Whites are always and forever in fashion – case in point, the classic white shirt, the classic white French manicure, the little white dress – the list goes on. The best thing about white is that it is super versatile and can be played up or down depending on your mood, and that’s probably why people are not afraid to experiment with the color.
It is perfectly muted enough to balance dramatic looks and, at the same time, lets other elements take center stage. You can also create unique designs where white takes center stage. Check out your IG influencer feed for white nail design inspiration. Plus, of course, there’s always Pinterest for more inspo.
Moving on to the fun stuff, here are 55 unique White nail designs for inspiration.
55 White Nail Designs to Steal Inspo From
1. White Swirls Over Nude Nails
Starting with a relatively basic and understated white nail design – this one uses only two colors. Set the base with a high-shine nude pink and seal with a top coat to make it shinier if you’d like. Then take your most pigmented white nail color and draw random swirls with a brush.
We are upping the level of sophistication a notch here. Lay a base of solid clean white polish first and process for a chrome finish. Then, using a brush, draw classic marble patterns with black and grey on a single nail, and you are done.
Here is an effortless and elegant white nail design for minimal style lovers. Start with a solid white base and go over with a high-shine clear topcoat. Then take a thin brush and outline a heart on a single nail. The shakier your hands, the more natural and beautiful the drawing will be.
Ombre nails are also quite the rage this season. Here is a super-understated white nail design in ombre style. Take the most pigmented nude pink and solid white colors from your stash, and using a sponge, create an ombre base with pink at the cuticle end. Make sure to have the white cover more space. Finish with a clear top coat, and you are good to go.
For this one, start with a solid white base and get ready with your favorite nail art tools to create animal patterns. With yellow and black colors, create leopard prints on some nails; you can also create cow prints with black. With pink color, create zebra stripes on some. Make sure to limit the prints on one or two nails and leave the rest of them solid white.
Here is yet another muted and minimal white nail design. Start with a base of solid white and clear ombre. Make sure to go for long coffin-shaped nails and have the cuticle ends white. Over the clear half of the nails, apply cute white butterfly stickers.
This nail design is all about texture. You will need the help of an expert manicurist for this one. Choose the best white matte gel nail color and have your artist carve out uniform cute knitted sweater textures on all nails.
This gorgeous snowflake design is perfect for the winter and the summer. Start with a lovely matte pastel blue shade for the base. Then, pick the most pigmented matte white nail color for the magic and draw beautiful snowflakes and melting ice patterns.
To maintain balance in any nail design, combine dramatic colors with understated patterns and vice versa. For this design, create a base of solid, shiny white nail color. Then, draw perpendicular lines with silver chrome color over one or two nails.
10. Sparkly White With Rose Gold Glitter Nail Design
Here’s one for drama lovers. Start with a base of solid shimmer white nail color. Next, place a snowflake motif over one of the nails and slather rose gold glitter in ombre style on the cuticle half of the nail. Remove the motif to reveal the negative space snowflake. Finally, use rose gold glitter to create ice melting patterns and basic ombre designs on the rest of the nails.
Here is a cute and fun white nail design perfect for Halloween. You need pastel pink and white to create this. Lay solid bases of white and pink alternately on the nails. On the pink nails, draw cute white ghosts emerging from the cuticles. For the eyes, you can use black nail color.
This is another cute and fun nail design. Start with a base of solid plain white. Then stick a 3D gummy bear sticker on one of the nails. On another one, draw a simple heart in red. For extra drama, you can go for super-long square-shaped nails.
For everyone who likes to stick to the “on Wednesdays, we wear pink” rule, here’s a style you’ll love. Use solid plain white and pastel pink bases first. Then, on one of the white nails, draw cute pink hearts. On another white nail, draw “XO” in black. Finish with a high-shine topcoat.
For this one, create a unique mix of clear polish and white to lay an ice-white base. Seal it with a high-shine topcoat. Add shimmery or chrome finish butterfly stickers over one of your nails to finish the look.
Animal prints are always fun. This is a cow print design done on super-short nails. Start with a base of solid plain white. You can also use pastel grey or greyish blue on some nails. Then with black nail color, draw simple cow skin patterns on one of the nails and finish with a clear topcoat.
For a simple yet statement-making look, play with textures. Start with a base of plain solid white as usual. Then, over one of the nails, add multi-colored chunky glitter to create the effect of sugar crystals.
Here’s a fairly simple yet dramatic white nail design you can try at home. Lay a base of solid plain white first. Then, add chunky silver or holographic loose glitter in ombre fashion at the cuticle ends of all nails. Finally, go over with a shiny clear topcoat and complete the look.
This is another beautifully muted and artistically pleasing nail design with white nail color. For a change, lay a base of nude pink or pastel pink first. Then, create gorgeous abstract patterns in white over all nails and finish the look with a high-shine topcoat.
For a super classy and statement-making look, start with a plain white base and add metallic line stickers in unique patterns over all nails. This design would be perfect for getaways, parties, brunches, and other small summer events.
Played-down designs on white nails are undoubtedly the most elegant looks to try. For this one, go for simple almond-shaped nails and lay a base of solid shiny white first. Then, draw a lovely big heart motif in Fuschia pink over one of your nails. Finally, finish with a clear topcoat and let the pink do all the talking.
Here is a simple one for the love of abstract prints and patterns. Lay a base of solid plain white first. Using gold foil, create abstract patterns of flakes on one or two nails and finish with a shiny clear topcoat.
Here is a matte two-toned look to amplify the beauty of white. First, use solid matte white bases on a few nails and nude pink on some. Then with a matte black nail color, draw hearts, lines, crowns, and “princess” graphics over and seal with a clear matte topcoat.
If you are a fan of color-blocking and geometric shapes, here is one for you. Over a base of solid white, draw geometric shapes in different colors. You can use the same colors for all the nails or switch it up for alternate nails: use pinks, magentas, blues, greens, and yellows for the most vibrant look.
For the most uncomplicated, most elegant white nail design, go for a unique hue in white. Here is a gorgeous mix of subtle ocean green and white. Keep the shape dramatic – you can go for coffin shapes or square shapes. Seal with a high-shine topcoat and let the unique hue take center stage.
A small change in the hues and textures can create unique and drastically different nail looks. This one uses a cloudy and dull shade of white for the base. Use square-shaped nails and draw little hearts with red and pink shimmer polish on one of the nails.
Here’s a clean and crisp nail design. Start with the most elegant almond-shaped nails. Lay a base of solid white first. Then, create a chevron motif with nude pink or clear polish on one of your nails. Finally, line the chevron motif with silver foil or glitter and you are done.
Time to whip out some of those sophisticated nail art stickers from your stash. Start with a clean and shiny solid white base. Next, place the water-activated floral stickers on one or two nails and finish with a topcoat. Alternatively, you can also perhaps use temporary tattoos as a hack.
The cookie crumbles nail texture shot to popularity around the start of 2015. You can either use a simple white cookie dough textured nail paint or recreate the texture using a plain white base and black nail color to paint random spots.
If you would like a little “color pop” moment on your nails, then this is your design. Start with a simple solid white base. Make it a vivid glitter blue base on one of the nails. Next, draw chevron patterns on one of the white nails and finish by drawing little white hearts on the blue nail.
Summer nights are all about that sparkle. This design uses a combination of glitter and plain textures. Use a shimmery white nail color and a solid plain white color to put down the bases alternately. Place sparkling rhinestones on the plain white nails to finish the look.
Here is a modern and more elegant rendition of the classic French tips. Create classic French tips first with a nude pink base and white tips. Then, add gold glitter accents to some French tips and finish with a topcoat.
A super-cute nail design to try – start with a basic white coat. With the most vivid colors in your stash – think pinks, purples, and blues, and draw tiny paws with dots and circles. It is as simple as that.
Here is a cute summery nail design that would also be perfect for Christmas. On a clean white base, use nail art tools to draw tiny berries in red. Draw the leaves in green, and you are done. Keep the nail shape less dramatic and finish with a clear topcoat.
Some abstract art for art lovers. On a base of cool-toned white first draw abstract shapes with light pink. Draw vines or leaves in black, and finally, add gold accents with gold foil. Seal the art with a top coat, and you have a masterpiece.
Here’s another effortless rendition of classic white French tips. Start with a nude pink base and draw on French white tips. Make sure to have curved tips. Then, add black curves below the white tips using black nail color, and you are done.
Here is a design that uses the least amount of glitter for minimalists. On a clean white base, place chunky silver glitter in an ombre fashion at the cuticles of one or two nails.
For the love of finely detailed tattoos, here is a design that uses a gorgeous snake print. Create a base of plain white first. Then, on one of your hands, create some texture using white glitter powder to resemble sugar. Finally, draw or add a beautiful snake tattoo or sticker across your plain white nails, and you are good to go.
White and black make for a killer combo – we all know that. So here is a simple and elegant design that uses just those two colors. First, lay down bases of plain black and white alternately. Then, on one of the black nails, draw a white heart on top, and draw a black heart on one of the white nails.
This is a super-cute and elegant white nail design perfect for date nights and Valentine’s. All you need are white and red nail colors. Lay a clean white base first, then draw tiny red hearts on the corners, and you are done.
Once again, we have a nail design perfect for love birds. On a clean base of white, all you need to do is draw heart shapes. Use black and red nail colors to draw heart shapes all over – similar to dice.
We can’t seem to get enough hearts. For this one, we start with a base of shimmer light pink. Then, go over almost half of each nail with white. Create a base of white first for a single nail and draw a shimmer pink heart on top.
One of the best ways to let the beauty of white shine is to keep the rest of the design understated and minimal. Here is a super simple design that uses the most basic solid white base coat. With a bright orange or Fuschia pink color, draw tiny little hearts at the cuticle ends of one or two nails.
Go vampy with the longest coffin-shaped nails and paint them solid white first. Then, add high fashion vibes with shimmery gold color by drawing drippy Cs and melting patterns.
Swirls are perhaps the easiest designs to draw at home. Start with almond-shaped nails and lay a base of nude pink first. Then, draw thin swirls in white in abstract patterns all over. You can also draw swirls in black on your other hand.
If you’d like to make it extra sophisticated, start with a solid white base and paint elegant strings of leaves in black. Slather silver glitter randomly over the black leaves. Make sure not to go overboard with the glitter because the highlight of the look is the leaves.
Animal prints are, needless to say, evergreen and always in style. Here are some classic zebra prints for the love of keeping things minimal. Use almond-shaped nails and lay a base of solid matte white first. Next, draw zebra prints in matte black on all nails. Use plain matte black color for a single nail.
Who said vampy nails ought to be bright red or maroon?
Here’s a modern rendition of vampire nails in white. Start with a base of solid white first. Then, with a bright blood red color, draw art nouveau patterns on a single nail.
Flowers and leaves add so much elegance to the design. Here we have a stunning combination of matte and shiny finishes. On all nails, start with a base of nude dusty pink. Then, seal some with a high-shine topcoat and some with a matte topcoat. Over the matte nails, draw gorgeous white vines and leaves, and you are done.
Once again, we have a nature-inspired look on white nails. Start with a solid white color for the base. Next, draw tiny botanic prints in vivid and bright colors on one or two nails and finish with a high-shine topcoat.
Devil Wears Prada had to be one of the most iconic movies ever created in fashion. So here’s some devil inspo for you. All you got to do is lay a base of classic white first and draw a heart with devil horns and a trident on one of the nails. Finish with a shiny topcoat to complete the look.
Material art always makes you look exotic and gorgeous. For this one, paint an ombre base of white and nude pink on all nails to start with. Then, for the highlight of the look, add gold flakes randomly in abstract patterns all over two nails.
Here is a super-cute anime-inspired white nail design. On a base of solid plain white, all you need to do is draw paw prints, cat cartoons, and paw illustrations in neon shades. You can also draw hearts and kisses in black.
Here is an easy chocolate-inspired white nail design. First, go for the longest square-shaped nails, and alternate lay plain chocolate brown and white bases. Then, on one of the brown nails, draw tiny white hearts, and on one of the white nails, draw tiny brown hearts.
This one is super-easy and fun to do. Go for understated almond-shaped nails and paint solid white bases first. Then, on one or two nails, draw multi-colored polka dots resembling M&M candies and finish with a high-shine topcoat.
Saving the best for the last, a super-sophisticated nail art on white. Go for clean and understated white bases and seal with a shiny topcoat. You can use nail art tools to either create a gorgeous butterfly or use a ready-to-apply butterfly sticker on one of the nails.
Peace lovers and nature lovers often prefer white nails. Introverted people often choose nudes and classic white French manicures. Other theories suggest that White nails symbolize a fresh new start in life. Hence, people going through drastic changes in their lives, people who are perhaps starting over in their lives, people who may have moved to a new country, and the like are likely to flaunt new white nail designs.
Are White Nails Fashionable?
The color White is evergreen and always in fashion. No matter how loud or how understated the seasonal trends are, there will always be White in the industry. Hence, White nails are always fashionable, timeless, and chic too.
Do White Nails Go With Deeper Skin Tones?
Yes, White nail designs are flattering on any skin tone. They also pair well with other colors, making it easier for you to experiment with and create unique and unconventional designs.
Do White Nails Make You Look Tacky or Trashy?
A common issue with most White nail colors is that they are far less pigmented than other colors. For the same reason, you need to go over several times with White nail color to get the correct color payoff. Multiple coats of white nail polish can look too tacky or trashy. You must always go for a high-quality brand when picking White nail polish. Typically, branded gel nail colors are less likely to make you look trashy.
Conclusion
Those were 55 stunning nail designs created with the classic color of white. From simple and minimalistic designs to dramatic and overstated ones, there is something for everyone on this list. So keep this handy when you go to your salon and get yourself the most fabulous look for the season.
Brittney has earned a name for herself with trending and creative styles. With years of experience, she has expertise in brilliant nail art designs to classic combinations. With perfect details in designs, she works great for designs like sponge bobbing, stamping, stencil, splatter, gradient, sticker, or marble nail art. With long-term experience, she has connections with whom she perfected her art.
