Scattered Charm Nails Are the Subtle Way to Sparkle This Fall

We’re in our charm era. Dangling, vintage-inspired DIY charm necklaces have taken over both my Tikok For You Page and my neighborhood. Bag charms are the breakout accessory trend of this year—it’s become impossible to take the subway without seeing a handful of vintage bags covered in trinkets like Coach key chains or Hello Kitty plushies. Not to mention, Charm by Clairo is my personal frontrunner for album of the year. Basically, the need to decorate and personalize has never been stronger.

This is true of our nails, too. First, there was the chrome trend, which adds a sprinkle of fairy dust on top of your favorite color. Earlier this summer we saw the rise of the “sticker book” manicure, which spruces up a basic nude mani with “floating” designs of whatever you want—Hailey Bieber chose tiny fruits and veggies, while Zendaya went with blooming flowers. Consider fall’s biggest emerging nail trend, scattered charms, the blingy evolution of sticker book nails. The best part? They’re so easy to do at home. Ahead, everything you need to know about the trend, and how to get the look.

The Trend

The scattered charm trend didn’t come out of nowhere, and can be traced back to our current desire for manicures that are decorative, but still simple—chrome, velvet, and aura nails are all so popular because they rely on texture rather than elaborate designs. Scattered charm nails are similar in the sense that they don’t require a ton of skill, but they’re still a great way of showing off your personality. The look is totally customizable, but typically includes some sort of nude or pink base, with randomly placed gems or sparkles—look at Kylie Jenner’s birthday nails as the perfect example.

Manicurist Holly Falcone gave models scattered charm manicures at the Sandy Liang SS/25 show, inspired by princesses and girly spies. “The Sandy girl to me, she’s always in uniforms, she knows how to blend in, but she has a secret,” she told Byrdie backstage. “She’s either a princess or she’s a spy or there’s always some kind of magic to her, and I imagine the charms are secret buttons on her nails. So we are imagining that every sparkle has a secret.”

Falcone loves the look as much for the ease as she does for its sense of whimsy. “I think that full-on nail art is on its way out,” she said. “People are trying to grow their nails out, going more natural, but I think that’s also boring.” She adds that scattered stickers are an easy way to customize a natural manicure, and to have your own “little secret.”.”

How to Get the Look

As Falcone mentioned, part of the charm—get it?—of this look is that it’s so easy to do yourself. All you need is a base color—stick with something close to your skin tone for a true “floating” or “scattered” look, or pick a fun shade for more pop. We like Olive & June’s CHM for a classic sheer neutral, or Chanel Le Vernis in Ballerina for a baby pink option.

Then, you need the gems. You can hit your local craft store for the tiniest stones they have, and secure them with some nail glue and your favorite top coat. Or, for an even easier mani, you can use bedazzled nail stickers. Falcone used Sally Hansen’s Salon Effects Nail Accents in Sweet Life backstage, cutting up and randomly placing the gems. We also love Deco Beauty’s brightly-colored offerings, and Cirque Color’s aptly named nail charms are fun if you want cute shapes like hearts and stars.