The Pro Penthouse Trend Report: S/S 27 Through the Eyes of Pro Nail Techs

Every season, the runway sets the mood. But it's the professionals behind the scenes who decide what actually makes it into the chair. 

That idea sits at the heart of our new S/S 27 Trend Report, curated by The GelBottle Inc and proudly sponsored and published by CEW. Created for the Pro Penthouse, our NYFW home for backstage beauty professionals, the report brings together voices across nails, cosmetics, and hair to forecast the season ahead. We lead the nail perspective for spring and summer nail inspo, Pixi shares where cosmetics is heading, milk_shake and CosmoProf offer their outlook on hair, and Paul Archer, Founder and CEO of DUEL, rounds it out with a sharp take on community and advocacy. 

Different categories, one shared conclusion: S/S 27 isn't about one defining look. It's about how professional expertise turns fashion, runway, and social media into something wearable and personal for every client. 

Here are the highlights. 

Individuality Over Uniformity 

"Every voice in this report, from our own nail team to the incredible community of stylists, artists and educators we work with, shares a perspective that trends aren't about everyone chasing the same look," says our Founder and CEO, Daisy Kalnina, "they're about how people use expertise to make a trend genuinely their own." 

It's also why we've invested so heavily in getting the fundamentals right. This year we opened our own manufacturing facility, DK Beauty Labs in Scotland, so that when a trend moves fast, we can move with it without compromising on quality. 

Sarah Crespo, our Head of Education (Americas), sees the same shift in who clients trust. Nail technicians and educators are increasingly shaping purchasing decisions and brand loyalty, combining technical skill, trend insight and genuine community. As she puts it, "As beauty becomes more personalized, education is becoming one of the industry's most powerful forms of influence." 

The S/S 27 Nail Trend Palette 

Our Head of Product and Education, Giorgia Cappella, says nails for S/S 27 will be more connected to fashion than ever, with colour, texture and finish all taking their cues from the runway. Here's what we're forecasting for colours for summer nails and spring trends: 

• Sunset Hues: Energetic oranges melting into tomato reds and amber golds, with gradient tips and glazed finishes that feel like golden-hour light. 

• Clay: A softer, more grown-up take on terracotta, earthy and warm without going rustic. 

• Vibrant Blue: Electric cobalt, saturated cyan, and deep sea tones with high-shine confidence — a punchy pop against all the pastels and neutrals. 

• Lime Sorbet: The new neutral. Soft, creamy, and muted, a fresh move on from pistachio and matcha without tipping into acid territory. 

• Nostalgic Pink: Y2K pink is back in a dustier bubblegum, glossy or chrome, with all the playful 2000s energy and none of the candy sweetness. 

• Glacial Blue: Ice-cool and crystal clear, in sheer or chrome finishes. Pinterest Predicts 2026 shows searches for icy blue chrome nails up 235% year on year. 

• Meadowland: Soft sage meets fresh moss, pulling nails toward matte, botanical finishes that feel grown rather than painted. 

• Heritage Brown: A rich retro brown, a step darker than tan, bringing warm ‘70s depth back. 

Texture is having a moment too. DKBL Intelligence shows magnetic gel sales up 26.6% by units, and metallics, shimmers and cat eye effects mean there's always something new for clients who want an interesting, individual set. 

And our shape of the season? Medium coffin. Crisply squared and tapered edges for an iconic mani. 

Straight from the Chair

Trends don't stop at the mood board, so we asked four nail techs from our TGB Insiders brand advocacy programme, run via DUEL, what their clients are actually asking for. 

Becky Remzi (@bybecky._) sees clients taking inspiration and making it their own, with personalised nail art, soft chrome and sheer finishes continuing to grow. Stephanie D Sullivan (@freckled.opal.nailz) is forecasting soft, wearable looks with a little something unexpected, from cat eye nails and jelly colours to subtle 3D, and says clients now often send her a TikTok video rather than a photo. Uzaifa Ahmad (@the_naildon) thinks we're heading back into maximalism, with vibrant colour, fun patterns and lots of 3D. And Lydia Rose Woollard (@bylydiarose_) reminds us that life drives the set as much as the season: classic for weddings, playful 3D for festivals, and a big return of animal print with a modern, elevated twist. 

Our Content Creator Amber Herbert (@amberjhnails) sums up the social side neatly: the trick isn't recreating what's already out there, it's putting your own spin on it. 

Cosmetics: Enhancing, Not Masking 

For Petra Strand, makeup artist and founder of Pixi, S/S 27 is about freedom in colour and texture with healthy-looking skin at the centre. Think creamy sticks, balmy textures and sheer, buildable colour you can apply with your fingertips. Skincare ingredients in colour are becoming an expectation, not a bonus. "For me, color is where personality comes through." 

Hair: Personalisation, Performance and a Little Less Control

CosmoProf sees personalisation as the common thread for 2027. Colour is getting richer and more individual, from warm coppers and dimensional blondes to intentional silver and grey. Glass hair is here to stay, but clients now expect it to signal real condition, not just shine. Shorter, shape-led cuts like the bixie keep gaining ground. And as AI tools enter the consultation, stylists will play a bigger role in separating what can be visualised on a screen from what can actually be achieved on someone's hair. 

John Moroney, SVP of Global Education at milk_shake, calls it a technique shift away from control, towards texture. "Texture is the new finish. Shine is the new color statement." Warm copper and mocha are overtaking cooler bases, and strong shapes are back but softer, tousled and textured at the ends, which only works on genuinely healthy hair. 

Community is the Output, Not the Input

Paul Archer of DUEL closes the report with a point every brand should hear. Community can't be manufactured. It emerges when customers, creators, and employees promote a brand because they genuinely want to. And with AI shopping answers pulling from Reddit, YouTube and forums rather than brand ads, the conversations real people are having matter more than ever. "The most valuable source of data comes straight from the words of customers, something that money simply cannot buy." 

The Takeaway

As trend cycles speed up and inspiration comes from everywhere, it's the professionals closest to the client who give a trend its staying power. That's who we build for, and that's who this report celebrates. 

A huge thank you to CEW for sponsoring and publishing the report, and to CosmoProf, milk_shake, Pixi and DUEL for sharing their expertise alongside ours.