4 Great looks for easy at-home nail art

No nail tech? No problems

We love the dreamy nail art designs created by natural nail guru, Seika of Line Spa and Polish. She created a gorgeous collection of designs for us last year and they’re still getting plenty of love. So you can imagine how thrilled we are that she has created some super-chic designs for us once more with some favourite Sienna colours. The best part? These designs are so easy to achieve and you probably already have everything you need at home. If you have ever wanted to nail the perfect French mani or that dreamy ombre look that’s doing the rounds, this one is for you. Alright! Let’s get those nails looking fresh!

Nail prep is everything

Get everything you need close to hand before you start, just as if you were giving yourself a straight-up mani. (You can read our tried and tested DIY manicure tips on our website).  As ever, for all these designs we recommend starting with a protective base coat to give you a smooth surface to paint on and finishing with a top coat for glossy goodness at the finish line and to keep all your gorgeous nail art locked in. One final tip: We know this sounds obvious, but the key to all these designs is to make sure each layer dries before you apply the next. Now on to the designs!

Perfect french

Base coat | Winter | Top coat

It’s a classic for a reason.

You know those pesky little stickers on apples, oranges, avos, and almost every other piece of fruit? We’re about to make good use of them in the most surprising way in an eco-friendly beauty flex that would make MacGyver proud.

• Gather your fruit stickers and cut five of them in half so you have 10 stickers. Check to make sure they all have the same curved line.
• Get your nails ready. Remove any old polish, file them to clean up the shape (if you need to) and apply base coat.
• If you’re going all-out, apply a soft, sheer French pink over your entire nail and allow to fully dry.
• Place a fruit sticker on your nail where you would like the white French line to be. Press it down firmly and make sure there are no gaps where polish can seep through.
• Take a bright white polish and apply a small amount along the edge at the tip of your nail.
• Using the curve of the fruit sticker to guide you, paint a small amount of polish in downwards strokes towards the edge of the label to create the white stripe. Start at the sides and do two thin coats.
• Allow to dry for a minimum of 30 seconds before gently peeling the labels off. Hot tip! Peel the label off from the sides.
• Finish with top coat.

Voila! You have achieved a perfect French mani in minutes. A bright red, black or pastel colour would also look great if you fancy giving the classic French mani a unique twist to make the look yours.

Split french

Base coat | Sunflower (thumb) | Tango (index) | Sweetheart (middle) | Heart   (ring) | Kiss  (pinkie) | Top coat

Get on board Team French manicure, 2020 style. Seika has used our Summer Love collection here to keep the colours in the same range. All the heart eyes.

• Prep your nails. File them, make sure they’re clean and apply  base coat.
• We’re using fruit stickers again to help create a perfect straight line. Cut them in half so you have enough for each nail.
• Place a fruit sticker on your nail where you would like the split French line to be. Press it down firmly and make sure there are no gaps where polish can seep through.
• Using downward brush strokes, fill in the colour for each nail. As ever, the best results will come from two thin coats.
• Let your polish dry for at least 30 seconds before peeling off the fruit label stickers. Start from the side and gently peel them off.
• Apply Top Coat.

Yes, it’s really that easy. This is a mani with so many possibilities. Embrace the rainbow or keep it monochromatic.

Dreamy ombré

Base Coat | Rosie | Sweetheart | Top Coat

The wow-factor is high. We won’t tell anyone how easy it is if you don’t. If you’ve got a clean eye-shadow applicator handy, you will be rocking this dreamy ombre in no time.

• Prep your nails. Remove any old polish, file them to clean up the shape (if you need to) and apply base coat.
• Dab a small amount of Rosie and Sweetheart on to a palette (plate, Tupperware lid, or similar), keeping your colours separate. Start with a small amount of polish so it doesn’t dry out.
• Use your eyeshadow applicator and start tapping small amounts of Rosie on to your nail. Start from the tip of your nail and lightly tap the neutral base colour on to your nail and gradually make your way down towards the cuticle area. Always start from the edges.
• It’s time to add a brighter colour to give your mani some depth. Use another applicator to tap Sweetheart on in the top half of your nail.
• Finish with top coat.

Swoon. Your nails look amazing and oh-so-grammable.

Pastel camo

Base Coat | Reverie | Melody | Wish | Whisper | Top Coat

Just yes. We are so into this. Seika took our coveted Poetry collection and love of pastel ombres to the next level with this modern but pretty look. Let’s get it!

• As always, prep your nails. Remove any old polish, file them to clean up the shape and apply base coat.
• Paint your nails with the base colours. Reverie (pinkie), Wish (middle finger and thumb).
• The camo feature nails will be on your pointer and ring fingers. Paint these nails with the base coat of Melody. Don’t worry about streaking. This coat is for coverage, not neatness.
• The first colour for the camo design is Reverie. Paint approximately three wiggly lines over your nails. Imagine you are painting teeny tiny clouds. The more organic in form the better, so vary the sizes. Leave to dry for a minimum of 30 seconds.
• Paint over your entire nail (including your mini ‘clouds’) in Whisper. Sheer white also works if that’s what you have to hand.
• Use Wish to fill in some of the empty space with more camo pattern shapes.
• For the finishing touch, apply Melody in tiny camo shapes around the nail to highlight the look.
• Apply Top Coat.
• Your nails look wildly stylish! You clever thing, you.

Thank you so much for sharing your skills and creativity with us, Seika. Follow Line Spa and Polish over on the ‘gram for the news and inspiration you know you need.

Line Spa and Polish and sustainable beauty

Line Spa and Polish is a beauty biz after our own luxe, eco-loving hearts. They are a 100% vegan, sustainable nail service and stock only the highest quality products that adhere to their philosophy: ‘wellness and environment should not be compromised for beauty’. We are, of course, thrilled they use Sienna! Alongside a no cruelty, no toxins approach to the products Line Spa and Polish use, the salon has been 90% plastic-free since they opened, and are constantly innovating to further minimise their impact. Did we mention that their founder, Seika, is a next-level nail tech?