Girls' nights can sometimes consist of drinking wine and watching rom-coms you've probably seen a million times. These types of nights are always about hanging with your besties, catching up, and having a relaxing night — maybe face masks will even be involved. One thing that sometimes gets overlooked is manicures. A lot of women like to go to salons, but when you can't swing it financially (or don't want to leave the apartment), why not get your best friend to glam up your nails for you? YouTube is a treasure trove of nail art designs, and they range from whatever skill level you are.
It can be daunting, since a lot of DIY stuff doesn't turn out nearly as good as what's in the videos, but nail art is all about trial and error and having fun, anyway. Plus, if you don't like how something is turning out, you can always use some remover to scrub it away and do a cute, plain nail instead.
Don't worry if you don't have any tools at home, because you really don't need professional ones to make small details. Just like this one YouTube user shows, you can use so many household items to get the same great detailed effects. So grab your girls, get some polish, and try out some of your favorite designs from below.
01Easy Glitter Ombre
The very first tutorial in this video may seem a tad tricky, but it's not. It involves glitter polish, a sponge, and some dabbing; nothing too strenuous. Now, it might take a couple of tries to get the perfect gradient from plain to glitter — but that's why you have multiple nails, right? If this is too much glitter for your taste, you can also try this process with different colors for a solid, ombre approach.
02Tropical Palm Leaves With A Touch Of Gold
At 2:23 in the video below, you'll find this super detailed and fun nail design. This is definitely for someone with a really steady hand — maybe if you're an artist, you'll be able to pull this one off. Either way, it's really cool for spring, especially if you're going somewhere tropical for break. Or better yet, if you're staying home, this will bring the palm trees and sunshine to you.
If you're a beginner, you can also just do the white part and gold decal. It'll be super chic that way and still a conversation piece.
03Easy And Cool Marble Nails
One of the great nail art ideas in this hack video (the part at 1:55) is a life-saver if you want mess-free marble nails. Marble nail videos are often trending on Instagram or Facebook, yet it's sometimes impossible to get it just right.
This hack is great to get a near-perfect marble nail with minimal mess, and an Instagram-worthy look. You can use neon or pastel colors for spring that'll really brighten your look. If the marble is a little too much for you, use it as an accent nail or two instead, and do the rest in one of your favorite colors you used to make the marble.
04The Classic French Mani
When in doubt, French-mani-it-out. One of the most classic and iconic nail art designs, a French manicure is simple yet so elegant. It's just a little something to really give your nails that extra oomph. It can be a bit difficult, though, so using tools like tape or nail art brushes, as shown in the video above, will really make it worth your while. There are a few different methods, so choose whichever works best for you.
05Chic Glitter Stripes
58 seconds into this video, and you'll see that even something super simple can make all the difference to a plain manicure. Choose your favorite color, and get a glitter polish to create this look. While it does require thin nail tape, it creates something truly chic. Everyone is going to be buzzing about how professional your nails look. You can tell them your girls helped you do it, to give your friends some much-deserved props.
06Minimal, Yet Cute AF, Lines
Jump to 1:04 and you'll find this super gorgeous, yet simple, design. Much like the design above, a simple line can make all the difference. Even though this video shows the use of metallic nail tape to give that line effect, definitely feel free to use nail polish to create the same exact look.
07Mustaches, Because Why Not?
If you have the time and patience to try something a little more detail-oriented, definitely choose this super cute mustache design. Like the palm tree one, a little more precision is needed — but it's definitely doable. This one may be for an intermediate or advanced person, but can also be achieved even if you don't have a nail tool.
08Triangles For Days
At the 2:35 mark in the video, you'll find a cool yet easy nail design that will make everyone do a double take. It's not too much to have this on every nail, and it's easy so really anyone can master it. The most effort this involves is going out to buy the little triangle decals, but you can find some online (like these subtle triangles from Etsy). If you don't want to do that, draw them on.
