Ombre Nails
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If you haven’t tried ombre nails for yourself, you really need to get on this trend! They look absolutely gorgeous and can be done in so many color combinations
Here are some of my favorite ombre nail designs that you can totally steal! Show your esthetician these pictures at your next nail appointment or make your own DIY ombre nail designs right at home.
Ideas for Ombre Nails
Glitter Ombre Nails
Glitter always looks amazing when you add it to your nail art, and it definitely adds an extra something to ombre nails. You can incorporate fine glitter to give your nails a bit of sparkle or use bigger glitter pieces to create unique designs on your nails too.
Pastel Shades
Pastel shades on nails are super cute, especially for spring or Easter. You can take the ombre pattern from one shade to another easily with pastels because the pale colors are usually complementary and blend well.
Ombre Nails With Clouds
Cloud designs are super easy to add to nails, even for a beginner nail artist. Start with a light colored base near the nail bed then transition to a darker color near the tips. You’ll wind up with a cool two-toned ombre design.
From there, add in one or two little white clouds to your nails. The result is an adorable contrasting effect between the ombre nail polish and cloud design.
Coffin
Coffin nails continue to be a stylish nail shape option, especially because they work well at multiple lengths. If you like this style, consider skipping the solid color at your next manicure and opting for an ombre design on your coffin nails instead.
Because the tips are thin on coffin nails the shift from soft to bold nail polish colors looks especially stunning.
Pink Ombre Nails
Pink nail polish is a classic! If you’re doing your nails at home, it’s a color you probably have on hand in multiple shades.
To get perfect pink ombre nails choose two complementary shades of pink, ideally in the same color family or line.
Blue Ombre Nails
Blue is a bold color for nails, but adding an ombre effect can help tone down and soften a bright shade. You can either use multiple shades of blue to create the ombre effect on your nails, or add in a softer color like white or pink.
For a unique effect, try painting only a few nails in ombre shades and leave the others a solid color.
Sparkle
I absolutely love nails that sparkle! The best part about sparkly nails is that they’re really easy to do: just use a glittery top coat after you do your ombre design.
Purple Ombre Nails
Purple is an underrated nail color, in my opinion. The trick with purple ombre nails is to find a color that matches without washing out the purple. Colors similar to purple, like pink and indigo, work well but can sometimes leave the colors looking lacklustre.
If you want a big impact, try shades opposite to purple like orange, yellow, and green.
White Ombre Nails
White matches anything but pulling it off in an ombre nail design does take a bit of technique. White can sometimes contrast too much, which could make your nails look choppy instead of ombre.
On the flip side, white blends very well with other colors so you can use it to create a true ombre look. If it’s your first time working with white in ombre nails, choose a soft white and a solid pale color like pink, purple, or blue.
Peach Ombre
Peach ombre is really pretty on nails, especially for summer. To get the look go for shades of orange and pink; they blend well!
Gradient Nails
Gradient nails are when you paint each nail a different color or shade of the same color. But you can totally take this to the next level by adding an ombre design to your gradient nails!
Instead of going top to bottom with your ombre pattern, carry it side to side. Start with your first color on the outside of your thumb, then create an ombre design to the next color toward the opposite side. From there, begin the next nail with the last color you used – the result will be an ombre design that carries across your entire hand!
Yellow Ombre Nails
Yellows are pretty in spring and summer, but don’t let that stop you from getting yellow ombre nails anytime of the year. Choose opposite colors like pink, purple, or indigo for a bold look. Or try going from nude or white to yellow at the tips!
Pink and Purple Ombre
Pink and purple may be pretty, feminine nail polish colors – but they can still be bold and impactful if done right. Instead of going pastel, try bold purple and pink hues in an ombre pattern for an eye-catching look.
Neon Ombre
Neon nails look so cool and ombre can take them to the next level. Since the bright colors of neon can be tricky to work with, try first going from clear to neon. You can also add some simple designs on top to create a unique, low maintenance look.
Matte Ombre Nails
Matte nail polish is very in style right now, and it looks amazing in ombre designs too. Since matte mutes the color a bit, consider going brighter with your nail polish for the biggest impact. Bold shades of red, pink, blue, green, and even black all look fantastic in matte.
Bold doesn’t mean dark; you can still use pastel shades or even whites, just make sure they’re bright and vivid.
French Manicure
A French manicure is kind of the original ombre nails in a way. In a regular French manicure, you’d paint the nail tip white and the rest a contrasting color.
To turn this into an ombre effect, keep the white tip but blend it with the other color a bit before you’d swap colors in a regular French manicure. This creates a nude ombre nail.
Rainbows
The trick to getting beautiful rainbow nails is making sure all the colors you pick are in the same tone. From there you can use any color family: neon, pastel, brights, and mattes all work for rainbow nails.
Once you have your nail polish picked out, use any of these techniques to create unique ombre rainbow nails right at home.
Black Ombre Nails
Black is an up and coming trend. Or rather, it’s coming back into style in new ways! Dark and moody, black nails definitely draw attention especially if you incorporate it into an ombre design.
Black works well at the base or tip of the nail. Some pairing ideas are nude, white, pink, green, blue, gold, and silver.
Grey Ombre Nails
Like black, grey ombre nails are also a relatively new trend. If you want a subtle color for your manicure, two toned light and dark greys work fantastic. Or pair grey nail polish with pink, white, or blue.