Doing your nails can be relaxing, fun, and also a creative outlet. Sometimes, we want to go a little further than just painting our nails one color. If you’re looking for some creative manicure ideas, I have a few suggestions for you.
Water Marbling is a fun and super creative nail art process. It involves using water and nail polish to create a unique design on your nails that can reassemble a marble design. Different colors are swirled together in water to create a custom design that can be applied to your nails. If you are interested in learning how to water marble your nails, read my water marbling tutorial.
A Funky French manicure is a simple way to create a fresh and unique nail design. A funky french is basically a french manicure done with different colors. Instead of using your basic flesh tone with white tips, you can create a funky french manicure with just about any color combination you can dream up. Start by painting your nails with a color you like. Then, choose another coordinating color and paint just the tips of your nails. This type of manicure is edgy and really stands out. Use your two favorite colors or any colors you think would look good together. For best results, use the lightest of the two colors as the base color, and the darker color on the tips, but the way you do your funky french is really up to you. If you need help painting your tips, you can use a piece of scotch tape. Stick the tape to your hand first so it’s a bit less sticky and make sure your nails are dry. Line the tape up across your nail bed so that just the tips are sticking out and press firmly to get a good seal. Then, paint the tips and immediately remove the tape. This will help you get an even line and make painting your tips much easier.
Ombre Nails (or syrup nails) are a new and trendy manicure design. This is best achieved using a jelly finish nail polish or a slightly sheer polish. With this nail technique you will get a sheer gradient effect. It’s really cute and if you use a jelly polish it can resemble the look of syrup. To do this, choose a slightly sheer color. Start by applying a very thin layer to your entire nail. Once that is dry, apply another coat to the bottom ¾ of the nail. Do this again painting only the bottom half of the nail and then once more painting just the tip. This technique is extremely simple and totally cute.
Patchwork Manicures are a bit more complicated but the end result is worth the extra effort. This is a funky nail look that will have people ooh-ing and ahh-ing over your nails. The end result will resemble a patchwork quilt design. To try this you will need 3-4 different nail polish colors that look cute together and some scotch tape. Start by painting your entire nail with one of the colors. Once that color dries, apply a piece of scotch tape diagonally across your nail. Paint the exposed nail with another color. Once that dries, apply another piece of tape diagonally in the opposite direction. Paint the exposed color with the third color. You can go on and apply tape and paint another section with a fourth color or stop with the third color. Whatever you think looks best.
The Newspaper Manicure is a new nail design that has recently become very popular. This is such a cute look that has a vintage appeal to it. For this design you will need a light colored nail polish. A beige, gray or light pink will work perfectly. You will also need some alcohol and newspaper pages with words on them. Start by cutting small piece of newspaper with words on them you like. Cut them about the size that will fit your nails. Use whatever words from the newspapers you would like. Apply your light colored nail polish and let it dry completely. Fill a shallow bowl with a small amount of alcohol. Dip you finger into the alcohol and then quickly apply the newspaper piece to your nail (while it is still wet) and press it in place for about 30 seconds. Peel the paper from your nail slowly and you will see that the words from the paper have transferred to your nail! Finish it off with a coat of top coat. Repeat this process for the rest of your nails.
A fun and creative nail design is a lot easier than you think. You can always find ways to break away from the ordinary and create simple art on your nails. Hopefully, these ideas will inspire you to create some nail art of your own.
