The pastel trend is here to stay! It’s been the talk of the town for a while now, and it won’t go away anytime soon. The best thing about this trend is that it can be adapted in so many ways: you can wear pastels in your hair, clothes, makeup, accessories – you get the point!

However, we decided to focus on one particular aspect of this trend: pastel color for nails. We’re here to show you different designs that are inspired by pastel colors and nail art trends, from pastel acrylic nails to simple pastel tip nails. The best thing about these nail art ideas is that they’re easy to recreate with just a few tools and products. So, let’s get started!

Pastel Nail Designs

When you love pastel colors, but want to take things up a notch, it’s time to try some pastel nail designs. Rather than a simple, plain nail look, you can jazz things up with a mix of colors and patterns to give your nails that extra look we all know and love. These designs are easy to do at home with just a few tools and products.

Some ideas to try on your next set of pastel nails:

• Pastel flowers
• Abstract pastel patterns and shapes
• Rainbow pastel french tip nails
• Pastel polka dots
• Checked pastel patterns
• Ombre nails

Pastel Nail Colors

Pastel nail colors are a trendy look, and it’s one that’s easy to pull off. Pastels can be very subtle if you want them to be, but they can also completely change the feel of your nails. If you’re feeling bold, try out a pastel on all of your nails for an eye-catching pop of color. If you’re more conservative with your style choices, keep things simple by just doing one or two accent nails in a pastel shade.

Check out the chart below for a breakdown on the most popular pastel nails colors seen on manis today.

Top Pastel Nail Colors	Swatch	Description
Lavender	PIN	Delicate tint of purple-pink that is the result of purple mixed with white.
Baby Pink	PIN	Baby pink is a very light red color tinted with white that is typically associated with love and romance.
Powder Blue	PIN	Powder blue is a pale, silvery-looking shade of blue.
Peach	PIN	The color peach was named after the fruit, whose exterior is a blend of orange, white, and yellow.
Butter Yellow	PIN	Butter yellow is a pale color that falls between white and the original orange-yellow.
Pastel Green	PIN	Pastel green is a pale, delicate shade of green that gets its cool tone from the combination of blue, yellow, and white pigments.

Pastel Nails Video Tutorial

Learn how to do pastel nails yourself with this simple step by step tutorial.

Pastel Yellow Nails

Yellow is a warm color that’s associated with happiness and optimism. It’s also one of the easiest colors to wear in spring, since it doesn’t clash with other shades of pink or purple. Yellow is happy, bright and bold – and it can be an attention-grabbing pop of color on your nails! Especially on a set of dramatic, elegant ballerina nails.

Pastel Green Nails

If you’re looking for a way to add some fun color to your style, try these pastel green nails. Pastel green is a great color any time of year, but it’s especially popular in spring and summer when the weather is warmer. Try pairing your pastel green nails with an equally colorful outfit for maximum impact, or get on trend with a Y2K-inspired pastel nail ideas like these.

Pastel Purple Nails

Pastel purple is a great color for spring and summer. It’s also the perfect base for nail art like these cute flowers, or it can be used to create a French-tip look. We love this pastel purple nail look on almond-shaped nails like these, but if you have tapered square nails or other nails that are wider at the top, it will look good, too.

Pastel Blue Nails

Pastel blue nails are a great way to add a little color to your look without being too flashy. Opt for pastel blue as an accent nail if you have and want to try something different. Remember: it’s all about balance! Abstract nail designs are also perfect for this blue pastel nails look because they balance out the rest of the polished appearance with some unexpected flair and fun.

Pastel Pink Nails

Who doesn’t love pink? It’s feminine, girly, and makes you feel good every time you look at your nails. Pastel pink is the way to go if you’re looking for something softer than a rich red or deep purple. Try it on short nails like these or long ones too.

We especially love the way these pastel pink ombre nails look. It makes for a subtle but tasteful nail look for acrylic ombre nails.

Pastel Orange Nails

Who doesn’t want an orange creamsicle inspired look right on their nails?! These pastel orange nails are perfect for showing off your fun side. The almond shape of these nails is practical and cute, allowing you to play around with different nail styles while maintaining a natural appearance.

Pastel Rainbow Nails

Looking for a peek of rainbow fun on your pastel nails? Check out this set! It features something almost reminiscent of a French tip design with some adorable tiny clouds on the accent nail. The almond shape of these acrylic nails is practical and cute, giving you more surface area to work with while maintaining a natural appearance.

Pastel Easter Nail Designs

Pastel easter nail designs are fun and seasonal. They’re the perfect way to celebrate Easter and look great in photos too! We love these speckled nails, which resemble Robin’s Egg – or those delicious little chocolate eggs.

How to get robin’s egg speckled Easter nails like these:

1. Paint on a base coat to protect your nails and help your nail look last.
2. Apply a candy colored polish, either one color or an array of pastel nail colors. Make sure your polish is opaque, which can take more than one coat. Let polish dry before moving on to the next step.
3. Grab a deep gray polish (we love Suzi Talks with Her Hands), and a charcoal colored one (try OPI’s Rub-a-Pub-Pub). Pour a small amount of each out onto separate surfaces, like a piece of foil or plastic.
4. Grab two small nail fan brushes, or a kit that includes a variety of nail brushes. Place a small amount of the grey polish on the end of your fan brush and lightly dab it across the entire nail in a random pattern, keeping the brush perpendicular to the nail. You can also gently flick the polish towards your nail, but keep in mind this can make a bit of mess, and will require you to clean up the edges of your nail with nail polish remover.
5. Repeat with the darker grey polish. Let both colors dry.
6. Apply a clear top coat, and let dry.

Pastel French Tip Nails

Pastel French tip nails are classy and timeless. They can be a little tricky to do at home if you’ve never done nail art before, but it’s worth it! This take on the trend is modern and tasteful. The cheery pastels make this look feel like spring in your fingertips.

Summer Pastel Nails

Are you jelly of this look? Don’t be – you can get your own set just by asking your manicurist for some jelly pastel summer nails. These are called jelly nails because they are made with using a mix of clear, glossy polish and a few drops of color that make them transparent rather than opaque like regular nail polish. They usually have a glossy look on top of that, which makes them look extra shiny and jelly-like.

Pastel Spring Nails

These pastel color nails are a blast from the past, complete with flower-power-inspired designs perfect for complementing the 1970s trends cropping back up lately. Spring is all about the flowers, so it’s only natural that you’d want to have some on your nails. These spring pastel nails are perfect for getting in touch with your feminine side while still looking cool and on-trend.

Our tips for getting funky pastel spring nails like these:

• Invest in dotting toolkits with different sized tools to help get flower designs like the ones in this mani
• Use stencils to get a clean French tip edge and avoid bleeding over
• A nail brush kit with multiple sizes of brushes can help get the groovy stripes of differing sizes
• When you’re creating striped or multi-colored, layered polish looks, start with the lightest color first so you can more easily layer darker colors on top

Pastel Tip Nails

You’re going to love the pastel tips on these nails. We love the small, delicate pearls used in this look and the pastel tips that feature a rainbow of colors. It suits long almond-shaped nails like these perfectly!

Rainbow Pastel French Tip Nails

This look is the perfect example of getting a trendy look on short nails. The simplicity of French tips is perfect for pairing with a rainbow of colors like this and is great when you can’t decide on just one shade of pastel nail polish. The rainbow French tips are the perfect way to show off your love of color while still looking polished. This look is great on short nails and suits any length or shape.

Pastel Coffin Nails

Pastel coffin nails are a great way to add drama and color to your look. You can do this with various colors or just one, but it’s always fun to see how creative you can get with this nail art trend. Coffin pastel nails are a dramatic take on a typically more cute nail look.

Here’s how to get an angular, French-tip inspired set of pastel coffin nails:

1. Shape your natural nail into a coffin shape by filing your nails into a sharp point and flattening out the top, or applying acrylic nails, or use and apply ready-to-paint press on nails.
2. Apply a base coat to give your nails some more longevity
3. Using a skinny, fine nail brush, dip into your first polish color, and trace the outline of a ‘V’ shape onto your nails. Fill in using a wider brush or your nail polish’s own brush, depending on your comfort level.
4. Work through each nail and color one at a time, applying enough coats to ensure it is opaque.
5. Once each nail has been painted, and is fully dried, apply a glossy top coat to seal in your hard work.

Pastel Butterfly Nails

This pastel butterfly nails look is a fun way to add color and a feminine edge to your nails. We love that these butterflies appear suspended in the transparent accent nail, which gives it an even more delicate feel. The pastel purple is pretty and delicate while still vibrant enough to catch the eye, and has been sported by celebs like Kylie Jenner and Demi Lovato.

Pastel Flower Nails

These pastel flower nails are a great way to add color to your spring look. They’re simple, but they look great. Just remember: the base colors should be completely dry before you start adding designs on top – otherwise, they can become a smudgy mess. Additionally, a dotting tool (or even the flat end of a orange stick) work great for making small, simple flower designs like these.

Pastel Coral Nails

Pastel coral nails are a great choice if you’re looking for the perfect nail color to complement your summer wardrobe. Whether you’re wearing a vibrant dress or an all-white ensemble, this hue will surely add a bit of flair that will take your look from basic to chic in seconds. And the multiple shades of coral and white on the accent nail remind us of a swirly ice cream cone on a hot summer day.

Long Pastel Nails

Long pastel nails are a new trend that combines the length of your natural nails with the color of your choice. Acrylics and gel polish are both great options for achieving this look. You can get acrylics on your natural nail or press-on nails, depending on your preference or what your lifestyle is like.

Pastel Brown Nails

Pastel brown is all about the beige and cream shades, with shades of deeper soft brown thrown in for good measure. The square shape of these nails complements the retro, groovy pattern on them perfectly!

We love how this nail look was achieved by layering different hues of brown over each other – it’s almost like there are two sets of nails here. This technique creates an overall effect that’s chic yet still unpretentious.

How to Pastel Fade Nails

Who doesn’t want to get a cool faded ombre nails look? Consider pastel ombre nails if you’re looking for a quick, easy DIY nail look that will turn heads. This style is perfect if you want to give yourself a little break from the usual solid color polish.

Here’s what you’ll need to get some pastel fade nails:

• Two or more shades of pastel nail polish, ideally in multiple shades of the same color
• One basecoat color, either clear or a shade even lighter than the lightest polish color, such as white
• A clear top coat
• Small, dense nail brush
• Nail polish remover
• Cotton swabs

Now that you have your items assembled, let’s get to making some pretty pastel ombre nails:

1. Paint on your basecoat shade. Let it dry.
2. Starting from the mid-point on your nail, paint upwards towards the tip of your nail with the lightest shade of your polish. Don’t worry about applying it in an even line.
3. While the polish is still wet, blend the edge of the first polish by tapping the wet polish with the brush until a blurred, faded look is achieved.
4. Repeat this process with the second shade, starting further up the nail this time, and ensuring the first layer has dried before moving on to the next shade.
5. Once each shade has been applied and faded into the other, ensure all polish is dry, and apply a clear top coat to seal in your look.

Get a Blast From the Past(el)

Pastels are in, and they’re here to stay! They’re perfect for adding color to your nails without being too loud. We hope you enjoyed this list of pastel nails designs. We know how much you love nail art, and we’re glad to provide you with the pastel inspiration you need before your next mani appointment.