Bright, Busy & Colorful Nails

These busy summer nails contain bright backgrounds, contrasting dots, sideways stripes and Glitter.

Summer Nails

For  a fun, easy summer look, pick three bright colors and create rows of dots across the nails.

Red, White & Blue Nails

Memorial Day was Monday. This is a red, white & blue tribute with elements of the flag on each nail.

Silver and Blue Zigzag Nails

The silver zigzags were made with a silver striper, then outlined in black. Use any color underneath, but for a fun effect, colors like Till I'm Blue Over You, by Pixel, make for a layers of interest.

Rainy Day Nail Art

Something about the wet April weather that inspired these raindrop nails. 

Brown & Champagne Glitter Nails

                                                        

Earth Day is April 22nd, and I will be going without polish this week to celebrate it. So I chose to post this look I did/wore last week: a red-based brown with glittering champagne tips.  

Red Triangle Nails

This partial manicure is ideal for someone looking to change things up in a few simple swipes of polish. Create triangles in one color, then outline them and add lines in another color. The lines add more detail to each digit, but lose them for a cleaner look. 

X Nail Art

This exy design utilizes bold colors outlined in black to complete a spunky manicure with minimal polish. 

Spotted Easter Nails

My take on Easter nails incorporates pastel colors associated with the holiday in an abstract nail art design.

These dry quickly and are simple to create. 

Bright Spring Nails

For these sunny bright spring nails, simply paint nails two different colors. Once dried, add some flower details by hand or by using small nail stencils. I used the stencils to get the precise petals seen here. They are easy to use and don't leave a residue on the already painted nail. I got them as a gift and had never used them before, but they leave clean lines and I will definitely use them again.

Gold & Green St. Patty's Day Nails

A fresh approach to St. Patty's day is seen in this pale green, gold-tipped nail design. Make a chevron tip with gold polish by angling a gold line to the center of the nail tip from opposite sides of each nail. Add a white line underneath the gold on one tip to create a standout feature. 

Mer-Maid for Each Other Green Nails

This is the iridescent green from Nicole by OPI called Mer-Maid for Each Other. It's a show stopper all by itself, even sans topcoat. Topcoat does prolong the inevitable chipping of polish and smoothes imperfections caused by the brush while painting, however.

Gold Dots Semicircles on Purple Nails

Change the shape of your nails from round to square by filing them flat across and rounding the edges. Paint nails a shiny purple and add gold dots in a semicircle pattern for this look.

Nude & Black Sideways Striped Nails

Nude Nails are sweetly subtle. Add tapered black stripes sideways across the nails to increase interest. For different twists, cross lines and fill in the spaces or paint on a coat or two of similar-colored glitter polish.

Glitter Nails

Glitter polish with colorful bits in sizes large and small is great even without a base color. Layer on top coat to smooth out rough edges.

Racy Striped Nails

This design incorporates varied widths of stripes in a family of colors. Pink, silver, white and black make up the diagonal and vertical stripes-the essence of the look.

Pink & Purple Nails

Slanted tips are an easy alternative to the hard-to-perfect French tips. Add some curved lines with a striper to make your favorite finger stand out from the rest.

Half Mani Does it Again

Another sleek, yet simple half manicure makes for a fun edgy look. 

Black Tips For V-Day

A subtle hint of hearts gives Valentine's Day Nails sophistication. Add black diagonal tips with white and silver stripes to increase pizzazz without overpowering this simple manicure. Create the hearts with the end of a paint brush. 

Bonus:  Partial manicures make it easy to erase elements that don't come out quite right. 

Ice Blue Winter Nails

Fingernails dressed in two coats of pearl blue exhibit a wintery shade perfect by itself, with light-reflecting qualities close to that of snow and ice.

Nail Art of French Tips and Polka Dots

This manicure combines a fine French tip with the colorful pop of polka dots and requires only a steady hand and regular nail polish to create it. 

Black, White & Silver New Year Nails

Standout, nails for New Year's Eve/Day: just simple lines and black, white and silver polish.

Not Your Average Christmas Nail Art

Monotone manicures can get boring easily, so I opt for unique designs with various colors to keep me interested. I find trying many different designs at once leads to a way better design later on, although there are definitely appropriate times for basic colors or themes. This design was inspired by Christmas and incorporates abstract elements of the holiday and wintry weather.