Summer nails
Summer here is nine months long, so these are not a seasonal gimmick. Bright colour, water, fruit and flowers, on short nails that survive a beach trip and long ones that do not have to.
Design ideas: these are generated references for a style. None of them shows a KuQueen session, and we do not publish a client’s nails without asking her first.
A bright colour reads differently on brown skin than the swatch suggests, and this is where most inspiration pages let you down. Coral, lime and tangerine sit warm and glow on morena skin. The cooler brights, turquoise and sky blue, lift a kayumanggi hand and can look chalky on a very light one. Every set below is shown on a Filipina hand.
Painted art costs more time than colour does, so say which you want. A hibiscus or a wave is drawn by hand, nail by nail, and one accent finger is the usual answer rather than ten. The watermelon set is the exception people still ask for on all ten.
Short nails and a bright colour are a good pair for the months you are actually swimming. Gel holds up in salt water and chlorine; what kills a set is picking at a lifted edge, which is easier to do on a long nail than a short one.
24 summer nail sets
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Coral
Medium almond nails in a bright coral orange, on warm brown skin.
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Turquoise
Short squoval nails in a bright turquoise, on kayumanggi skin against a light grey background.
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Watermelon
Medium almond nails painted as watermelon slices, pink with a white line, a green tip and black seeds, on warm brown skin.
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Sunshine yellow
Short round nails in a bright sunshine yellow, on tan skin.
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Blue waves
Short square nails in opaque white, each with a blue wave hand-painted across it, on kayumanggi skin against a light grey background.
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Lime green
Short almond nails in a bright lime green, on morena skin against a light grey background.
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Jelly tangerine
Long almond nails in a translucent jelly tangerine that the nail shows through, on medium brown skin.
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Sky blue French
Short square nails with a sheer base and a sky blue French tip, on light mestiza skin against a light grey background.
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Tropical flowers
Long almond nails in milky white with a pink and an orange hibiscus hand-painted on two accent nails, on warm brown skin.
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Neon pink
Long coffin nails in a vivid neon pink, on kayumanggi skin against a light grey background.
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Sherbet ombre
Short squoval nails fading from soft orange at the cuticle to pale yellow at the tip, on tan skin.
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Daisies
Short round nails in a soft aqua, each with one white daisy and a yellow centre, on warm tan skin against a light grey background.
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Lemon slices
Medium squoval nails with a sheer nude base and small painted lemon slices with green leaves on morena skin, hand holding a halved lemon.
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Citrus slices
Short round nails with a sheer nude base and a different painted citrus slice on each nail in orange, lime, pink grapefruit and lemon, on warm tan skin beside a plate of sliced oranges and limes.
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Seashell and pearl
Medium oval nails in pearly white shimmer with a raised white seashell charm and a tiny pearl on one accent nail, on light tan skin resting on beach sand.
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Ocean blue marble
Medium coffin nails with turquoise, ocean blue and white marble swirls like sea water on morena skin, resting on white linen by a window.
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Mango ombre
Medium oval nails with a yellow to bright orange mango ombre on deep brown kayumanggi skin, hand holding a whole lemon over rattan.
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Palm leaf accent
Short squoval nails in milky nude with one green painted palm leaf on the thumb nail, on warm tan skin under palm frond shadows on linen.
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Pastel rainbow tips
Medium almond nails with a nude base and thin pastel French tips in lilac, mint, butter yellow, baby blue and peach, on morena skin over white marble.
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Strawberry
Short squoval nails with a soft pink base and small painted red strawberries with green tops on warm tan skin, hand holding a fresh strawberry.
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Hibiscus flower
Medium oval nails mixing glossy red nails with nude pink accent nails painted with red hibiscus flowers, on deep brown kayumanggi skin beside a real red hibiscus on white linen.
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Sunset orange chrome
Long coffin nails in mirror-like sunset orange chrome with gold reflections on morena skin, resting on a wooden table in golden afternoon light.
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Mint green
Short round nails in fresh pastel mint green on light mestiza skin, hand resting on a rattan table beside a glass of iced water with lime.
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Sand and sea glitter
Medium squoval nails with a sandy beige base fading into aqua glitter tips, with the index and thumb nails in full aqua glitter, on warm tan skin resting on beach sand beside sea glass.
More nail ideas
Or look through every design in one gallery, filtered by shape, length and colour.
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