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.
This look neatly intersects two trends that experts predicted would define 2026: touchable texture and stripes. When we asked nail pros what would shape the year ahead, nearly all of them pointed to raised, dimensional finishes as the next evolution of nail art, and ribbed glass may be one of the most refined interpretations of that forecast.
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.
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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.
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.”
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