Ribbed-Glass Nails Are The Latest Fancy Nail Trend

If you grew up sipping sparkling cider from your grandmother’s fluted glasses—the ones that only came out with the fancy china on holidays—you already understand the appeal of our latest manicure obsession. Ribbed-glass nails feature thin, raised lines painted close together in a vertical pattern. The linear texture and light-catching dimension evoke vintage elegance, resulting in a manicure that whispers old money. “It’s heirloom energy reimagined,” says New York City-based nail artist Elle Gerstein.

The look is already dominating our feeds, and ribbed-glass nails also made a runway appearance during New York Fashion Week. Nail artist Christina Duong crafted a black-and-gold metallic ribbed manicure for the Sergio Hudson show, mirroring the collection’s sharp pinstripes.

Instagram /@cqdnails

This look is just beginning to gain traction stateside, but textured-gel designs have been thriving in South Korea. “Textured gel is currently very popular. It works beautifully as an accent and has a refined, expressive finish,” Minseo Kang, a nail artist in Seoul, previously told Allure US.

Achieving the ribbed-glass effect is surprisingly straightforward. “Use a cat-eye polish as your base, then cure,” says Leslie Morel, a nail artist in Bergen County, New Jersey. “Go over your base with a matte topcoat and cure for 60 seconds.” Morel prefers to use a clear glossy topcoat for the lines, and a thin nail brush to paint them: “The trick is to draw the lines as close together as possible without overlapping or connecting them.”

In Seoul, artists often rely on specialized tools to perfect the texture. Many reach for a small, flat brush with bristles that are denser at the base and finer at the tips—almost like a wide-tooth comb—to carve ultra-precise ridges that feel architectural yet delicate.

Gianni Garcia, a nail artist and creative director of Art Nail NYC, prefers using spider gel to achieve crisp, raised lines. After dipping a dotting tool into the thick, elastic formula, she lifts and stretches the gel—like a super thin cheese pull—to lay down perfectly straight strands across the nail. Once the ribbed pattern is in place over a solid base, cure and seal with a topcoat. Says Garcia, “This makes the process quicker and easier.”

The realistic depth and glass-like shimmer make glossy stripes over a cat-eye base the internet’s favorite iteration of the ribbed-glass nail look, but the design is highly customizable. You can opt for glossy ribs over matte polish, matte stripes over a high-shine base, or cat-eye lines layered atop velvet shimmer. The interplay of texture and finish is what gives the look its dimension.

Ready to try this expensive-looking manicure for yourself? Ahead, the ribbed-glass designs that made us double-tap.