Credit: Hang Nguyen
1 min read
From simple flowers to floral crowns, statement daisies and pastel tips, there’s a bounty of spring nail designs options to choose from.
Yes, it’s a cliché but when spring rolls around, I really do itch for fresh things. The higgledy-piggledy cupboards I’ve ignored from October through February suddenly feel oppressive and weighty. My hair – that I’ve spent months repairing and nurturing – looks staid and dull. Basically, I want newness and I want it now. Fortunately, there are less drastic ways to inject life into my style. Enter spring nail designs.
Ranging from delicate floral wreaths to undulating pastel swirls and earth-toned neutrals, there are myriad spring-appropriate options popping up on social media right now. I’ve collated seven of the best options to try at home or request from your nail technician.
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Mirco-daisies
One of the most popular nail designs to DIY at home, these aesthetic (but deceptively simple) flowers can be done using a dotting tool – they range from £5 to £12 depending on which model and brand you plump for.
Start by creating one dot in an accent colour and follow up by surrounding it with dots of a different colour. Voila, you have a flower. If it sounds too simple to be true, that’s because it is. Paint your non-dominant hand first to get an idea of what you want the design to look like. Beautiful on a clear, natural and colour-blocked base.
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Bouquet tips
Beautifully intricate, this design looks like a bunch of fresh wildflowers somehow encapsulated in nail polish. Highly artistic, this is one to ask your trusted nail technician for.
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Pastel tips
A more subtle way to wear pastel without verging into full bridesmaid territory, these rounded, soft tips are a wonderful nod to the new season.
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Flower power
Revive the 70s with these swirling, laid-back, rainbow-flower hybrid nails.
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Statement daisies
A slightly more difficult variation of our simple flower, a daisy design is gloriously appropriate for spring. It might take longer to perfect the shape – you want to keep the majority of the width in the middle of the petal, tapering down at each end – but the payoff is more than worth it. Pair with solid nail colours or extended French tips to really make the flowers stand out.
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Flower crowns
Sweet and whimsical, these floral crowns are so understated and intricate they feel like individual works of art. Thin green lines (vines, of course) intersect with splashes and blotches of colour. Beautiful up close and from afar.
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Spring swirls
Negative space nail designs are nothing new, but when combined with spring-ready colours like baby blue, butter yellow and pale green, they feel fresh and light again.
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Abstract spring designs
Hazy, dreamy and abstract, spring nails doesn’t have to mean flowers and nothing else. If it’s not your jam, it’s not your jam. These spring-adjacent nails feel like a visual representation of growth and newness, instead.
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Low-key neutrals
Neutral tones will never go out of fashion. They pair well and feel effortlessly chic. However, don’t think that limits you to a spectrum of browns, blacks and pinks. These non-vibrant neutrals are the perfect example of pairing earthy tones with a nude base to create an elegant hybrid nail design that still feels fun.
Main image: Hang Nguyen
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