35 Pretty Natural Nail Designs

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.

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Wonky Smiley

"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."

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Earthy Tips

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.

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Side Swirl

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.

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Lime Line

Lime strip natural nail design — @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.

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Reptile Tips

Reptile tip natural nail design — 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.

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Autumn Squiggles

Autumn squiggle natural nail design — @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.

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Micro Glitter Tip

Micro Glitter Nail Tips natural nail design — 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.

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French Tips

French Tip natural nail design — @klawsbysonia / Instagram

French Tips are the OG natural nail design. This gorgeous set was completed on Aprés Sculpted Almond Long ($17) gel-x tips.

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Renaissance

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.

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Snowflake Accent

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.

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High Gloss

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.

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Iced Out

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.

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Glitter Half Moon

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.

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Crystal Decals

Crystal decal natural nail design — @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.

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Gingham French

These pink Gingham tips—accented with teeny-tiny strawberries and flowers—are perfect for spring. The look was created with polishes from Magpie Beauty.

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Aura Frenchies

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.

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Corner Stripes

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.

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Sparkles and Swirls

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.

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Polka Dots

Polka dot natural nail design — @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.

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Statement Swirls

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).

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Framed Pink Flowers

Framed pink flower natural nail design — @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.

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Garden Tips

Garden tip natural nail design — @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.

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Easter Bunny

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.

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Pastel Abstract Brush Stroke

Pastel absract brush natural nail design — @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.

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Valentine’s Day Gradient

Valentine's Day gadient natural nail design — @onenailtorulethemall / Instagram

Although each nail is loaded with saturated color, the half-moon at the base of the nail remains visible. The Valentine's Day look was painted using Magpie Beauty products including the polish Give Me Strength Cupid ($13); and compact pigments in Ibiza ($6), Chile ($6) and Mallorca ($6); White gel ($13); and the Velvet topcoat ($13).

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Neutral Watercolors

Neutral watercolor natural nail design — @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.

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Cartoon Swirls

Cartoon swirl natural nail design — @nailsbymaki.nyc / Instagram

Featuring neon yellow and black swirls, these bold and graphic nails look like they could be straight out of a cartoon.

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Negative Space

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.

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Iridescent Flecks

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.

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Happy Nails

Happy natural nail design — @disseynails / Instagram

This look features the ManiMe Bien Happy nail wraps ($12), allowing you to get this same exact design with very little effort.

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Tropical Tips

Tropical tip natural nail design — @disseynails / Instagram

Vibrant polishes from Lights Lacquer were used to create these fun and tropical tips. The polishes used include Clueless ($11), Hide the Rum, ($11), Coralcabana ($11), Tranquila y Tropical ($11), Down in Kokomo ($11), and Girl from Ipanema ($11).

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