40 Simple Nail Art Tutorials For Beginners

Colorful patterns and unique designs, it’s so fun getting a manicure that suits the season or your own personality; making it one that’s a bit outside-the-box in tradition and not just a new color.

Have you ever thought about trying your hand at nail art? Creating your own look and getting creative? Well, now you can! Take a peek at these 40 simple nail art tutorials that are perfect for beginners and dip your toes (or hands) into it.

40 Simple Nail Art Tutorials

Let’s find some of the cutest nail art tutorials you can try out whenever you feel like prettying up your nails! We have 40 ideas for you to put into practice, so let’s start!

1. Galaxy Nails

How about you turn your nails into a galaxy? With just a little effort, and a few nail polish bottles, you can make your own galaxy manicure in a few minutes. The best part is that you don’t have to paint any straight lines. Get our tutorial here!

2. Washi Tape Nails

Ok, so this one idea isn’t necessarily something you would go for when you consider nail art, but we have it on list and it’s a pretty cool alternative to using nail polish – use washi tape instead! Get the tutorial here! 

3. Speckled Bird Egg

Some birds lay the most beautiful eggs, and if you want, you can replicate that design rather easily. You’re going to need just a couple of colors of nail polish and a few extra materials. Get the tutorial from @coyarose on Insta.

4. Sparkly Leaves

Another really cool idea is to paint some silver leaves on your nails. Since you’re doing this as an accent nail, it won’t be too difficult and won’t require too much work. Get the tutorial from Paulina’s Passions.

5. White Collar 

If you want your nails to look like they’re wearing a pretty blouse with a white collar, then this tutorial is the right one for you. The result is absolutely adorable and the tutorial comes from here. 

6. Frame

We found another really cute idea on Instagram – painting a frame on your nails. With a base coat down, you can paint the frame in a different color for each nail, resulting in this cute summery pattern. Love it! Pic comes from @beautybyelleantonia.

7. White Flowers

Paint your nails blue and then add some really cute white flowers on the sides of the nails. It’s a lovely design from @ojededevrim on Insta and we just want it done right now!

8. Neon

Sometimes, you have to keep things simple, so how about this cute design that features a french-like manicure with neon colors and plenty of black speckles? We love the idea we found on Insta, via @nadezhda_nagel.

9. Blue Marble

How about you make your nails look like marble? It’s a pretty cool idea, right? Well, we love it quite a bit and found it pretty awesome so we’re sharing this tutorial from Paulina’s Passions with you!

10. Beach Waves

We’re all rooting for the summer to return so we can dip into the Ocean once more, so we’re sure these beach waves-inspired nails will hit the nail perfectly. Let’s see how you can make your own from All Day Chic!

11. Watermelon

These watermelon nails may look intricate but anyone can recreate this look by The Nailasaurus. They’re adorable, they perfect for summer vacation and if you follow the steps, you’ll be surprise how easy it is for a novice to do.

12. Geometric

Sonailicious gives us some incredible inspiration for a unique, geometric design that looks like it’s straight from the salon. But, with the right colors, it can be made right at home.

13. Glitter Lines

Brit+Co shows us how to use tape. Cover them in glitter, tape a design, paint and peel! It’s super easy and you can do it with a variety of textures and colors.

14. Minimalistic

A minimal design from Pshiiit opens us up to so many easy designs. It’s simple, it’s sweet and it’s incredibly modern for your fashion-forward style.

15. Taxi-Inspired

We’re in love with this taxi-inspired design from Snobka. The contrast is brilliant and its quite simple to recreate with the right materials.

16. Flowers

LuLu’s provides some beautiful amazing tutorials for some unique and intricate nail art. But this floral design can be done by even the beginners.

17. Opal

We’re swooning over this opal designs we found at Pshiiit. Layers and swirling of metallic pinks and turquoise come together to create quite the stunner.

18. Nail Tip

Over at Yes Missy you can find the tutorial for these heart-shaped tips. It’s such a quirky and fun way to dress your digits!

19. Glitter Colorblock

All Day Chic provides us with a simple technique for creating colorblocked nails. And we’re in love with the sparkling colors choices used in the tutorial.

20. Single Stripe

A single stripe can really make a difference when designed your nails. At Isla Everywhere you can learn how to recreate this easy, simple look within a bat of an eyelash.

21. Pineapple

Divine Caroline gives us another intricate design but one that can be recreated by novice stylers. Just follow the easy steps provided and get creative with this funky pineapple look.

22. Polka Dots

Who doesn’t love polka dots? Polish Your Pretty shows us how to make the adorable print that will never go out of style … but on our nails!

23. Melted

Chalkboard Nails featured some incredible nail art. And this one is no exception. Learn how to make your fingernails melt with metallic as you follow their easy video tutorial.

24. Triangles

At A Beautiful Mess you can learn how to utilize nail wraps as you design your own look with them. This geometric look was made easy, go see how!

25. Snow

This snow-topped look is so much fun to recreate but it’s also easy, which is what we’re all looking for. Quite Polished has an easy way to create the snowing feature.

26. Football

Whether it’s for your kiddos first ball game or the first Monday night football party of the season, these Pretty Prudent football nails are great inspiration and easy to do on yourself.

27. Mermaid

Cupcakes and Cashmere created some nails inspired by mermaid colors. Not ever design has to be added to every nail. Instead this glittery addition can just be an accent.

28. Chevron

Chevron is one of the trendiest of patterns. And over at Lulu’s, you can learn how to create the chicest version of that fun, modern print.

29. Flocked

Cupcake’s Clothes gives us a tutorial that’s full of texture, fun and uniqueness. And with this “flocked” look, your nails will look like velvet.

30. Ombre

Chalkboard Nails gives us another inspiring design, but this time it’s all about color. A gradient, ombre effect is just as chic on your nails as it is in fashion.

31. Kitchen Tiles

Inspired by kitchen tiles, learn how to make another funky, geomtric design from Nailed It. And remember, you can use any colors you choose!

32. Half-Moon

Hole reinforcers never came in handy like this before. This classy, half-mood design by Lulu’s is such a sweet and girlish way to dress your nails.

33. Checkerboard

Sonailicious made a checkerboard print, right on her nail bed. And we love its contemporary feel and sleek touches. Of course, the classic, black and white color combinations helps with that look.

34. Linear Lines

Brit+Co shows us another way to utilize the simplicity of easy lines. Horizontal lines are just another way to dress your nail with chic styling.

35. Ice Cream Cone

And finally, Divine Caroline shows us an easy way to turn your nails into miniature ice cream cones. And yes, this one if for beginners too! Just follow the directions.

Bonus: 5 More Great Nail Designs

We know that you always need more inspiration, so we thought to add a few more pics so you can try your hand at making these designs. Of  course, you can always just save the pic and go to your nail salon and ask your technician to do it for you – it’s probably safest that way. 

36. Ghostly Manicure

We found this really cool design on Insta and we want to save it up for Halloween or a fun weekend – dripping smiley faces that look like ghosts with strong pastels. We just love it! Check it out on @obsidiannailstudio‘s page. 

37. When Life Gives You Lemons

When life gives you lemons, you paint them up on your nails! Yes! This design looks perfect for a chill spring, for early summer, and for any other time you feel like having a dash of yellow in your life. It’s simply lovely! Get the design from @colorbox_nails. 

38. Cherry Touch

As summer approaches, cherries are always welcomed in our lives. So, why not express your love for these fruits via your manicure? We found this really cute design that features cherries on the accent nail and we’re in love with the idea from @edbeauty.ee. 

39. Sparkly Nails

When you’re going for sparkles, not all your nails need to have the design on them, especially since it can be a bit much sometimes. A great alternative is to put the sparkles on your accent nail and have it “spill” over to the neighboring nails too. Such a cute idea! We found it up on Insta for Ka-Ras Extension Studio. 

40. Diagonal Tips

French tips are awesome, but it’s super nice when we see some variation on the theme. For instance, these diagonal tips from @raelondonnails on Insta are fabulous and definitely something anyone can try at home without too much of a headache. 

Final Thoughts

We hope you have a bunch of cool new ideas to try out whenever you feel like doing your manicure next. Imagination is your only limit here, so dive right in and try them all out.