Aura Nails Are Taking Over Instagram. Here’s What Makes Them So *Magical*

Who else saves future haircuts and nail art ideas to their Instagram folder? Though we’re not due for a trim just yet, we could always use a fresh mani, and we know just the design we’ll ask for next: aura nails.

“Aura nails are a new nail art trend that kind of resemble aura photos. There’s usually a mix of colors involved to showcase your aura, and the various colors are painted on in a circular ombré or gradient design,” explains Brittney Boyce, a celebrity nail artist and founder of Nails of LA.

We’ve been seeing the mystical trend all over our Explore page these days and what we love about it is how unique each mani is. Just as no two auras are the same, each aura mani is customized to the wearer.

“Your aura is your energy field, which consists of different energy layers,” says Walaa, a certified color therapist and author of Heal Yourself With Color: Harness the Power of Color to Change Your Life. “Color is energy and it’s a frequency that we can all feel—knowingly or unknowingly. These colors change based on your emotions, thought patterns, your physical energy and many other layers,” she explains.

According to Walaa, finding your aura colors is an intuitive process. “We are all intuitive, we just need to learn to tune in,” she assures. This is as simple as “paying attention to the colors you are attracted to, and conversely, repelled by,” at any given moment, and letting that be a guide.

Speaking of guides, Walaa walks us through the different aura colors and what they mean ahead:

1. Red: This color is about taking action and using your physical body. It helps the body remember the infinite vitality it holds within it.

2. Orange: This is a color that connects us to joy and helps us release emotions of frustration, anger and grief. It’s a color that asks us to nurture our bodies by nurturing our emotions.

3. Yellow: This is a color that connects us to the power of the mind and the power of happiness that we all have inside us once we allow ourselves to get curious about life and are willing to learn more about ourselves.

4. Pink: This is a color that brings calm, as it connects us to compassion, self-kindness and the purity that love can bring into our lives.

5. Green: Connects us to growth, organic movement, openness, and the power in vulnerability. It is a color that reminds us that we are a part of nature.

6. Blue: A color of trust, and connection to our words, and our authentic expression. It’s a color that reminds us to stay true to who we are.

7. Violet: A color that connects us to our creative and artistic side, the side that dreams big and visualizes beautiful things into reality.

“Most of the aura nails you see that have that gorgeous faded look is done with an airbrush. That’s how nail artists can get the gradient look with most of the color deposited in the center of the circle,” explains Boyce. “Typically, this technique is done over acrylics, but there are airbrush tools for gel,” she adds. (Translation: Some aura nails are best left to the pros.)