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Nail art is currently trending — here's what you need so you can join in on the fun!
There are many ways to have fun with your nails. Nail art comes in many forms and it’s much easier to do yourself than you think.
Below are some helpful tips and tricks to get you started along with fun designs you can try, based on the shape of your nail.
Here's what you'll need:
- Nail polish. You don’t need a million and one colors. You can start with a few basic ones and work with what you have.
- A good base coat. This will make your polish go on smoothly and last longer.
- A shiny/matte top coat. Depending on the look you want, you’ll want to have a good top coat on hand to seal your nail art masterpiece.
- A striper brush. Ideally, you’ll want a long thin brush to apply finer details to your nail. Some nail polish already come with a striper brush but you can also pick up one at the beauty section of any department store.
- A dotting tool. While there are dotting tools you can buy from the store, there are items you may already have that you can use as an alternative. Try a hair pin, a cotton bud, or even a toothpick.
- A mixing palette. If you’re using a lot of colors, you’ll want to prepare them on a palette so that you don’t have to unscrew each bottle every time you’ll use that color.
- Nail polish remover. Use a paintbrush to clean up any mistakes or to diffuse color for a watercolor effect.
Determine your nail shape
Oval: Long and rounded tips
Round: Curved and wider than oval
Almond: Almost like the oval but tapered at the tip
Square: Boxy at the tip
Squoval: Like the square but rounded at the corners of the tip
But here's the thing: You can actually use a nail file to achieve your desired nail shape.
Then look your nail art design
Once you know what your nail shape is, it’s time to narrow down your nail art design.
Oval nails instantly give the illusion of longer fingers, so play on length by doing stripes on your nails. Go minimalist with just a single stripe in the middle of your nail.
Round nails look great short so go for minimal nail art like multicolored polka dots. Try two sizes of dotting tools for variation.
Almond nails are very versatile. You can do a French manicure, gradient nails, color block nails, and more. Keep your French manicure modern by using bright colors instead of the usual white or platinum tips. Play around with textures like glitter or chrome nail polish.
For square nails, play around with curves. Try half-moons on your nail bed or even on the tips.
Squoval nails are universally flattering and you can pretty much try any type of nail art design! What about marble nails? Paint your nails white and wait for it to dry. Using a thin brush, squiggle some lines in black and grey polish before blurring them with another paintbrush dipped in nail polish remover. You can also try this with pink and white polish for rose quartz nails!
Some helpful tips for beginners
Start small. You don’t need to do a design for all your nails. You can choose a couple of accent nails and keep the rest of your mani plain.
Can’t do straight lines? No worries. For instant gradient tips, use a glitter top coat over a plain base. Paint from the tip down to the bed so that the concentration of glitter is on the tips.
Go freestyle! Line up a few of your favorite colors and just start dabbing blobs of polish on your nails. Think of your nails as a blank canvas and your nail art as tiny paintings.
Doodle on your nails! After your basecoat has dried, doodle on your nails with a fine liner. Experiment with different pens to see what works best on your nails. This is so much easier than handling a paintbrush and drawing freehand.
Try unusual color combos. You can paint each nail a different color or just paint each nail in two halves.
