Summer is unarguably one of the most vibrant seasons of the year. Bright colors clash beautifully, and the beach receives its mighty share of visitors. To pass the summer vibe check, your hair, dresses, and nails have to be on fleek! Don’t forget nail care is a part of self-care.
When brainstorming bright summer nail ideas, you might find yourself looking at your saved pins of pictures of summer nails because coming up with a nail design can be intimidating.
Deciding on a bright gel nail color that complements your skin tone is one more thing to think about. But gather round, I’ve come up with a comprehensive list of hot girl summer nails to help you slay the season.
Before diving into my selection of the best summer color nail designs, let’s talk about how to do cute nail designs for summer.
Some affiliate links are used, which means, if you purchased something, we may earn a commission.*
How to Do Cute Nails for Summer
Bring out your bright-colored nail polish and nail brushes and head to YouTube. I love the medium-length summer nails in this video by 20 Nails; they’re easy DIYs you can try with tools at home.
What is the most popular nail shape for summer 2022?
Artificial nails are an absolute lifesaver; they give us the freedom to try out different nail shapes, especially if you’re not growing your natural nails. Whether you have artificial nails or you grow out your natural nails, you can pull off any of the most popular nail shapes for summer.
Last year, stiletto and ballerina-shaped nails ruled the trend table, but according to Marie Claire nail experts, coffin-shaped nails and short squoval nails are dominating this year. If you have long natural nails, coffin-shaped nails would be perfect for you, and if you have shorter nails, the squoval nails would be perfect. It’s a win-win for us all!
Coffin Shaped Nails
I love this nail shape because it’s the perfect muse for any summer color nail design you’ll decide to go with. The picture showcases a beautiful orange nail idea that would be perfect to create an overall 3 color nail idea design.
The coffin nail shape effortlessly flatters any outfit and gives your hands that beautiful feminine look; it’s a recommended diversion from your regular nail shapes.
Short Square Oval Nails
Obviously, this baddie nail shape will never go out of style. The great thing about this shape is that you can achieve it with your natural nails and try out all the different summer nail designs for short nails.
Now that we have gotten the nail shape out of the way, let’s talk about summer nail designs!
Summer Square Nails: Hot Pink Strips
It won’t be a summer nail design article if pink isn’t at the top of my list. Nothing screams summer like hot pink complementing other bright, beautiful colors.
Pink strips enhance the beauty of nail polish colors like sea green and pale pink, and the combination perfectly complements our skin tone.
Rainbow Nails
It’s not your traditional French tip nail design. Instead of using one plain color, put a twist to it by using different bright colors.
Our melanin-popping skin has the power to make bright colors look super good, so you can be confident about rocking this design if you want to.
Ice Cream Nail Designs
Ice cream nail designs will always give you that perfect summer vibe nails.
There are so many ice cream nail designs to try; my favorite is the one with the swirl at the nail tip and a tiny cone beneath.
Girly Nail Idea: Mismatched Nails
Drift away from ‘boring’ one-tone summer design nails with mismatched nails. People say there’s a method to the madness, but with this design, there is no method; go crazy!
The essence of mismatched nails is for each nail to have its personality, complement your skin and shine individually.
Bright Nails For Summer: Abstract Swirl
This abstract swirl hot girl summer nails trend by Kb herself is definitely one to try.
The best part is that you can use any summer color to achieve the look, the swirl forms the abstract design, and the vibrant colors make it pop as it should!
Simple Cute Designs with Emojis
From half-moon and stars to smiley faces, the summer nail emoji trend is one that you should definitely try.
Summer is all about having fun and living life on the edge; direct that same energy to your nails, and you’ll love what you see.
Cute Nails for Vacation: Press-Ons
Press-on nails have been a total lifesaver, and they’ve steadily climbed the popularity ladder of nail designs over the years.
What makes press-on nails so popular? They afford you the style, professional look, size, and variety of shapes without the hassle of going to the nail salon.
There are so many summer nail designs for you to choose from! Check out these dope black-owned press-on nails we love.
Bright Summer Gel Nails: Pastel Colors
Don’t you just love pastels; they’re super cool and effortlessly give off calm vibes. Bright pastels are on top of the trend table for vacation nails in 2022.
To pass the summer vibe nails check, try mixing your favorite pastel colors, and remember to select shades that complement your skin tone.
Shimmering Nails:
Let your nails shine bright like a diamond this summer with shimmering swirls. Rather than the cliché style of wearing sparkle nail polish, the trend this summer is to play with them instead.
It can be used to enhance the beauty of any nail polish color. If you’re a fan of bling-bling, take things up a notch by adding tiny rhinestones.
Summer French Nails
French nails will never go out of style, even though the way we wear them has changed over the years- which is a good thing!
Make your French nails trendier, and use summer nail colors like coral blue, pink, and green.
Floral Nail Designs
The sun and In-Bloom dresses are not the only things that should be bright in summer. Try out simple floral nail designs like sunflower petals and daisies on some summer-long nails to make them pop even more!
When going over your plans for summer, opt for some simple vacation nails with cute floral touches that will get you excited for your trip.
Double French
If you’ve wanted to try out a 2 color nail design, here’s your chance! This summer design nails are lovely; in fact, it’s my personal favorite.
Combine one bright hue and another dark one for a beautiful contrast against your skin.
Nail Stickers
Did you hear? We can now flaunt our favorite summer fruits and abstract drawings on our nails! My absolute favorite is cherry stickers; the red fruit and green stem add a pop of color to the neutral base coat. I also love abstract lines and bold-colored stickers.
Try these cute vacation nail stickers as an option when you don’t have time to make an appointment at a nail salon.
Summer Neon Nails
Neon nails are perfect for summer; they’re bright, fun, and will go well with all your outfits. You can mix and match different colors, or go for a single bright color. If you want something more subtle, try a neon French manicure.
Rather than the famous neon yellow, try a blend of pale orange and bright neon orange; the combination of both shades is delightful to the eyes. It forms a beautiful contrast for any shade of melanin-popping skin.
Embracing Bright Summer Nail Designs
For summer, the vibe is fun, colorful, and adventurous. These pictures of summer nail designs for summer are the absolute best! There’s no better way to embrace the summer spirit than with one of these nail designs.
Some other ideas not featured on this list are sun nail art, coral color nail designs, and if you’re looking for gel nail color ideas. Check out our spring nail colors to try.
We hope you enjoyed reading about all the bright summer nail designs for black girls! What are your thoughts? Will you be trying any of these designs? Let us know in the comment section below.
