Hopeless romantics rejoice!
If you ask us, it’s never too soon to start sourcing inspiration for your next mani. And with New Year’s Eve behind us and the countdown to Love Day officially underway, it’s time to start planning your Valentine’s Day manicures.
This sweetheart season we’ve got our eye on a couple of loved-up nail looks that merge manicure trends of the moment with classic Valentine’s Day hues of flirty pink, romantic red, and soft lavender shades. Swoon!
From velvet-textured and heart-shaped nail designs to flashy chrome tips, we present five Valentine’s Day manicures you’re bound to fall head over heels for. Plus, the products you’ll need to recreate them at home.
Scroll away to your heart’s content.
Try a pink velvet manicure
Velvet nails ooze luxury, and once you catch a glimpse of their shimmering allure, it’s hard to look away. This heart-shaped, candy-pink manicure puts a Valentine’s Day spin on the velvet texture trend that is 100 percent worth recreating ahead of the big day on February 14th.
The trick that makes these multi-dimensional nails so attractive (literally!) is using a magnet over magnetic nail polish to create that textured illusion. Taking the look one step further, nail artist Aiste Haas uses a twisted paperclip attached to a magnet to create heart shapes on the sides of each nail. Ooh la la!
OPI’s “La Paz-itively Hot” polish is bursting with microscopic flecks of glitter that’ll channel velvet vibes without the need for a magnet. What’s more, this Long-Wear Lacquer allows for up to 11 days of gel-like wear with a high gloss finish.
Crunched for time? Play with press-ons! These velvet-textured, sugar pink-shaded nails by Kiss in the “West Coast” design are exactly what this look calls for.
Wear heart-shaped French tips
Why wear your heart on your sleeve this V-Day when you can wear them on your fingertips? We adore the way this ombré manicure reimagines French tips and stays true to the lovey-dovey colour codes of the season.
Taking your French tip up three-quarters of the nail, create two rounded half-circle shapes at the top of your design to form the “heart” shape. For the ombré effect, opt for a different polish on each nail that ranges from lightest to darkest within the same colour family. If you can’t decide between wearing soft pink, flirty fuchsia or deep magenta polish, why not wear them all at once?
For the lightest shade in this nail look, seek out a pastel shade of pink. With its subtle yet sweet appeal, Sally Hansen’s “Tickled Pink” polish will surely do the trick.
For your darkest polish, try Essie’s “Bahama Mama.” Somewhere between purple and magenta, this glossy shade will make the perfect finishing touch on your pinky nail.
Paint a red jelly set
You can always rely on a romantic red manicure to set the Valentine’s Day mood — but this year, it may be time to try a new way to wear this on-trend colour. Our suggestion? A jelly-textured set of rouge tips.
You can shop an already-made jelly-textured polish if you like, or you can get experimental by mixing a standard red polish and a clear top coat — which are great products to keep in your nail polish stash for other looks, too — to make a DIY jelly concoction. All you’ll need to do is mix a drop of your top coat in with a few drops of your red polish, and there you have it!
A highly pigmented, eye-catching shade of rouge is essential for a DIY red jelly polish. Essie Expressie’s “Seize the Minute” is just what you’ll need. And it’s as easy on the wallet as it is on the eyes.
To give your red polish more of a translucent finish, reach for a clear-coloured top coat like this one by OPI. It’ll also help lock in your lacquer with a protective coating so it won’t chip.
Opt for micro hearts
Cliché as they may be, hearts will forever be on trend come Valetine’s Day. This year, try a manicure that features micro-sized hearts around the perimeter of your nails for a dainty look.
With their scaled-down size and scattered placement, these mini hearts remind us of handwritten love notes speckled with cutesy doodles you may have once drawn for a crush (or hoped to receive). Adoreable!
Pick up this sheet of mini nail stickers to avoid the hassle of hand drawing your micro hearts yourself. Love notes, roses, pink hearts, red hearts, it’s all here.
Do lavender chrome
Pinks and reds make up classic Valentine’s Day colour palettes — but purple is not to be overlooked! Case in point: the shimmery lavender manicure above.
Though we’ve just entered 2024, the chrome craze seems to be showing no signs of slowing down just yet. When paired with a pastel purple polish, this trendy lacquer topper gives off an iridescent hue that’ll have your V-Day date totally mesmerized.
Eliminating the need to purchase a lavender polish and a chrome powder separately, this “Violet Voltage” polish by Essence is a two-in-one steal. Plus, it’s under five dollars!
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