When it comes to simple nail designs, you should never sacrifice cuteness for simplicity. Never.
There are a million and one different nail designs out there that are both easy to replicate and super cute at the same time.
To drive this point home, we’ve laid out 21 of our favorite simple nail designs. Most of these looks are easy enough to pull off at any skill level and look great for any event, person, or occasion.
Take a look and don’t forget to save your favorite design for later.
1. Nude base with stickers
Paint on a nude base and slap on a few cute stickers. As far as simple nail designs go, this one takes the cake.
💅 Base: Laven-dare → gel, lacquer, acrylic
🔍17 nude nail polish colors you’re guaranteed to love
2. French tip outline
Why paint the whole French tip if the outline looks just as good? This simple nail design also doubles as minimalist nail art (which we love).
💅Acrylic Base: Boba Time
🔍22 white nail designs you’ll definitely like
3. Pink squigglys
If you don’t have a very steady hand, this is the simple nail design for you. Even if you mess up, no one will know.
💅Acrylic Base: Sor-Bae
💅Pink Lines: Razzleberry Smash
4. V tips
V tips might actually be a smidgen easier to paint on than French tips, and they look really good no matter what color you use (especially multi-colored neons).
💅Base: Bare With Me → acrylic, gel, lacquer
💅White V Tips: Pure White
5. Cow print nails
It’s definitely easier to paint on blobs than it is to paint on perfect circles. And mismatched blobs are great for cow print.
💅 Pure White + Black To Black
🔍17 black and white nail designs you should try
6. Horizontal ombre
If you’re looking for one of the simplest nail designs out there, this look is the look for you. This design works with any set of shades and looks beautiful.
💅Next Level Mauve + Oh So Boho + Wifey Material + Etiquette First + Sugar High
🔍24 gorgeous ombre nails to copy for yourself
9. Imperfect blue tips
A deep nude base with blue pastel tips always looks stunning, and it looks even more stunning when those tips are painted on imperfectly. It’s a simple nail design that’s easy to replicate.
💅 Blue tips: Wavy Baby
🔍11 blue nail designs we can’t get over
10. Ring finger flower
One simple flower is all it takes to create super cute nail art. You don’t even need to paint on the whole flower.
💅Purple base: D’Lilac
💅White flower: White Canvas
💅Middle of flower: Royal
11. Glitter ring finger
Don’t want to paint on a flower? That’s fine. You can create another simple nail design using a glitter polish on your ring finger only. No artwork necessary.
🔍14 examples of pink glitter nails that’ll make you smile
12. Natural nails with red hearts
You don’t need gel nail extensions or acrylics to create beautiful (and simple) nail art. This look proves it. A randomly placed heart on each nail and you got yourself something special.
💅 Red polish (with thin brush): Can’t Let Gough
13. V tips and bling
We’ve already said that we love v tips. They look great, and they’re easy to replicate. But rhinestones are also incredibly easy to apply, and they’re perfect for easy nail designs and minimalist nail art.
💅Black polish: Negative Space
🔍How to apply rhinestones to nails
14. Sheer polish
When you use sheer nail polish, it creates a transparent, see-through effect — which you can have a lot of fun with. We love seeing the pink neon on top of the pink sheer.
💅Sheer: Miss Candied
💅Neon: Dress To Impress
15. Glitter tips
Glitter is always great for simple nail designs. It looks super cute, but there are no fine lines involved. The skill level required to pull off a look like this is pretty low.
🔍12 of the most perfect glitter ombre nails
16. Simple flame nails
Flame nails can get pretty intense and over the top. But if you keep the lines to a minimum and choose the right colors, you can find yourself with a simple, yet modern nail design.
🔍10 flame nails that are hotter than hot
17. 50/50 nails
Whether you go with many colors or two colors, 50/50 nails are incredibly simple nail designs that look beautiful. If you’re not comfortable making perfectly straight and even splits, then skip that part. Make them uneven and angled on purpose and create an abstract nail design.
🔍19 perfectly perfect pastel nails
18. Pastel lines
If you have polish with thin brushes (or even a toothpick), this design is really easy to pull off. You just need 3-5 different colors and a few disproportionate lines.
🔍20 rainbow nails to put on repeat
19. Multi-colored dots
Here’s another simple nail design that looks great on natural and artificial nails. If you don’t have a tool specifically designed for dotting on nail polish, use a toothpick.
💅 D’Lilac + Wavy Baby + Pure White + Royal + Feelin Nutty
20. Gold drips
We love this design because it looks so epic and so glamorous, but really... it’s just a few gold strokes on a nude base.
💅Gold drips: 24k
🔍19 glorious gold nail designs for any occasion
21. French tip outline with a silver line
We showed you a simple French tip outline earlier, and here’s another one — but with a silver line of glitter down the middle. We’re big fans.
🔍16 of our favorite nail color ideas
