Nail Art Gallery

Nail art on one short French manicured nail. Many manicures with nail art are on long nails (more nail length gives you more canvas to paint on), and each nail has art affixed to or painted on it. But this photo of bridal nails shows you that could can wear nail art on short nails, and keep it simple with just one enhanced nail. Good place to start if you're new to nail art. You can experiment with one nail before you get a full set of decorated fingernails.

Round pink nail tips with a silver glitter line and small flower stickers. This type of line at the end of the nail bed is a popular alternative French Manicure style. It is also fairly easy to do yourself because you can do it freehand without a guide. Nail art stickers in a lot of nail art designs are applied to each nail but alternating fingernails looks fine, too.

Perfect French pedicure

Isn't it time you treated yourself to a spa visit that leaves you with immaculate toenails? This foot model has perfectly manicured toenails for a very healthy clean look. Her cuticles were professionally removed and beautifully rounded. Her toenails were painted with a soft light pink polish and modestly decorated with thin pretty white tips. It is a very simple style but it looks so nice. This new pedicure is a perfect summer beauty idea.

Q. Where can I find a nail art salon?

A. If you usually do your own nails, or get basic manicures in one block color, you may be surprised to know the vast majority of nail salons in America offer nail art. According to poll results in an industry magazine, in fact, nail technicians in 92.2% of salons can enhance your nails (Nails mag, March 2007). Call ahead or check nail salon websites to see if art is included in their list of available services. Be specific in your inquiries.

More specific survey results showed a wide range in the types of nail art available. Over 75% of salons say they can do mixed media, but only 15.7% of manicurists are skilled in free-hand airbrushing. That number drops in half if you want photos on your nails. Fortunately, though, 68.3% offer one of the most popular nail art looks: custom French manicures.

Bride wearing gold nail art over
French Manicure with 3D flower

Brides getting married this summer may like to enhance the classic wedding look of French nails with a little nail art design. You can dress up one fingernail with 3D nail art and lightly paint it and your other nails. Wearing a gold wedding ring? How about a light dusting of gold on your French Manicure? Try something old (French) with something new (art).

Diagonal French wedding manicure
with gold glitter and one rhinestone

Latest Beauty Trends

Hopefully 2011 will be the year when black nails are toast. Enough of the Goth obsession already. It's been dragging on for years. Its durability has been surprising because it's neither very creative nor particularly feminine. Black is the perfect color for anyone who is extremely conservative and lacking in imagination; save it for Halloween. It's even dead in the fashion industry.

The fashionable color in new clothes as seen on the catwalks is white; so perhaps this will signal a shift away from black to white nail color. Emily Maynard on The Bachelor recently wore it. Partially white or French, however, appeals to more women. To be artistic as most visitors here are, one of the best ways to incorporate style trends is to combine the "in" colors. This is pretty easy to do with classic French manicures; just replace the tip color with what's in fashion. Or if you're more daring, change the bed hue, too.

Taking your total look to a new level, you can coordinate your nails with your clothes and even your hair. Rihanna now has dark red hair, and she wore a brown red polish. It is matte and virtually matching. How could you make it more fun? Add artistic details in gold or even a small and subtle amount of black. The key to great art is combining complementary colors; the most basic idea to make that happen is sticking within cool or warm color families.