These days, nail art trends come and go faster than any other type of beauty news. While we’re still relishing in invisible French tips, Italian nails, and jelly gel manicures there’s a new 2023 nail art design catching our attention. Enter: blooming gel nail art.
At first glance you may think blooming nails resemble aura nails, water marble nails, tie dye shirts, or even crocodile prints. But blooming nails are so much more complex, little rules apply and every time you try the manicure it's sure to look different.
In order to get the blooming nail effect, you’ll need a special kind of polish; clear blooming gel nail polish! It’s an unassuming base coat that is the secret to these intricate manicures. Simply paint the top coat gel polish onto a clean nail and add any nail colors you wish while it is still wet. The blooming gel will cause the colored polish to spread and create a blooming effect as it dries. You can manipulate the colors by blending them together, applying small dots and large dots.
Eager to try the trend? We’ve rounded up some of the best looks—show your nail artist and they’ll know just where to start!
1. Mosaic Flowers
Nothing screams spring like this manicure. We love the mix of the neon and pastel colors. Clearly this nail artist took some time with these blooms! They fit together just like a mosaic.
2. Sky Blooms
Picking a color family is the perfect way to try out a blooming manicure for the first time. You can’t go wrong with different shades of blues and accenting with white. Try it with a few rhinestones!
3. Mauve and Nude
If neutral pigments suit you best, you must try this mauve and nude manicure. It’s subtle as the blooms are accented on half of the nails. It almost looks like watercolor bled onto the nails.
4. Neutral Croc Blooms
This blooming nail look is definitely made with a bit more intention. But, it’s arguably the easiest way to DIY blooming nails for beginners. You’ll create three rows of blooms (we suggest some nail striping brushes for smaller nail beds) for these crocodile print nails.
5. Emerald Silver
After you’ve created the blooms, go in with a metallic color to accent. It will help the manicure look more of a marble design.
6. Neon Summer Blooms
Have you seen a more perfect summer nail? We love that each nail is completely unique, resembling a neon tie dye shirt. If we can predict for a moment, we think these will be the TikTok nails of summer ‘23.
7. Multi Aura Blooms
Aura nails, as some call them, look exactly like a magical ombre piece of art. We love these aura’s on their own but we would love to see them as the background to a blooming effect too.
8. Tonal Blooming
This exact color might just be our next manicure. Luckily, we know the colors are Serena and Khaki from The Gel Bottle and we’re adding them to our wishlist. After applying clear blooming gel, paint your entire nail in the darker color. Lastly, add the lighter green and create outward gradients that end up resembling sort of a halo.
9. Smoky Marble Effect
Look closely and you’ll see light white blooms that appear as a dusting. If you’re more of a French manicure person but still want to try the trend this is the perfect look for you! Head to the nail salon for this look as it's delicate and can be difficult to master.
10. Edgy Army Snakeskin
A nail tip we swear by, sometimes simple is the way to go! Before you add a gel top coat, take a striping brush and ‘squiggle’ the black gel polish up your nail bed to create the individual blooms to achieve this snakeskin look.
Do you want to try out these trends and more at home? Take our Beauty Quiz now to get started with your own IPSY subscription. Already a member? Refer your friends to earn points, which you can use toward products. Either way, don’t forget to check us out on Instagram and TikTok @IPSY.
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