Trending Nail Art 2020

Top 5 Nail Art Trends in Early 2020 

     OK, so I know we are only a couple months into 2020 but there will be many nail trends this year so it's easiest to break it down into sections. This is not a prediction of what the trends will be, but a list of nails trending in the past couple of months.  I'm going to be watching closely all year, as we go from the nudes of January to full on Christmas designs in December and everything in between.  I follow hundreds of nail techs on social media so it will be easy for me to keep track of what designs are appearing frequently.  I'm excited to see what designs will reappear in 2020, and if there will be any completely new nail trends that are going to blow up my feed. 

What makes a Nail Art Trend?

     It's difficult to say how a trend is born, The fashion world used to be the trendsetter for the nail industry, but not anymore. In a world dominated by photo sharing platforms, one influential nail artist can easily start a trend with a single set of nails.  This is especially true if the design is simple enough for others to recreate.  Magazines will often try to predict the upcoming trends; this is more of a planted trend than a natural one.  Usually a planted trend will take a bit longer to get off the ground (if it even takes off at all) but a naturally occurring trend will gain momentum quickly and be blowing up the news feeds of nail techs everywhere!

Up, up and away with cloud nails

      I saw this trend predicted in a beauty magazine.  "Cloud nail art would be a must have for January."  When it was time to replace my black sparkly new year's design, I did so with ND19 Nude Sunday and had a go at painting some wispy clouds.  It was easy enough and only required a white paint and a small dotting tool.  This trend has had a slow start, but I have been seeing it creep its way in.  Once I completed my manicure, I was in love!  Such a fresh design to start off the year. 

The simplicity of this design is a welcome sight after having some outlandish designs throughout Christmas. 

 Nails in the Spotlight

     Carina Williamson (House of Nails) had a similar request for Januarys trendiest design. 

 Firstly painted the background colour and cured, I then apply a matte top coat whenever I paint any design on the nails as it stops the gel from bleeding out. I used a 9mm striper brush to paint the clouds, and cured once I was happy with the placement on each nail. I used gem glue to set the crystals and top coated with high shine top coat

💃💪

 Get your abstract on

      February didn't really follow the usual red and pink valentine's nail design trend.  Instead we saw a lot of bright colors in abstract patterns and multi colored marbles and glitter. There's always glitter ;)  I really love the abstract look because you don't need any kind of instruction to create an eye catching design. 

 House of Nails, Gills Nails on Wheels and The Nail Boutique all created different abstract designs for their clients.

Nails in the Spotlight

Hannah McCann (Hannah McCann Nails) used gel polish over acrylic nails to create this beautiful marble pattern with little accents of gold foil. 

 " I added different colors to the top of the nail and using a striping brush, ran through the colors to give them a swirly/marble effect." 

When Hannah was happy, it was cured to set the design in place. Then a small amount of gold foil was added before the final Top Coat.  You could add glitter, striping tape, chrome powder, gems... Let your imagination run wild with this one! 

 All about the animal print

     Coming into march, my nail news-feed has blown up with leopard print madness! Anything goes for leopard print.  I've seen neon, glitter, cats eye, black and white and of course classic itself.  Leopard print is so versatile; you can literally use any color combination you like and it will look amazing! It also goes great with any other animal print. You could have lions and tigers and bears... oh my... ;)

The Nail Boutique, Salon Le Dore, Pink Diamond Nails and House of Nails each used Leopard Print in a different way.  Leaving their artistic mark on their clients.

Nails in the Spotlight

     Jenne Mc Heath Beattie (The Royal Nail & Skin Salon) made this collage to compliment her pink and grey leopard print design and promote her work.

 Selected for this set was a beautiful grey and a soft pink. I used a drop of black to put the finish on the leopard prints.

I applied the base colours, cured.

Then added in the "splotches" for the leopard print and cured.

I then went in with the black and drew the outline around each "splotch".

The "splotch" should not be completely surrounded by the black outline, but instead, you can play around, perhaps drawing a black outline three quarters of the way around, or on either side or even on one side of the "splotch". Change it up.

We finished off with a matte topcoat.

GO WILD!

Slow and Steady 

    Another trend making its way in this season is the Tortoise shell nails.  I wasn't sure about this look at first, but the more I see it, the more I like it.  I haven't created it myself yet, but Sam at  From Tips to Toes | Nails by Sam has mastered it!

Its all about building the layers, to make sure you get the depth! And mixing gels together to get that perfect glass effect ;) 

     I am loving all of the current trends and I can't wait to see what the year brings! Have you had any of these trends in your nails? We would love to see whatever it is you're wearing! Tag us @gelnailsuk to be featured on our Instagram!