Is your closet full of nudes and blacks? Is your favourite colour palette neutral? Do you gear towards the simplistic but sophisticated items when it comes to fashion? Then chances are you don’t like loud and glitzy nail art. You are the person who likes to wear nude nail paint and french tips or nothing at all. Here’s is your chance to tread the nail art waters, with barely there but elegant nail arts to live your best classy life.
1. Subtle Hints Of Glitter
This is the easiest way to glam up basic nails while still keeping them subtle.
What You Need: Base nail colour and gold glitter topper.
What To Do: Paint your nails in your favourite neutral or nude polish, the closer it is to your skin tone, the better. Let dry. Now take a #golden #glitter topper nail paint and shake it thoroughly to evenly disperse the glitter. Apply a single layer of the topcoat onto your nails. You can also apply it just at the base. Seal with a glossy top coat.
There you have it, nails that glisten when light hits them, but otherwise look like simple nude nails.
2. Silver French Tips
What’s the classiest nail look out there, french tips of course. These french tips with a twist, enhance your nails and give your nails an edge over basic manicures.
What You Need: Base neutral colour and silver glitter polish.
What To Do: Colour your nails in a #neutral base colour of choice, cooler the tone, better. Let dry. Now take an opaque #silver glitter polish and tap off most of it in the bottle. Now drag the nail polish brush along the edge of the nails to get a thin line. If you’re having trouble drawing a straight line, then hold the brush in place and drag your nails along the brush to get an even line. Do not overdo the glitter and make a thick line. Once dry, seal with a glossy top coat and make sure to seal the edges properly to protect the glitter.
There you have, glitzy #french tips to jazz up any outfit, but still being subtle.
3. Marble Nails
What has been one of the hottest decor trends since 5 years? Marble everything! And it’s not going away anywhere soon. #Marble itself reeks of class and lavishness. You can have it on your nails now too!
What You Need: Base nail colour (light shade), white nail paint or acrylic colour, acetone and a thin paint brush.
What To Do: You can use the pictorial as a guide while changing the colours so it isn’t a stark black and white marble. Paint your nails in a neutral colour base (pink and beige nudes work best). Let dry. Now take a thin paint brush and dip it white nail paint. Draw erratic lines across one nail, overlapping them. Before the paint has a chance to dry, dip the same brush in acetone and go over parts of the white line making them sheer and more blended in with the base (see pictorial). If you feel you need more white, add some more lines, and if you feel you’ve overdone the white, just add some more of the base colour to cover up some of the lines. Now repeat the process for the rest of the nails one by one (doing all nails together will cause the white polish to dry and not blend as well). Let dry completely. Seal with a glossy or matte top coat. Voila, classy marble nails done.
4. Black Dot Nails
It’s amazing how something as #simple as a single black dot can transform your manicure from #basic to chic.
What You Need: Base colour of choice, black nail paint and a bobby pin/ black sharpie (marker).
What To Do: Paint your nails in a neutral base colour of choice (greys and beiges work best). Let dry. Now tip some black nail paint on a flat surface. Take a bobby pin and dip its rounded end into the paint. Place a dot in the centre of the nail base. Do it in one swift motion to get a perfect circle. If you feel your black nailpaint is drying, just tip a little more fresh paint. Repeat for all nails. Let dry. If you don’t have black nail paint, you can use a black permanent #marker or sharpie to draw tiny dots. Once dry, seal with a glossy or #matte top coat.
Voila, simple and easy to do, but high impact nails.
5. Nude Leopard Print Nails
Leopard print nails are generally loud and eye catching. They are a statement piece. But just playing around with the colours and quantity of the print, you can turn them into something more delicate and smart.
What You Need: Two nude nail paints in a similar colour but different shades (one light and one slightly darker). Light brown nail paint, bobby pins, toothpicks and a matte top coat.
What To Do: Paint your nails with the lighter of the two nude nail paints. Let dry completely. Now dip some of the darker nude colour onto a flat surface. Dip a bobby pin’s rounded tip into the polish and draw 4 to 5 irregular circles on your ring finger (accent nail). Let dry. Now tip some of the brown nail paint (you can use acrylic paint too) onto a flat surface. Using a toothpick, pick some of the nail paint and draw rosettes around the circles (see pictorial). Add some brown dots using a bobby pin. Let dry.
Seal everything with a matte top coat to give your nails a rich velvety look. Voila, classy #leopard print at your fingertips.
6. Golden Stud Nails
Add a touch of elegance to your basic nails with this nail art.
What You Need: Nude nail paint, golden studs, nail glue/ superglue, a toothpick and matte top coat.
What To Do: Paint your nails with your favourite nude nail polish. Let dry completely. Now apply a matte top coat to get a smooth suede finish. Let dry. Now take small golden #studs or #rhinestones with a flat bottom (easily available in craft stores and online). Using a toothpick, place a tiny drop of nail glue at the base of your nail. Pick up your stud and place it on the glue pressing gently. Repeat the process for all the nails. There you have it, perfect velvety nude nails with a hint of glamour.
You can use superglue if you don't have nail #glue. Don’t worry, as there is nailpaint protecting your nails; never use super glue on your nails directly.
7. Little White Dot Nails
#Polka dots are evergreen. While they look fun and exude innocence, with this nail art, we give them a sophisticated and chic touch.
What You Need: Nude nail paint, white nail paint and toothpick.
What To Do: Paint your nails in a neutral colour. Let dry completely. Now tip some white nail paint on a flat surface. Using a toothpick’s fine tip, dip it into the paint and place it onto your nail. Keep the dots small and evenly spaced. Let dry completely. Seal with a matte top coat to get a more mature and classy look.
You can use a combination of grey nailpaint and silver dots for a more cool toned look.
8. Negative Space Nails
You can't go any more bare than no nail paint! This nailart plays with bare nails using them as #negative space to create a smart design.
What You Need: Neutral nail paint and scotch tape.
What To Do: Using two pieces of scotch tape, stick them at the base of your nails very closely together, to create a very thin line. Press firmly to ensure contact with your nails. Now paint over the thin line. Before the paint dries, remove the scotch tape. Let dry completely. Now take a single piece of scotch tape and place it on the base of your nails over the thin line, just 1mm ahead of it. Now paint the remaining bare part of your nails. Remove the scotch tape before the polish dries. Let dry completely. Seal with a glossy topcoat.
There you have it, elegant negative space nailart that won’t overwhelm.
9. Black Spike Nails
I know, I know! This sounds anything but subtle, in fact, they sound like they should be in the punk rock category. But if you do these as shown above, they exude nothing but chicness.
What You Need: Black nail paint, scotch tape and top coat.
What To Do: On your bare nails, stick two pieces of scotch tape to make a slender long V shape at the base of your nails. Keep it thin and short. Do this for all the nails to ensure they are even and equal in size. Once happy with the shape, press down firmly so that no polish leaks through the seams. Now take your black nail polish and paint over the triangles. Don’t flood it with too much polish or the shape won’t be retained once the tape is taken off. Once you’re happy with the opacity of the colour, take off the scotch tape before the polish dries. You can clean up the edges with a paint brush and acetone as there is no base polish underneath. Let dry completely. Seal with a glossy top coat. Voila, edgy but still classy nails.
10. Ruffian Nails
This nailart is so simple to do, but the outcome is so #elegant.
What You Need: Neutral colour of choice and complimenting glitter nail paint. A thin paintbrush.
What To Do: Paint your nails in a neutral colour of choice. Let dry completely. Now take a complementary opaque glitter polish and tip some of it on a flat surface. Use a very thin fine tip paintbrush to pick up the glitter paint and paint a thin line at the base of your nails extending to the free edge (in a U shape). Don’t worry if it isn't even, glitter is very forgiving. Repeat if necessary to achieve complete opacity. Let dry completely. Seal with a glossy top coat. There you go.
Classy #ruffian nails to rule your neutral chic life.
There you go. 10 minimal nude nail arts to compliment your chic wardrobe without looking out of place. Hope you try these out. Check out the blog for other styles of nailarts to suit your taste and for more nail art inspiration and tips and hacks. Have fun styling!
P.S.- None of the images used are owned by us unless watermarked with @nails_by_sujata.