20 nail art designs that are perfect for beginners

Creating nail art designs at home sounds great in theory, but when it comes to actual DIY-ing, you almost always give up after the third nail. Lucky for you, the trending designs this season are also the most doable—especially if you’re a girl who doesn’t do basic but also needs professional help to be extra. From minimalist nail art designs that require the least turnaround time to quick and easy hacks for complicated looking artworks, we’re giving you enough ideas and inspirations to be your own manicurist.

Nail art designs for beginners: Shine and sparkle

It’s easy: just a base coat of a solid colour (we love white) topped with a glittery coat. Make it more fun with multi-coloured glitter sprinkles instead of sticking to the basic black or white. Pick this if you want a ‘party on your nails’.

Nail art designs for beginners: Negative space

It’s when bare (un-coloured) nails peep through bold coloured stripes and shapes. Basically, you don’t have to concentrate on ensuring the lacquer fits within the outline of your nails. Simply swipe strokes—horizontal or vertical, thick or thin, across your nails with the colour of your choice and finish with a translucent top coat. Cover half a nail leaving the rest bare. No space constraints here. Update your design by using metallic finishes.

Nail art designs for beginners: Metallic Frenchie

Up your French manicure by replacing white with a metallic lacquer. Use a tape to cover the rest your nude nails and get the French tips precisely lined. Always finish with a top coat.

Nail art designs for beginners: Geometric shapes

The lazy girls’ version—draw tiny squares on bare nails in an electric blue or a pop colour, and finish with a top coat.

Nail art designs for beginners: Cuticle

Take a slim-tip brush, dip it in your favourite pot of nail polish and literally follow the line of your cuticle. It’s that easy.

Nail art designs for beginners: Criss cross

How to make DIY nail art designs look like they’re done by a pro? Paint a solid colour, then take a thin brush to draw criss-cross lines over it using one, or multiple colours. You’re trying to create the illusion of roughly drawn lines, but that’ll be easy because the key here is to be imperfect with your strokes. Genius.

Nail art designs for beginners: Moondust

Paint your nails. Take a sponge. Dip it in colour. Pat over nail. Done.

Nail art designs for beginners: One nail wonder

We’re calling it the laziest nail art design—picking one nail as the attention-grabber. Keeping all the others bare or a neutral shade, draw a little heart, a smiley, or any other shape you fancy, over one nail. Simple.

Nail art designs for beginners: Line up

A single line swiped horizontally across one, a diagonal one on another, two vertical ones here, a cross drawn there; lines can be fun to play with—especially on your nails.