Aura nails carry a diffuse bloom of colour in the centre of the nail, fading outward with no hard edge anywhere — like a colour photographed out of focus, or the halo the look is named for. Classically the gradient is airbrushed; skilled techs also build it with sponges or patient layering. Signature versions pair a warm centre with a cooler field — pink glowing on lavender, orange on yellow — but any combination works if the transition stays smooth.
Aura rewards sheer bases (over milky the glow looks lit from beneath) and is kind to grow-out, since there are no hard lines to march up the nail. The one question worth asking a new salon: “do you airbrush, or sponge?” A salon that does neither will improvise — and improvised auras tend to read as bruises.