Pastels for spring? Hardly groundbreaking. But one surprising shade is currently exploding all over TikTok and it's replacing seasonal peach nails and milky manis. Enter ‘millennial mint’ nails, spring's freshest new trend.
It's no secret that Disney+'s nine-part series Love Story has sparked a ‘90s fashion and beauty resurgence – from slip skirts to brown eyeliner and matte skin. Now you can match your manicure to your nostalgia, too. Or perhaps our obsession with matcha has gone beyond the coffee shop to our fingertips. Fashion designer Marc Jacobs has even co-signed the fresh shade with a “crystal-clear mint manicure” – a glass nail with crystal appliqués – on the 2026 runway.
Instagram content
“Pastel nails are a prominent staple for spring, with mint in particular acting as a visual reset thanks to its natural crispness,” says Daisy Kalnina, founder of The GelBottle, who has just launched a bright teal-meets-mint polish shade called Cenote. “Earlier this season, we saw an intentional move away from sugary, sweet pastels toward cooler, dustier shades. Now that the days are getting longer, we are noticing a shift towards punchier, more vibrant iterations. The beauty of mint is that it can do both: it's incredibly versatile and with such a wide spectrum of tones, there is a mint to suit every skin tone.”
‘Millennial mint’ nails also appeal to the minimalists out there as a soft pastel iteration is still a neutral tint. The colour, though, is only half the story. The reason mint rather than peach nails are taking off this summer is because they're incredibly versatile from cat-eye finishes to colourful tips.
-.jpg)
