Dua Lipa's 'Midnight Emerald Cat-Eye' Manicure Sets the Winter 2026 Nail Agenda

Dua Lipa wore a green manicure this week that nail professionals have already named the trend to try for winter 2026: the "midnight emerald cat-eye." The singer posted a photo on Instagram of the look—a shade close to the color featured in the music video for her song "We're good"—and brought the same design to her Service95 Book Club appearance at the London Literature Festival at Royal Festival Hall.

What is a cat-eye manicure?

A cat-eye manicure mimics the light-reflective quality of a feline's eyes. Nail artists achieve it with magnetic pigment and gel, which shift under light to create a luminous band across the nail.

"I would call it a 'midnight emerald cat-eye,'" says Viktoriia Voloshyna, founder of Tory Pro Nails Studio in Beverly Hills.

Max Estrada, nail artist and founder and creative director of eNailCouture, reaches for a more atmospheric comparison. "It's almost as if somebody captured the Aurora Borealis and placed it directly onto the nails—very Nordic witch, very winter 2026, and incredibly chic!" he says.

How the color gets its depth

The look depends on layering. Experts who examined Lipa's photo agree the color starts with a black base, followed by green pigment.

"Looking at Dua Lipa's manicure, I believe a black gel polish base may have been used underneath the green cat-eye polish to achieve that rich, deep color. This is also a technique I would recommend for recreating the look, as a black base enhances the contrast and makes the lighter magnetic shimmer stand out beautifully," says Vikki Swan, founder of Vikki Swan Nail Academy in Los Angeles.

Swan also points to the finish as the look's defining feature. "What I particularly love about this look is the soft transition between the deep green color and the lighter magnetic reflections, creating a beautiful velvet-like glow," she says.

Why layering is the technique to copy at home

For anyone attempting the look themselves, Estrada recommends layering the same way a winter wardrobe builds—color over color, effect over effect.

"The deep green is absolutely on trend for winter 2026, but what makes this manicure particularly exciting is the layering of effects," he says. "We're combining the luminosity of magnetic cat-eye pigments with a diffused velvet appearance and a beautifully textured-looking finish. Rather than settling for one flat color, we're creating something multidimensional."

Estrada frames the design as more than a celebrity one-off. "And that's what I believe the future of nail fashion should be about," he says.

With Lipa debuting the look at a public festival appearance and three working nail artists independently endorsing the technique, magnetic pigment layered over black looks positioned to move from a single Instagram post into salon menus this winter.