. Swirls

Swirls are a great simple nail art choice, whether you go for one or two accent nails, mix and match with French tips as seen here, or have them on every single nail. They look great as part of a negative space-style design. 

8. Mint green

Another classic pastel shade, mint green is a pretty choice of colour when worn all over the nails or as part of a nail art design like pastel French tips. 

9. Checks and stripes

Green can be incorporated into all sorts of unique manicure designs, like this mix-and-match checks and stripes look. If you don’t rate your nail art skills, it may be best left to a pro in-salon, but they’re a great statement. 

10. Khaki

Khaki is another great shade of green that is very complimentary with other colours and looks particularly good as a block-colour manicure. 

11. Chrome

Excellent for party season, chrome nails are still going strong as a trend. If you don’t opt for chrome powder at the salon, pearlescent and chrome polishes can help you to get the look at home.

Lucy Abbersteen
Beauty Contributor

Lucy is a freelance beauty editor and contributor at Marie Claire, and has written for titles including Glamour, Refinery29, Popsugar, woman&home and more. She was previously Marie Claire’s junior beauty editor. During her career, she’s covered everything from backstage beauty at fashion week to interviews with famous faces like Drag Race royalty and Little Mix. As for her beauty ethos, she’s a big advocate for not having to spend a fortune on beauty products to get good results, and when she’s not got beauty on the brain you’ll find her reading or hanging out with dogs.