This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at U Mich chapter.
Just because spring is sluggishly arriving doesn’t mean that our fashion trends should have to suffer! Nails are a fun yet subtle way to spice up an outfit. Whether you’re a beginner or an expert nail artist, there are plenty of designs to experiment with this spring. Below are a few of my favorite spring nail designs with some basic tutorials that you can try at home!
Classic Chevron [@naildecor]
How to:
- Choose a base color for your nail and paint this polish over the entire nail.
- Get a pair of craft scissors (can find at Jo Ann Fabric’s, Michael’s, Hobby Lobby, etc.) with a round or sharp wavy blade. Cut out a few strips of scotch tape with those scissors.
- Paste the tape strips on your nail, spacing them evenly.
- Pick another polish for the stripes, and paint this polish over the entire nail.
- Remove the scotch tape strips. Voila! Chevron stripes.
*Remember to allow the base polish to dry before placing the tape strips across your nails!
Beach Babe [@naildecor]
How to:
- Choose polish colors with a spring/summer look, such as teals, hot pinks, sunset oranges, yellows, neon greens, etc.
- Use one polish to paint a stripe across the top of your nail. There are two ways to do this:
- Use a thin brush polish (such as Sally Hansen’s or Revlon’s Nail Art lines) and start your brush at either the left or right edge of the nail. Rather than moving the brush rotate your nail slowly from one side to the other. This creates a naturally straight stripe.
- Cut a piece of scotch tape and tape it halfway down your nail. Paint your nail along the empty space at the top of the nail with no tape, and the scotch tape will make sure that you have a straight stripe.
- Repeat the above step 2-3 times on that same nail with different polishes. You should now have a rainbow of color on one nail.
- Tape or paint a gold stripe in between each layer of polish color.
- You can buy metallic gold or silver stripes online or at nail stores, such as Sally Hansen, Ulta, or even Walmart.
- You can buy a glittery silver or gold designer polish (Kiss Silver is a great option) and it has a thin brush for nail art.
- You can create your own stripe tapes, by painting scotch tape with a gold or silver polish and cutting out strips with scissors.
Gradient Goddess [@theavgprincess]
How to:
- Paint a white base polish over your nail.
- Get a foam sponge makeup applicator (the type you use for foundations) or an unused powder sponge and cut it to an approximate size of your nail.
- Pick 2-3 polishes that you want to use in your gradient.
- Paint the darker polish on the top part of the makeup sponge and paint the lighter polish directly below the first polish color.
- Lightly dab the sponge across your nail, from right to left (or vice versa) repeatedly. You should not have any white base showing through the colors. If you are unsatisfied with how much color you have on your nail, repeat step 4-5.
- Especially for gradient nails, you want to put on 2-3 coats of a clear top coat. This will smooth out any bumps from the makeup sponge and dabbing attempts from the polishes.
Cheetah Crazy [@theavgprincess]
How to:
- Paint a nude or neutral base polish over your nail.
- Find a hairclip.
- Get a black polish and place a few blobs of color on a plate or magazine cover (the glossy magazine material keeps the polish from drying quickly).
- Dab the round head of the hair clip into the black polish and make semi circles on your nail. Add a few small dots in the empty spaces of your nail.
Sailor Sweetheart [@naildecor]
How to:
- Paint a white base over your nail.
- The key to this nail design is to use scotch tape for the blue corner designs and a thin brush red polish for the red stripes.
- Use a gold polish and a hair clip or a thin brush to place the gold dots.
Tribal Frenzy [@nailsbylins]
How to:
- Create the gradient look on your nail (see above “Gradient Goddess” how to).
- The design gets a little tricky, but I suggest you use scotch tape to outline the triangular spaces. Create stripes of empty space on your nail using the scotch tape.
- Take a thin brush black polish and create dashes lines along the taped spaces. Then remove the tape.
- Repeat steps 2-3 to create the different layers of striped and block designs on your nail.
*Start from the base of the nail, at the cuticle, and work up as you tape your nail and paint in the designs.
Fruity Tooty Watermelon [@naildecor]
How to:
- Paint pink base over your nail.
- Get a hairpin and dab three small blobs of black at the bottom of your nail, closest to your cuticle.
- Get a tooth pick and drag the polish color from each blob down towards the center of the nail, creating the “seed look.” If you’re having difficulty with this, dip the toothpick into the black polish and paint into the center of the nail from each black blob that’s already on your nail OR just use a thin brush black polish.
- For the green nail, paint a green polish over your nail.
- Then have a plate with a small blob of green polish by you and add one drop of white polish into this blob and mix it.
- Take your hairpin and dip into this puddle and dab a few dots onto your nail.
- Repeat steps 5-6, but for each row of dots that you draw on your nail, you must add another drop of white polish onto your blob of green polish plate. This creates a gradient dotting effect.
Simple Studs [@naildecor]
How to:
- Pick two polish colors and stripe each one vertically along your nail.
- You can add a gold or silver stripe in between the two polish colors.
- You need to add studs to your nail while it is still wet. You can buy studs online or at nail stores.
Floral Nails [@naildecor]
How to:
- To get the dotted background, you just paint a base polish color and then add white dots using a hairpin.
- To draw the floral nails, you draw dots of color on your nail.
- Then take a thin brush black polish and outline the dots with angled lines to get the image of flowers.
Complex Couture [@nailsbylins]
This one combines all of the above skills! You can use the cheetah print, scotch tape, and stud application techniques.
Remember, all it takes is practice! You can also find video tutorials online on Youtube and Instagram. These nails are a sure way to brighten up your wardrobe (and encourage spring to come out way).