2 Colorful Summer Nail Designs That You Can Do at Home
Just glancing at these vibrant, playful manicures will brighten your outlook and bring a smile to your face — plus, they flatter fingers to boot! Here, the easy how-to’s for DIY summer nail designs that are sure to impress.
Slim hands with a gingham accent.
A “check” print pulls focus inward, visually narrowing hands.
To do: Apply two coats of white polish like Olive & June in HD, (Buy on OliveandJune.com, $8) onto the ring fingernail and two coats of dark pink polish like essie in Pin Me Pink (Buy at Ulta, $9) onto the rest. Mix one drop of each polish to make a light pink hue, then use a toothpick to paint it on the accent nail in crisscrossing lines.
Once the nail designs are dry, dip a new, clean toothpick into the dark pink polish and use it to fill in the squares where the horizontal and vertical lines intersect. This enhances the tonal gingham pattern. Let dry completely. Seal the design with a clear top coat polish like Pacifica Plant Magic Super Gloss Top Coat (Buy on PacificaBeauty.com, $10).
Lengthen nails with a watercolor design.
Cascading summery hues “stretch” nails so they look longer.
To do: Apply two coats of white polish on all nails; let dry. Next, dip a dotting tool like Orly Dotter Duo (Buy on OrlyBeauty.com, $10) into blue, teal, red, yellow and pink polishes find them in a set like Kleancolor Retro Neon Set (Buy on Amazon, $16.99) and dot in vertical clusters of colors down the length of each nail.
While the dots are still wet, use an eyedropper to place two drops of nail polish remover onto the nail.
This thins polish slightly so it can be easily blended to create the watercolor effect. Next, use a small, clean paintbrush to gently sweep the polish toward the tip of the nail. Repeat on the rest of nails, then let dry completely. Finish with clear top coat.
A version of this article originally appeared in our print magazine, First for Women.
