10 Pearl-Adorned Nail Ideas To Bring Timeless Glamour Your Everyday Mani
It's safe to say nail art is here to stay, and there's a new trend making its way into the nail world. Pearls! The idea of sticking fun things to our nails has been around for a while now (from rhinestones, to bows, to hearts, pretty much nothing has been off limits) but we're now turning our attention to the world of the classic, chic shiny ball. Of course, pearls have been around for centuries and have had a number of different meanings attached to them over the years. They've traditionally symbolized wisdom and calmness in some circles and have also been believed to bring luck and wealth to the person wearing them. But real pearls can be pretty pricey, which may make them hard to get hold of.
That's where the pearl manicure comes into play, as the process involves placing faux pearls on the nails for a gorgeous and glamorous 3D nail art effect — and for a fraction of the price you'd pay for pearl jewelry! Pearls have a reputation for being delicate and glamorous, which makes them the ideal choice for a manicure — and we're showing off some of our very favorite nail art designs to get you inspired.
Take it to the ocean with your nails
Looking for a fun pearl-inspired nail art look for vacation? Then look no further. This gorgeous sea-inspired manicure is giving us total mermaid vibes. Of course, we don't have to tell you that pearls come from oysters found in the ocean, so it only feels natural to give a nod to their origin. This nail technician opted for a different cluster of pearls on each nail, bringing a pop of color with the bright turquoise on top of the nude pink bottom coat. The bottom shade almost perfectly blends with the client's skin tone to let the color and accessories do all the talking.
This idea can be adapted to incorporate any nail polish color you want, though. If you're still looking to bring an ocean theme into things while keeping that glam element, you could try a blue glitter on the ends. If you wanted to feed more into the pearl theme, why not go for a pearlescent powder or nail lacquer that mirrors the shimmer of the accessory?
Keep it simple
If simply adding pearls to your manicure is enough of an upgrade to your everyday look, then keep things more understated and go with a sleek, chic, and sophisticated design like this one. This idea keeps things simple with a French manicure as the base, with several different size pearls placed over the top in a seemingly random order. Keeping the colors used in your manicure more muted and neutral like this will stop you from feeling like you've gone too over the top with your nail accessories if that's not something you're drawn to. And, extra bonus, using neutral shades means your mani will go with literally anything.
If you'd prefer not to have the tips of your nails on show and instead want a completely blank canvas to showcase your pearls, you may want to try the milk nails trend underneath your pearls. This could also be your way to incorporate two significant nail trends into one look. Going for a subtle baby pink or a nude shade that matches your skin tone will make things more modest and straightforward.
Go back to black
Just because you're incorporating pearls into your manicure doesn't necessarily mean you have to keep things uber-feminine and light to still bring a little glamour to your hands. This person proved that pearls really do go with anything, including black nail polish, by adding the accessory to a gorgeous black-and-white look, complete with some delicate, dark nail art. This nail tech changed the design slightly on each finger and incorporated a different number of pearls depending on the style.
If you want to keep things a little simpler and more uniform, you may want to copy the single pearl above the black tips this nail art fan showed off on their thumb and pinkie. This design will also work on slightly shorter nails if you do not like the super long look we see so many celebs rock right now. If you're not afraid to go a little bolder and longer with your mani, though, you could add more pearls like the middle finger or more swirls to show off your skills.
Pinking of you
Who said you had to stick to white pearls? Not us! We love how this manicure goes extra bold when it comes to a long, French manicure, perfectly matching the shades with some adorable baby pink pearl accessories. Keeping the pearls predominantly on the tips of the nails helps them stand out, but this proves you don't only have to stick to one decoration. They also added pink bows to two nails on each hand, while the middle fingers both feature an adorable heart made of smaller light pink pearls. Okay, okay. We know this won't be a practical everyday look for everyone, but if you're feeling a little adventurous, then why the heck not?
If you're looking to recreate this look or any on our list for that matter, we'd recommend looking for flat-back pearls to stick on your manicure, as they're more likely to stay in place no matter what you're doing. If you plan to stick them on with glue, make sure you only use products specifically designed for the nails to prevent infections or, if you're putting them straight on your own nail, damaging your natural nail or nail beds.
Paint your pearls
Don't think you have to keep your nail pearls the color you bought them, because this nail art design proves they look just as chic a little more blended with your manicure. This stunning look showed the nail technician putting multiple different-sized pearls on each nail, then blending them all together by painting over the top and adding a red splatter effect. Depending on what you're looking for from your manicure, you could do each finger matching for your pearl pattern, or you could keep it just like this one and try multiple different placements on each hand.
We love the light pink color with a gorgeous shimmer effect that this gel look is made of, but the idea is open for interpretation. Because you're painting over the pearls, your ideas don't have to be confined to a smaller range of colored pearls. When it comes to shades, the world is your oyster!
Use pearls for some delicate nail art line work
Keep things delicate on your nails by using smaller pearls as line work. For this manicure, the nail technician created four different looks, including pearls. On the ring finger, the tip is completely filled in with different-sized pearls, while on the middle finger, they opted for small pearls in a line to frame the tip and the edge of the nail. For the pinkie finger, they went the opposite way to create a circle around the main part of the nail. You may need a little more time to recreate this look (and a whole heap of patience, too!), but if you're willing to put in the effort, the results are absolutely stunning.
If you feel like getting each pearl in place individually may be a little too tedious, you may want to look into getting pearl nail stickers already set in a line rather than individual ones to glue on to save some time (and probably a whole lot of effort). Any of these designs would look gorgeous on all five nails, so it's entirely up to you if you want to rock just one look on each finger or five different designs. Remember that you'll probably have to rock longer nails to incorporate all the pearls.
Go uniform
How's this for a glamorous twist on pearl nails? This person put each pearl in a specific place on top of a black base coat to create this gorgeous effect on each nail. The dark background really makes the pearls pop, and we love the extra, super cool twist of keeping the lunula (that's the small circle under your nail next to the cuticle) totally bare. But that doesn't mean you have to go dark underneath, as you could rock any color under these pearls as long as you keep them uniform on the nail to create the same effect. If you're really feeling the black, though, we've got some inspo on how to rock that look, too!
If you're trying this look at home, you may want to seek out strips of pearl stickers in order to keep the embellishments as in line as possible. Failing that, we'd recommend getting your stickers or glued pearls in place using tweezers so that you can be precise and ensure one hand is absolutely dry before moving on to the next one. That way, you'll avoid any movement or smudging that might ruin all your hard work.
A (pearl) drop in the ocean
Pearl embellishments don't necessarily have to look exactly like conventional shiny white pearls to bring timeless glamour to your manicure. In fact, they can even look more like raindrops! How stunning are these water droplet-esque pearl stickers on these acrylic nails, which have been layered over a super glossy white nail polish?
Just like many of the other nail art looks in this list, the nail technician has opted for different designs on each finger, all of which share a similar theme. The thumb, index, and middle fingers all feature pearls in what appears to be a random order, with the latter incorporating different-sized embellishments to give a mesmerizing raindrop effect. For the left-hand ring finger, they put a twist on the theme and went extra chic by placing two rows of tiny, more traditional-looking white pearls across the nail's width with a larger pearl in the center.
Chain it up
One of our favorite things about pearls as nail art is that they can be mixed with other embellishments and still look just as chic and glamorous as they do on their own. In this case, the nail technician put pearls with thin lines of gold chain. To prevent this look from being too over the top, they resigned the gold to three fingers on each hand and also kept the background basic by using a light pink shade to let the additions to all the talking.
This look works better on long, pointed nails to fit the gold chain and pearls, but it's up to you how many of each you add onto each nail. If you're feeling extra bold, why not go for pearls and chains on every nail? If you want to be a little more understated (or, at least, as understated as you can be with chains and pearls on your nails), then you could make use of an accent nail on each hand to show off your (or your nail technician's) handiwork.
Change up your pearl shape
Not all natural pearls are perfectly symmetrical, so why should your manicure pearls be? This fun yet simple look makes use of different colored and differently shaped pearls to put a fun twist on the manicure concept. In this particular case, the nail art fan opted for pink and yellow oval-shaped pearls in order to celebrate Easter — but it most certainly doesn't have to be a special occasion for you to change up your everyday mani like this.
This person opted for a white base coat to keep things simple and a little more understated and opted to go for larger pearls which almost take up the whole of the nail. By putting only one embellishment on the end of each fingernail, not only will you save yourself some time but still get the same chic effect without the tedium that can come with arranging smaller pearls into specific places.