Holographic Nails
Holographic nails are one of the fastest growing fashion trends, and for a good reason. They are sparkly, colorful, and oh-so-pretty! One of the best ways to get them is to use holographic nail powder, but not everyone likes to mess with powder. Luckily, there are other ways to get holographic nails, using holographic nail art foil; you can even use holographic cellophane in a pinch! Whichever method you choose, you are bound to end up with something that will wow all of your friends!
Holographic nails have been a huge trend this Summer, and luckily, you don’t have to go to the salon to get them, thanks to these powders. The effect is easy to achieve at home with the help of a handy DIY gel manicure kit, a few tools, and the correct nail powder for your desired effect. You can experiment and create different looks depending on what polish color you use underneath the powder.
To get the holographic finish, simply take a sponge eye shadow applicator and dip it into the powder after you’ve cured your base and coat of color. Pat the powder onto your nail bed and use a buffing motion to spread it across the area, being careful not to go over the same section too many times. If you’d like to create an ombré holographic effect, you can apply the powder to just the tips of your nails. When you’ve achieved your desired effect, apply a top coat and cure under your UV lamp.
The best part of these products is that they come in more than just holographic hues. You can also experiment with nail powders that will give you a mirror-like or chrome finish, and some even glow in the dark. Many of the powders come in variety packs, so you can try out several different finishes along with your holographic nail look.
Ahead you’ll find the very best holographic nail powders so you can get a dazzling manicure at home.
Holographic nail color comes from regular nail polish, with the addition of a special pigment, made up of microscopic reflective particles, that gives it that trademark sheen. After applying a base color or just a base layer to the nail, you can add a layer of the holographic pigment with a brush or a simple makeup applicator, and then brush off any extra pigment for that eye-catching, holographic look. Over the top of the powder, add another layer of clear sealing gel, and you and your nails will be ready to make a splash.
The holographic nail trend really came to the world’s attention way back in 2016, when model Gigi Hadid rocked a chrome nail polish at the Met Gala, but it took off during 2017 on various social media sites and doesn’t show any signs of slowing down. Everyone loves the way their nails look in photos or just catching light out on the streets—with these fifty cute designs, you can choose one you like, or make it your own, so that you, too, will be ready to rock your own nail art for both long nail designs and short nail designs!
1) Pretty In Pink
These pink holographic nails are long and strong and ready for a night out on the town or just kicking it around the house with a few close friends—when accessorized with some cute minimalist mid-finger and thumb rings, they’re an eye-catching addition to your look that will have people stopping for a second glance.
2) “I Believe in Pink”
Audrey Hepburn once said, “I believe in pink,” and, looking at these pretty nails, we don’t blame her one bit! This sparkly nail design is short and neat, but the holo nail polish gives it a unique twist, taking the nail color design from cute and simple to what looks like fairy dust nails.
3) Not Just a Color—It’s an Attitude!
Performer Miley Cyrus once quipped that pink wasn’t just a color, “it’s an attitude”—and if that’s true, then these pink holographic nails have got attitude in spades. Unlike the fairy dust nails, this is a long nail design, but like every nail polish idea here, it’s almost a guaranteed show stopper!
4) Shiny and Chrome
At a first glance, these awesome chrome nails almost look like a natural nail polish, but once they catch the light, they become a cool kind of reflection of one of the best parts of the holographic nails trend—the effortless shine and iconic gleam of holographic nail powder that’s pretty hard to ignore, but nearly impossible to forget.
5) Glow in the Dark Glam
The holographic nail powder used on these glitter nails may not actually glow in the dark, but it looks as though they’ll glow just about everywhere else! The beautiful yellow and blue undertones give an almost otherworldly look to this supernatural nail art design, and we just can’t bring ourselves to look away.
6) Quintuple Rainbow
With these nails, the holographic nail polish gets used to its full effect, as the natural gradient of colors found in every light beam is scattered across these designer nails to create a beautiful rainbow display. Almost all holographic nails play with light, but this holo nail idea takes full advantage of the fact, and it’s awesome!
7) “Nothing’s Too Girly”
Pink has always been a popular color for your average nail addict, and the holographic powder really just takes it to the next level! Simple, clean, and classy, this nail polish idea is a gorgeous nod to old-school nail ideas, while embracing the shimmering shine that has come to be so characteristic of modern holographic nails.
8) Mirror, Mirror
These nails might not use chrome nail polish, but the resultant glitter nails have a hint of chrome about them, nonetheless. With the rise of so many manicure types on various social media sites, we love the ones that seem to mix and match the best of so many different styles to create truly different nail designs.
9) Odd One In
Speaking of a cute easy nail design, these hologram nails are the perfect short nail design for those who love the holographic nail polish trend but don’t want to take themselves too seriously. The glitter nail art sets a fun contrast to the gleam of the remaining nails, and the end result is nothing but dazzling!
10) Clean and Classy
No matter the occasion, if you like clean, simple lines and bright, classic colors, then these are the nails for you! The holo nail polish used for this sparkly nail design is more understated than some of the others so that there’s just a hint of the usual shine when the light hits them just right.
11) We Run on Purple Time
There are chrome nails, and there are hologram nails, and then there are these gorgeous nails, which are in a league all of their own. The glitter nail art at the base of each nail is the only thing more eye-catching than the nails themselves, and either way, they’ve certainly got our attention!
12) Keep it Short, Keep It Simple
These holographic nails use a mirror nail polish to create a clean, crisp looks that stand out among hundreds, if not thousands, of other, equally eye-catching nail art designs. The metallic look of the finished product lends them an industrial look, but the short, neat trim really turns the style up to eleven.
13) The Snow Queen
The frozen fractals of different mirror nail polish colors give these cool-as-ice holographic nails a wintry feel, no matter what the weather’s like outside! As professional as it looks, all you need is a nail brush, this cute easy nail design, and a little bit of time, and you’ll be able to make it your own.
14) On Wednesdays, We Wear…
Pink! Like many of the other styles on this page, these holographic nails use pink powder nail polish to create a warm, friendly, familiar look that only reveals its holographic nature upon closer inspection. As this style shows, you can’t go wrong with a few trendy rings to point focus towards your perfectly polished nails.
15) Roses are Red, Violets are…
The old rhyme might say blue, but we all know the answer is really purple—with blue and green undertones for contrast, of course. Some nail art designs play up the intricate detail that nail art always highlights, but these are the nails for you if your tastes tend towards a modern, minimalist design.
16) Don’t Worry, be Purple!
Sometimes a little powder nail polish is all you need to take a nail polish color from warm to impossibly cool. These holographic nails are highly polished until the reflection is metallic in nature, and the finished result is somehow bright and coolly reserved at the same time—a nail art design for all seasons.
17) Bright and White
Holographic powder doesn’t always have to be used to punch up the color—for manicure types like the ones pictured here, the holo nail polish can be used to lend a touch of brightness to otherwise plain white polish, taking them from just “every day” to something you’ll want to wear every day from here on out!
18) Precious as Platinum
Can you ever really have enough glitter? There’s not any actual glitter to be found in this holo nail idea, but the answer is still a resounding no. One of a few truly metallic nails on this list, these holographic nails have a cool, hard gleam about them that makes them stand out from the crowd.
19) When Metal Works
At first glance, these nails would seem to just be plain old gray, but the second light hits them, they’re set aflame by a veritable rainbow of changes—the metallic gleam is replaced by a shimmering display of light and color, and the highlights are reflected in the new colors to shine even brighter than before.
20) Like Rust on Iron
Rust doesn’t always have to be a bad thing. For these glittering, golden nails, the muted red and brown undertones give the nail polish a weathered, antique sort of look that’s countered by the highly metallic sheen of the holographic powder, and the end result is a marriage of old and new that’s pretty much impossible to ignore.
21) Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe
Catch a tiger by the toe—or by the hand, as is the case with these stunning nails! Each nail highlights a different style of nail art, and we just can’t pick which one is our favorite! The tiny gemstones on the pinky fingers, the smooth, pearly surface of the middle fingers—each one’s as gorgeous as the next, and we just can’t look away.
22) Puttin’ On the Glitz
Looking sharp in every possible sense of the word, these nails all play with light and shadow, reflection and absorption, in a way that’s absolutely mesmerizing. The pinprick gemstones at the base of the pinky finger play off the larger glitter pieces on the pointer finger, and the four different styles shouldn’t work so well together, but they really, really do!
23) Think Pink and the World is Rosy Red
Continuing the trend of a contrasting nail (and our overarching theme of Pink), this long nail design uses the white-pink gleam of all the other nails to highlight the chrome nails on both ring fingers. The gradient from the lighter polish at the base of the nails to the almost translucent sheens of the nail tips provides an eye-catching contrast, even when the whole nail is just one color!
24) Smiles, Hugs, and Lots of Purple
Another purple style for our list, these holographic nails feature a sweet little detail on the ring finger as their only distinction, but the pretty, eye-catching design is enough to warrant a second look, and the luminescent sheen of the four remaining nails is enough to warrant a third, fourth, and fifth look!
25) Tough as Nails
These nails are no-nonsense—or, at least, as no-nonsense as gleaming chrome fingernails can ever be! Filed to a point and polished to a shine, this relatively short style will let everyone you meet know that you mean business, but the reflection of the colors you’ll automatically pick up along your way soften the edges just enough to be perfectly polite.
26) For When You’re Feeling Blue
Perfect for all those blue days, these nails will have you feeling better in no time! Another style that straddles the line between short and long nail designs, these holographic nails feature a contrast or accent nail on the third finger, with an extra coating of glitter gel to stand out against the holo powder used on the remaining four nails.
27) Make Your Blue Print (or Make Your Prints Blue)
From the same design company behind No. 24, these pretty, pale blue nails feature not only the distinctive gemstone scoop on the ring finger but also a muted seashell pattern on the same nail that contrasts the sharper, almost geodetic design of all the other nails. The resulting comparison makes the lines look sharper and the edges softer, and makes these nails another example of just how well opposites attract!
28) Sugar and Ice and Everything Nice
After some of the flashier styles that have appeared on this list, it’s nice to get back to an old classic with a modern twist. These modest, unadorned nails pretend to be meek and unassuming, but the holographic powder lends them a shine and a glint that is anything but, and we couldn’t be more here for it!
29) She’s Got That Midas Touch
If everything you touch already turns straight to gold, what better way to let people know that with this short, stylish nail polish job? Again, a few clean and minimalist rings help draw the eye towards the hands, but the glittering gold of these holographic nails certainly holds people’s attention, once they’ve got it!
30) Purple Rain (and Purple Rainbows)
This particular polish powder comes from the same provider as No. 19, and the purple power it provides promises a plethora of positive perceptions! But seriously, alliteration aside, these purple nails have enough of that classic metallic sheen to catch a thousand other colors, even though the rich, warm purple is still strong enough to shine through in the end.
