"By this point, everyone knows that K-beauty just does it better. Cleansing oils, scalp treatments, jelly manicures - you name it, and South Korea has perfected it. So it was only a matter of time before the country's nail artists delivered the next viral look: a soft-focus horizontal stripe design that blends the color-washed gradient of aura nails with the dimensional gleam of a cat-eye."
"But despite the celestial vibe, the design stays surprisingly minimalist - just a few crisp lines floating over a diffused base - making it way more wearable than most viral manicures. It's clean, luminous, and it photographs flawlessly. So don't be surprised when your FYP starts serving up an endless stream of scan-code-inspired stripes - chances are you'll be texting your nail tech before you stop scrolling."
"The base is a magnetic polish, which is what gives barcode nails their signature flash of light. TikTok creators have experimented with everything from inky blacks to silvery lavenders, though darker shades tend to show the detail best since the flash pops more against a deeper base. The only real rules? Your polish needs to be magnetic, and the stripes need to run horizontally - that sideways orientation is the defining detail that separates barcode nails from every other cat-eye manicure."
K-beauty nail artists created barcode nails, a soft-focus horizontal stripe manicure combining aura nail gradients with cat-eye dimensional gleam. The look uses magnetic polish to produce a signature flash of light when a magnet is pulled across the nail, creating thin horizontal streaks that resemble scan-code-inspired stripes. Darker base shades enhance the magnetic flash and detail. The design often includes tiny stars, shimmer, and glossy top coat while remaining minimalist with a few crisp lines over a diffused base. The manicure photographs well, feels both dreamy and architectural, and has strong viral potential on TikTok.
Read at Bustle
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