Pride Nail Ideas to Brighten up Your Day
It’s time to celebrate! Be proud of who you are. Never let them get you down!
Express yourself with these pride nail ideas to brighten up your day. Your manicure will turn heads everywhere you go.
Items Needed
Before you do anything else, neaten up those nails. You’ll need basic manicure supplies like these:
- Acetone and cotton pads to remove polish from the last manicure.
- Nail file and buffing block or nail drill for nail prep (see below).
- Clippers and cuticle pusher.
- Cuticle oil.
- Nail lamp.
- Nail tip extensions (if desired) and glue.
- Nail art accessories like brushes and rhinestone pickers.
You can save a lot of time doing manicures with a nail drill. However, it’s best to practice using it before a mission-critical mani. The best advice we can give you is to start slow, be gentle, and pay attention to the angle of the tip. It helps if you can get training from a tech or at least watch a few videos.
Lavis Nail Drill
This compact nail drill is powerful enough for the pros but straightforward enough for a beginner to master. It has variable speed control and runs up to 10 hours on a charge. The advantage here is the lightweight, ergonomic wand with little to no vibration. It’s easy to control and doesn’t cause fatigue.
Lavis UV/LED Nail Lamp
If you love doing gels, you need a lamp to cure them. It's smart to invest in a salon-quality UV light like this one. You can dry a whole hand in seconds. There are 4 timer settings with a countdown on the touchscreen. Plus, the motion sensor activates the light so you don't need to touch anything and smudge your nails while you're working.
Can You Use Nail Lacquer Instead of Gel?
Although we talk a lot about gel polish, you might prefer lacquer if you want to change up your nails more often. Nail lacquer air-dries so you don't need a lamp. Plus, it's fast to remove and often less expensive than gel polish. You can quickly build up a collection of rainbow colors even if you're on a budget!
Our lacquers offer up to 7 days of wear. They are also 9-free, with no harsh chemicals like toluene, formaldehyde, or phthalates.
Pride Nail Designs
Now it’s time to have fun! We’ve picked over a dozen nail ideas that you can do at home. At this rate, you could have a different Pride manicure each month of the year, not just in June.
Rainbows and All That Jazz
Paint each nail a single color. Now you have a rainbow and you could stop right there. Or you could make it sparkle! There are so many glitters to try, from trendy holographic to chunky, neon, and pastel.
Glitter Kits
LDS Dazzle Glitter
Neon Glitter
Pastel Glitter
Holographic Glitter
Fairy Tale Glitter
Confetti Glitter
They’re compatible with gel polish, dip powder, builder gels, and acrylics. The easiest way to use them is to apply top coat and sprinkle on the glitter before curing.
Rainbow Arches to Spice up a French Manicure
This is an exciting variation of an old classic. You'll need a nail brush or line art gel because you’ll be painting thin colored lines either on the white moon of the nail or at the tips. For a perfect curve, use nail tape or even ring binder reinforcement stickers.
(If you enjoy nail art, check out our 12-color set of line art gel with narrow brushes.)
Tie-dye or Water Marble Nails
If you can’t decide which colors to use and rainbows just seem passé, spice things up! Combine your favorites in a swirly tie-dye or water marble pattern.
Pride Flags
Which flag do you fly? There are so many to choose from like the trans blue, pink, and white, agender green, gray, black, and white, or genderqueer lavender, white, and green.
Hoist your colors with vertical stripes on your nails. You can keep it subtle with translucent jelly polish or go bold with glitter gels.
You Are Unique but Never Alone
Unicorns and individuality go hand-in-hand with pride. We’ve seen both unicorn stickers and hand-drawn unicorns on beautiful pride manicures.
Abstract Pride
Go with geometric designs, color blocks, or splashes and drips in colors from your favorite Pride flag. Spice it up even more with random bits of gold or silver foil.
Dance to Your Favorite Tune
Dance like nobody’s watching. Now’s the time to go all out with your favorite colors, sparkle, and charms. Your manicure doesn’t have to be Pride-themed at all.
Ombre Who You Are
Honor your identity with gorgeous matte ombré nails in rainbow shades or the colors of the pride flag that speaks for you. It’s easy to get the chic flat finish with a matte gel topcoat.
Animal Pride
Paw prints, leopard spots, and cute whiskered snouts can convey your love of animals as well as your joy in who you are. Make it even more stunning with cat’s eye polish.
We Are All Stars
Apply a transparent base coat or use a neutral color like white to make the colors on top pop. Then stamp stars across your nails.
Love Letters
Use your manicure to preach the message. Write “Love is love” one letter at a time across your digits. “Love Not Hate” also fits if you squish it. (There’s also simply “NOH8.”) Emphasize the message with rhinestone hearts.
Tale as Old as Time
Imitate rock art with primitive designs. Draw the story of how you met your lover. Sure, it’s stick art, but who cares when it’s so colorful!
Pride Is Hot, Shame Is Not
The sky’s the limit when it comes to how you decorate your nails. Paint rainbow flames or glam it up with sequins and neon heart stickers. Follow a trend or start your own. What matters is being true to yourself.
Conclusion
Pride is the perfect excuse to treat yourself to a fabulous manicure. Show the world what acceptance really means and create the design of your dreams!
