Natural nail designs are the perfect choice when you want a look that’s impactful yet airy. They let the beauty of your natural nails shine through while adding pops of color, texture, and pattern.
“The neutral nail designs that have been trending usually consist of complexion-matching or flattering shades like beige, white, greige, or brown—maybe with a touch of earthy shades thrown in like slate, clay, or moss,” says expert Rita Remark. “But just because the colors are more subtle, doesn’t mean that the designs have to be. That’s what is so great about this trend! You can play with graphic shapes and negative space designs without the manicure feeling overwhelming.”
meet the expert
- Rita Remark is Essie’s global lead educator and nail artist.
- Fleury Rose is a celebrity nail artist in New York City.
Get excited about (and prepared for) your next manicure and browse these 35 gorgeous natural nail designs below.
Wonky Smiley
Fleury Rose
“I love the ombré of different nudes as the base colors,” says Fleury Rose. “We added smileys, but it would also be cute without them.”
Earthy Tips
@mabelyn___ / Instagram
This stunning nail features a natural base with an earth, geometric brown, and cream tip. Because the tip has a straight-across bottom instead of a rounded shape, it adds a lot of interest to the look.
Side Swirl
@disseynails / Instagram
Using a colorful mix of a handful of polishes from Gucci Beauty polishes, this design leaves half of the nail natural while the other half gets the design. This keeps the look nice and airy.
Lime Line
@mabelyn___ / Instagram
This is, undoubtedly, the simplest look on the list. It features a diagonal line in lime green down each nail, adding a bit of color to an otherwise bare look.
Reptile Tips
Fleury Rose
“White is a great complement to this nude snake design,” says Rose. The pattern starts out more opaque at the tip and fades out toward the middle of the nail, giving a gradient effect.
Autumn Squiggles
@klawsbysonia / Instagram
Although the navy blue and terracotta used in this design are quite deep, there’s lots of negative space in this design. It was painted on top of Aprés Sculpted Almond Medium ($17) gel-x tips.
Micro Glitter Tip
Fleury Rose
“This look is very cute because it uses an almost nude glitter,” says Rose. Plus, the tip is super thin, keeping the look simple and natural.
French Tips
@klawsbysonia / Instagram
French Tips are the OG natural nail design. This gorgeous set was completed on Aprés Sculpted Almond Long ($17) gel-x tips.
Renaissance
@lolo.nailedit / Instagram
This set of black, white, and silver nails was done for Beyoncé’s Renaissance Tour. It uses five polishes — OPI’s Bare My Soul ($12), Alpine Snow ($12), and Black Onyx ($12); Mooncat’s Outlaw Country ($15); and Cirque Colors’s Moonbeam ($13).
The colored polishes are concentrated toward the center of the room, leaving lots of negative space for the natural nails to show.
Snowflake Accent
Fleury Rose
This delicate look is “all nude with the exception of a cute snowflake accent nail,” says Rose. Doing a design on one finger is a great option if you want just a little interest.
High Gloss
@gossipandgloss / Instagram
Painted with OPI’s Love is in the Bare ($20), this look is gorgeous and simple. The polish adds a milky whitewash of color across the nails, leaving them looking elevated yet natural.
Iced Out
@lolo.nailedit / Instagram
This look features a natural base with an icy tip and dots of glitter cascading down. It was created with shades from the Static Nail Official Muted Pastels Palette ($60) including Pistachio, Milkshake, Earl Gray, Crushed Diamonds, and Doe My Dear.
Glitter Half Moon
@nailsbymaki.nyc / Instagram
This nearly bare look features a white milky shade complete with a touch of champagne glitter at the base of the nail, creating a simple flash.
Crystal Decals
@nailsbymaki.nyc / Instagram
These sparkly nails are like jewelry. Each nail has a nude base and is adorned with crystal decals, leaving behind a pretty look.
Gingham French
@onenailtorulethemall / Instagram
These pink Gingham tips—accented with teeny-tiny strawberries and flowers—are perfect for spring. The look was created with polishes from Magpie Beauty.
Aura Frenchies
@klawsbysonia / Instagram
This look takes the aura nail trend and keeps it simple, by applying the look only to the tips. It was painted on Aprés Sculpted Almond Medium ($17) gel-x tips.
Corner Stripes
@lolo.nailedit / Instagram
Featuring three shades from Chanel Beauty—Fugueuse ($32), Ballerina ($32), and Muse ($32)—this look keeps the color at the bottom of the nail while the top of the nail gets a coat sheer enough you can see the nail beneath it.
Sparkles and Swirls
@klawsbysonia / Instagram
Each nail in this pretty set has lots of negative space, while pink is applied in wavy blobs to the tips and sides of the nails, accented with silver glitter. It was painted on Aprés Sculpted Almond Medium ($17) gel-x tips.
Polka Dots
@lolo.nailedit / Instagram
Done with all Nails Inc Plant Power polishes, this look features a milky base and polka dots. Although quite a few colors were used to make the polka dots, they’re small enough that the look isn’t overwhelming.
Statement Swirls
@lolo.nailedit / Instagram
These red swirls are nice and thick, so they add a lot of color to the nail, but, you can still see lots of the natural nail. The look was painted with OPI’s A Kick in the Bud ($13) atop Put it in Neutral ($12).
Framed Pink Flowers
@onenailtorulethemall / Instagram
Created with polishes from Magpie Beauty, this look features a wavy pink frame around a simple white daisy. The daisy sits on a neutral base, keeping the look uncrowded.
Garden Tips
@onenailtorulethemal / Instagram
Floral tips are a great way to have a lot of your natural nail show while still enjoying an intricate design. These tips were painted with the ARTYgels from Magpie Beauty.
Easter Bunny
@onenailtorulethemall / Instagram
This Easter-inspired set adds fun and whimsy to the nails without being overwhelming to look at. It’s painted with polish from Magpie Beauty.
Pastel Abstract Brush Stroke
@onenailtorulethemall / Instagram
This brush-stroke look uses pops of pastels and gold to create a pretty abstract tip. It’s done with polishes from Magpie Beauty.
Neutral Watercolors
@nailsbymaki.nyc / Instagram
This swirl of colors resembles watercolors, thanks to the sheet nature of the polishes used. Although most of the nail is covered, you can still see the nail really well.
Cartoon Swirls
@nailsbymaki.nyc / Instagram
Featuring neon yellow and black swirls, these bold and graphic nails look like they could be straight out of a cartoon.
Negative Space
@nailsbymaki.nyc / Instagram
Opaque pistachio and a pale teal cover most of each nail, but a sliver of negative space is left between the two shades, adding an element of softness to the look.
Iridescent Flecks
@nailsbymaki.nyc / Instagram
These nails are topped with chunky glitter cascading from the tips of the nail. They add a fun element of sparkle to clear nail polish.
Happy Nails
@disseynails / Instagram
This look features the ManiMe Bien Happy nail wraps ($12), allowing you to get this same exact design with very little effort.
Pretty Pastels
@disseynails / Instagram
These nails take a fun approach to rainbow nails, using pastel shades from Lights Lacquer to create these abstract shapes.
Sweethearts
@disseynails / Instagram
Take French tips to the next level with a fun, ditsy pattern, like these red hearts. This design was created using polishes from Gel Care.
Delicate Dots
@gossipandgloss / Instagram
These milky, nude nails feature two super-small dots at the base of each nail, adding the tiniest drop of color.
Floral Halo
@gossipandgloss / Instagram
These floral nails have that sheer, pink lip gloss effect but get a little more interest thanks to a few dainty floral halos.
