The Top Nail Art Trends of 2021
People have been decorating their nails since the beginning of the human race. Trends and designs have evolved since, and it can be hard to keep up with what’s cute and what’s out of style. That’s why we’ve made this guide for you! These are the top nail art trends of 2021.
Of course, designs vary by difficulty and supplies needed, so we’ll include those too.
Designs
Plain Colors with Glitter Accent (Easy)
This is a simple, gorgeous, trendy look that can be easily recreated. It includes plain painted nails with one glitter accent nail, usually the ring or index finger.
What you need:
Base coat
Plain polish color of your choice
White polish
Glitter polish of your choice
Top coat
Makeup sponge (optional)
Steps:
Paint your base coat on all of your nails and allow it to dry.
Choose which nail you’d like to be your accent, preferably the ring fingernail. Paint all your nails (except your accent) with your plain polish (this can be any color, just make sure that the glitter color complements the rest of the nails). Wait for it to dry.
Paint a second coat of polish on all nails except the accent. Wait for it to dry.
Paint your white polish on the accent nail, and wait for it to dry. The white polish makes the glitter pop.
Paint your glitter polish onto the accent, waiting for it to dry between layers.
HACK! Use a makeup sponge to dab the glitter polish onto your nail to get a more opaque, full layer of glitter.
Paint a top coat and wait for it to dry. Done!
Cow Print Nails (Medium)
Cow print (and other animal prints) have come back from the ‘70s, both in fashion and nail art
What you need:
Base coat
Base polish (white or another light color)
Black or brown polish
Nail detailing brush/dotting tool
Top coat
Steps:
Paint your base coat on all your nails and wait for them to dry.
Paint your base color on all nails and wait for them to dry.
Paint a second layer of color. Dry.
Take a detailing brush or dotting tool to make small splotches of black or brown polish on your nails in small, cow-like patches. Dry.
Paint a top coat. Done!
Galaxy Nails (Difficult)
Galaxy-print is popular in both clothing and nails.
What you need:
Base coat
Black polish
Liquid latex
White polish
Blue polish
Purple polish
Makeup sponge
Tweezers
Top coat
Steps:
Paint base coat on all nails. Dry.
Paint black polish on all nails. Dry.
Paint a second coat of black polish. Dry.
Paint liquid latex on the skin around your nail. Dry.
Cut a small piece of your makeup sponge off.
Hold the sponge piece with your tweezers and dab it into a small amount of white polish.
Dab the white polish onto your nails in messy stripes; it doesn’t have to be perfect.
Repeat steps 6-7 with blue and purple.
Splash some white polish specks onto your nails.
Peel off the latex.
Wait for the nails to dry. Paint a top coat over, and let it dry. All done!
Or…
If you don’t fancy spending up to an hour for a single nail, why not check out or digital nail art printer! Any design, printed onto artificial nails for later application, or straight onto your nail in seconds!