Pride month is about celebration, love, resistance, and resilience. There are a million and one ways to celebrate and honor the occasion, but one of the most visual is by incorporating the rainbows and bold colors that make up the LGBTQIA+ flag into your look. One fun way to do that? With some fresh pride nails.
While the most obvious design is a rainbow, pride nail designs are vast — and there are so many creative ways to show a nod to the month. “I love seeing all the happy smiley faces, clouds, daisies, and other joyful expressions on the nails,” says Julie Kandalec, celebrity manicurist, nail artist, and founder of the Julie K Nail Artelier in New York City. Pride month tends to involve lots of bright colors, but Kandalec adds that “anything and everything that celebrates love, individuality, and self-expression” is an equally impactful vibe to go for.
If you are going full-throttle on the nail art, Kandalec says there’s one particular trend she’s seeing right now: colorful, freehand ‘70s-style waves. She also sees plenty of more minimalist pride manicures that are 90% negative space with a pop of art. According to CND brand ambassador and nail artist Tamara Di Lullo, an easy-to-DIY way to honor the month is with a Skittles manicure, which is when you simply paint each nail a different color.
The following pride nail art looks are about fun, celebration, and love — however that looks to you. There are designs that are easy to replicate at home, and some that are more suited to a professional nail artist. Take your pick or simply enjoy the colorful inspo.
Color Blocking Neons
The French mani 2.0 is the nail look of the season (just look at Gigi Hadid and Hailey Bieber’s fingertips). With some selective color choices, you can make it an easy celebration of Pride month.
A Cascading Rainbow
If complete works of manicure art are just too much for you, you can still show your pride by painting each nail a different color of the rainbow. Bonus points because this is probably the easiest look to do yourself.
Artistic Accents
Memorial Day marks the supposed beginning of white-clothing weather — which makes the case for rocking a mismatched set of nails with different rainbow accents over a white polish base.
Powerpuff Pride
This pastel manicure is reminiscent of The Powerpuff Girls and swirls vibrant shades together for a mood-boosting way to celebrate LBTQGIA+ pride.
Art For Short Nails
If you have short nails, it can sometimes feel like you are left out of the artistic mani world — but this cute set proves otherwise. Simple colorful stripes make this another easy to DIY look for every nail length.
These Nails Are On Fire
This combines two red-hot nail designs into one pride-worthy manicure: the currently trending flame nail art and a technicolor polish scheme.
Dark Side Of The Moon
Maybe you’re into black nail polish or just love Pink Floyd — either way, you can celebrate Pride Month while keeping your dark side intact with these rainbow-accented nails over a black base.
