With the 14th of February swiftly approaching us, why not use Valentine’s Day as an excuse to treat yourself to some fun nail art? Whether you’ll be celebrating Valentine’s Day, Galentine’s Day or nothing at all, it can’t hurt to play around with a few nail designs at your next manicure appointment.
From minimalist hearts to red and pink colour block designs and heart-shaped tips, we’ve found just about something that everyone will love. And if you don’t fancy heading to the nail salon or consider yourself a bit of a nail art pro, you can recreate the designs at home yourself with our shopping recommendations.
Minimalist mani
(Image: Townhouse)
If you’re a big fan of the ‘clean girl’ aesthetic and minimalist nail designs then this one is for you. Just ask the salon for a nude base coat followed by small white hearts on all your nails or just your accent nail if you want an even more subtle Valentine’s design.
This design is one of the easier designs to copy yourself at home, especially with Nails Inc. White Mani Marker Pen, £5 here, that allows you to freehand draw the hearts straight onto your nails.
Heart-shaped tips
(Image: Awe London)
Switch up the much-loved traditional French tip manicure by trying out these heart-shaped French tips instead. Go for multiple shades of pink and red or keep it simple with just one colour.
These tips are definitely better suited to those with long, almond-shaped nails and you can easily recreate this nail art at home by drawing the heart tip straight onto your nail with your desired polish. We love this baby pink shade from Essie, £8.99 here.
Reverse hearts
(Image: Shoreditch Nails)
Not a fan of the traditional pink and red Valentine’s colours? No problem as you can still incorporate the Valentine’s theme into your usual nail designs like this gorgeous set. The black reverse heart nail art definitely adds a cool edge to the designs we often see in February.
This is one of the harder designs to DIY, however, it can still be done. We recommend doing a couple of coats of your favourite black nail polish like this Sally Hansen Insta-Dri polish in ‘Back to Black’, £4.99 here. Followed by using a cotton bud dipped in a strong nail varnish remover such as this Cutex Ultra-Powerful Remover, £3 here to create the reverse heart effect.
Feeling blue
(Image: London Grace)
Cobalt blue has been a popular nail colour for a while now and these vibrant blue tips along with the matching blue heart designs make a nice change to the red and pink heart designs that we see a lot of.
If you’re up for trying this one out at home, you can get a cobalt blue polish from Rimmel for £3 here and use the dotting end of these Amazon nail art tools for £4.99 here to create the heart designs.
Colour block tips
(Image: Paint Nails London)
If you’re more of a maximalist rather than a minimalist then these bright red and pink colourblock nails will fit perfectly into your style. Rather than opting for a classic French tip, try out a vibrant red tip on top of a pink base to create a statement Valentine’s Day mani.
Try this neon pink polish from Nails Inc. for £11 here paired with an equally bright red like this ‘Cherry Cherie’ shade from Nailberry for £16.50 here.
Leopard hearts
(Image: Shoreditch Nails)
A trend that has been around forever but is having a bit of a moment in 2024 is leopard print. So why not mix a trend or print you love into your Valentine’s nail art? We love that this design elevates the simple micro heart mani by adding a leopard print tip.
Unless you have a really steady hand and want to freehand the leopard print spots, we recommend getting a hold of some leopard nail stickers and trimming them down to just the tips. These self-adhesive nail decals from Amazon, £3.79 here, are a quick and easy way to achieve this nail design at home.
