How to Do Nail Art

Co-authored by Marta Nagorska

Last Updated: June 24, 2024 Fact Checked

Looking for a beautiful and gorgeous way to add flair to your look? Nail art can complement your outfit for a special event or add a unique touch to your personality every day. While very detailed nail art is best left to professionals, there are a number of designs you can create yourself. Try duo-tones, glitter and jewels, polka dots, blended colors, marbling or stamping to create a gorgeous effect.

Method 1

Method 1 of 6:

Prepare Your Nails

Download Article

Make sure you're starting with a clean slate by removing any old polish still lingering on your nails.

^{[1]
X
Trustworthy Source

American Academy of Dermatology
Professional organization made of over 20,000 certified dermatologists

Go to source}
Trim and file your nails. Shape your nails to make them neat. Since you're creating nail art, try not to trim them too short. It's better to have more space to work with.^{[2]
X
Trustworthy Source

American Academy of Dermatology
Professional organization made of over 20,000 certified dermatologists

Go to source}

Advertisement
Apply a basecoat. Basecoats are usually clear or bluish in color, and can be purchased wherever nail polish is sold. Basecoats protect your nails from getting stained or damaged by nail polish and other nail art materials. Apply one layer of basecoat and allow it to completely dry before proceeding.Some basecoats remain tacky after drying. This texture is meant to help the next layer, the polish, stay in place longer without chipping. Choose whichever basecoat you like best.

Method 2

Method 2 of 6:

Beginner Designs

Download Article

1
Paint just the tip of your nail a different color. Choose two complementary colors that will look great on the same nail.
- Apply a basecoat color or a clear basecoat. Allow the polish to dry.
- Place a French manicure sticker across your nail, leaving the tip exposed. If you don't have a French manicure sticker, use a similarly-shaped sticker, such as the circular stickers that reinforce punched holes in paper.
- Paint the tip color above the sticker. It's okay if you overlap the paint with the sticker a bit.
- Remove the sticker while the paint is still wet, so you don't pull off chips of paint with it when you take it off.
- Allow the design to dry completely and finish it off with clear top coat.
2
Add a jewel or sticker to your nail. Start with a coat of your favorite nail polish and accent it with a pretty decoration.
- Apply a base coat color or a clear base coat. Allow the polish to dry.
- Place a dab of nail glue or nail gel on your nail. Put it high on the nail, toward the tip, or in a lower corner. Think about where it will look best.
- Pick up the jewel or sticker with a pair of tweezers and drop it onto the gel or glue. Use the tweezers to gently press it into place. Allow the glue to dry.
- Paint a clear top coat over the nail to keep the sticker or jewel from falling off.
3
Go with a glitter effect. Try one of these techniques:^{[3]
X
Research source}
- Mix loose glitter with nail gel or clear polish and apply it to your nails. When the application has dried, add a top coat.
- Cover one or more of your nails with nail gel or polish. Dust the nails with glitter and allow them to dry before finishing off with a top coat.

Method 3

Method 3 of 6:

Polka Dot Designs

Download Article

1
Create simple dots.^{[4]
X
Expert Source

Marta Nagorska
Nail Artist

Expert Interview. 29 July 2019.} Choose two colors, a base coat and a dot color. If you'd like, you can use multiple colors for the dots.
- Apply the basecoat color. Allow it to dry completely.
- Dip a small brush, toothpick or pin into the polish you chose for the dots and lightly tap the implement on your nail. Continue doing this until your nail has as many dots as you want. For other effects, you can create dots of varying sizes by using thinner or thicker-tipped implements. To make fading or trailing dots, dip the implement in the paint once and apply several dots without reapplying paint. You can also use your fine-tipped implement to drag the paint out from the wet dot to create rays, swirls and other designs.
- When the dots are dry, finish with a clear top coat.
2
Make a floral design. An arrangement of dots can be made to look like a flower. Choose three colors: a base coat color, a color for the center of the flowers, and a color for the petals.
- Apply the basecoat. Allow it to dry completely.
- Use a thin-tipped brush or toothpick to place groups of five dots arranged in circles on your nails. These are the petals.
- When the petal dots dry, use the same color to paint a simple circle in the center of the petal dots.^{[5]
  X
  Expert Source
  
  Marta Nagorska
  Nail Artist
  
  Expert Interview. 29 July 2019.} You can add extra detail by placing a tiny white stripe in the center of the petals, or creating leaves with green nail polish. Take care not to crowd too many flowers on each nail. Make sure the flowers are distinct from one another.
- When the flower designs are dry, finish with a clear topcoat.
3
Create a leopard print. For this look choose two colors: a light and a dark. Try fuchsia or orange and black.^{[6]
X
Research source}
- Use the lighter color to make splotches on your nails. The shapes don't have to be uniform, just as leopard's spots aren't uniform.
- When the splotches dry, draw "C" or "U" shapes around the outsides of the blobs using the darker color.
- When the leopard spots are dry, finish with a clear top coat - or, for added flair, paint over the design with a clear glittery nail polish.

Method 4

Method 4 of 6:

Blended Color Designs

Download Article

1
Make a swirl. You'll need three different colors: a base coat plus two different colors that will look good swirled together on top of the base coat.^{[7]
X
Research source}
- Apply the basecoat color and allow it to dry.
- Apply a clear topcoat to seal in the base coat, and allow it to dry.
- Apply a dot of the first swirl color using a toothpick.
- Use a clean toothpick to apply a dot of the second swirl color on top of the first dot while the first dot is still wet.
- Drag the colors outward together and create swirls using a clean toothpick, a striper brush or other implement. You can also create a marble effect by randomly placing several dots of the first swirl color on the nail, then placing several dots of the second swirl color around and on top of the first set of dots. Swirl the dots around and together by moving your implement in a criss-cross, S-shaped or figure-8 pattern.
2
Try gradient (ombre) nails. Ombre looks best with colors in the same color family, like purples and blues. For this look, you'll need three colors: a dark color, a medium color, and a light one.
- Apply a coat of the darkest color to your nails and allow it to dry.
- Dip a makeup sponge into a dark colored polish (only a dab of polish is needed on the sponge) and apply the medium color to the tips of your nails, starting at the tip and moving down to create a fading effect.
- With a clean makeup sponge, dab the lightest color onto your nails in the same fashion, starting from the tip and fading downward toward the base of your nails. The resulting look should be bright-tipped nails that fade downward toward the darkest base coat color.
- Apply a clear top coat while the polishes are still wet to more completely smear the colors together.
3
Create a watercolor effect. In this case you'll need two or more colors: white, and another color or two of your choice.
- Apply the white polish as the base coat.
- Before the base coat dries, use a toothpick or other implement to place dots in another color or two on top of the base coat.
- Dip a large brush in acetone and dab it onto the drops of polish. Use the acetone and the brush to thin and smear the dots over the white base coat. If you're successful, you'll have an impressionistic Monet-inspired design.
- When the watercolor design is dry, apply a clear top coat.
4
Make acid-washed nails. To simulate the look of acid-washed jeans, use blue and white polishes.
- Use the blue color for the base coat. Allow it to dry and apply a clear topcoat.
- When these coats have dried, paint a single layer of white polish over the basecoat.
- Dip a makeup sponge in acetone and use it to lightly rub away and thin out the white polish. Stop when enough of the blue layer shows through to create an acid-washed look.
- When the acid wash design has dried, finish with a clear topcoat.

Method 5

Method 5 of 6:

Water-Marbled Designs

Download Article

Water marbling is a creative technique that uses water and a variety of colors for a unique look.
a basecoat and two or three colors that blend well together, like light blue, yellow,shallow, wide-mouthed cup or bowl filled almost to the brim with room temperature water and petroleum jelly.
Allow it to dry completely.
Drop some polish into the water from a low height. Notice how it creates a circle of color within the water.
Continue adding drops in the same way, at the center of the circle of color, alternating the colors until you see a bulls-eye shape.
Insert it in the water and drag it through the bulls-eye of color to create patterns. Spiderweb designs are popular, as are flower designs and geometric shapes. Don't go too far with the toothpick; if you blend the colors too much they won't be distinct from one another. If you create something with the toothpick and you don't like it, simply discard your first attempt and start over from the beginning.
Spread petroleum jelly on the skin around your nails and onto your fingers. Carefully place your nails against the design that you created and then submerge them slightly. Remove water from the nails. Blow off any water droplets and use a cotton swab or cotton ball (coated with acetone if necessary) to clean up the edges and remove polish from your fingers.
Finish with a clear topcoat.

Method 6

Method 6 of 6:

Finding Inspiration

Download Article

Just a few hours with a professional teacher can advance your skills more effectively than years of practicing on your own.
You may be able to find a book in your local library or bookstore or you can purchase something online.
The Web provides a multitude of resources, especially if you’re just looking for new ideas. In addition to finding sites with photos of new designs, you can find forums in which people who love nail art talk about techniques and learning experiences.
These videos will show you step-by-step procedures for many different designs.

Expert Q&A

Search

Add New Question

Question

What is the easiest way to paint flowers on nails?

Marta Nagorska
Nail Artist
Marta Nagorska is a Nail Technician and Nail Art Blogger based in London, UK. She runs the blog, Furious Filer, where she gives tutorials on nail care and advanced nail art. She has been practicing nail art for over 5 years and graduated from Northampton College with distinction with a Nail Technician and Manicurist degree in 2017. She has been awarded the top spot in the OPI Nail Art Competition.

Marta Nagorska

Nail Artist

Expert Answer

Start by making tiny dots in a circle on your nail. When the dots dry, put another dot in the center of the dots to act as the center of the flower.

Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
Thank you for your feedback.
If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow
Yes No

Not Helpful 4 Helpful 13
Question

What are good designs for people with shorter nails?

Community Answer

Good designs for people with shorter nails include colors with accent drawings, made with a nail pen or slim marker. You can also add small studs going up the side of the nail.

Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
Thank you for your feedback.
If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow
Yes No

Not Helpful 16 Helpful 120
Question

Do I have to use a clear coat first?

Community Answer

You don't have to, but it's a good idea too. It will help lessen staining and give the nail polish something to adhere to.

Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
Thank you for your feedback.
If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow
Yes No

Not Helpful 12 Helpful 89

See more answers

Ask a Question

200 characters left

Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered.

Submit

Reader Videos

Tips

You can purchase dotting tools to help draw different sized dots accurately.

Thanks
Helpful 1 Not Helpful 1
Use different tools for different colors, or clean your brush or tool between each color, just as you would clean a paintbrush when you change colors.

Thanks
Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
Have all of your materials together when you start your project. Because the polish is always drying, you are working against time. You'll need everything handy before you get started.

Thanks
Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

Show More Tips

Tips from our Readers

The advice in this section is based on the lived experiences of wikiHow readers like you. If you have a helpful tip you’d like to share on wikiHow, please submit it in the field below.

If you have a broken nail, the best thing to do is to cut it off. But if the break is low down (and painful), cut a tiny strip of gauze, place it over the tear, and paint over it with polish.
To remove nail polish around the nails, you can also use a cotton ball soaked in nail polish remover and wipe around the nail.
If you need a dotting tool, you can use toothpicks, pins, pencils, and even bobby pins.
A really cute nail design for kids is painting a little 🐞 on each nail.

Submit a Tip

All tip submissions are carefully reviewed before being published

Name

Please provide your name and last initial

Submit

Thanks for submitting a tip for review!

Warnings

Do not wash your brushes in water. It will cause the nail polish on it to harden. Clean them with nail polish remover instead.

Thanks
Helpful 66 Not Helpful 8
Make sure each color of nail art is completely dry before starting another color (unless you’re trying to blend them); if the first color is still wet it will smudge and ruin your art.

Thanks
Helpful 51 Not Helpful 14
Acetone and many nail polishes give off fumes and are flammable. Use them in a well-ventilated area and avoid fire, sparks or smoking around these products or while they are wet on your nails.

Thanks
Helpful 6 Not Helpful 2
Some people may be allergic to some nail products. If you experience an adverse reaction to a product, thoroughly wash your hands, use acetone to remove it if necessary and discontinue using the product.

Thanks
Helpful 6 Not Helpful 3