The 6 Best Nail Ideas of 2013 (Did You Try Them All?)

This has been a good year for nails, I think. Following on the heels of nail-art-crazy 2012, 2013’s manicures were a bit more mellow but still very stylin’. Here are my six favorite nail ideas we’ve featured here this year.

1. Modern metallic-tipped French manicures, like this one on Lily Collins.

2. Jin Soon Blue Iris—basically the best bright-blue polish ever invented (modeled here on Beth’s pretty hands and feet).

3. Squoval tips instead of square—they’re not as out-there as trendy stiletto tips, but they still feel new and chic. We saw this set on Katharine McPhee.

4. Layered iridescent polishes, like we saw on models at the Tadashi Shoji spring 2014 show (here’s the how-to).

5. Dark vampy colors year-round—I modeled my favorite, Essie Wicked, for you.

6. Classic cherry-red, which we discovered really can never be topped (all the cool girls wear it as their signature shade).