Snowflakes are the perfect motif for a winter nail design! They fascinate with their wealth of shapes and stand for uniqueness and perfection of form. We'll show you how to paint snowflakes on nails in the following tutorials.
For most nail designs you only need twosimple tools:a dotting tool to set the dots and a fineliner brush for the lines. The nail design is also often combined with wonderful color and glitter gradients. A make-up sponge is used to dab the nail polish on.
There are many different techniques for creating snowflakes on nails and it can be difficult to find the right one for you. But we managed to summarize most of them in our article. If you have a steady hand, you can paint very complicated, delicate snowflakes with a fine brush. For beginners, however, the simpler snowflake shapes and nail stencils are ideal.
If you love winter then you definitely shouldthese nail designs with snowflakestry. Putting snow crystals on your nails is easier than you think! By the way, many different nail polish colors are suitable for the snowflake design. With ice blue and cobalt blue as a base, you'll feel like the Frozen, while delicate pink and nude tones give nails a cozy softness. AndRed at Christmas timealways looks elegant and noble! Let our examples inspire you!
Red French nail design with snowflakes
Snowflakes usually have a basic hexagonal shape, but you are of course welcome to experiment. Round snowflakes with eight arms also look very symmetrical. We'll start with simple instructions for a diamond-shaped, square snowflake.
- Before you start painting, apply a base coat.
- First, paint your thumb with red nail polish.
- Use the dotting tool to place a white dot in the middle of your thumb.
- Then make four strokes around the point but without touching it. Add two small lines to each stroke. They should look like little arrows pointing to the dot in the middle.
5. When everything is dry, paint over the snowflake again with a glitter varnish.
6. Repeat the same nail design on your ring finger.
7. Paint the rest of your nails in a French look, but with exciting red tips.
8. Underline the red nail tips with silver glitter nail polish.
9. Finally, apply a topcoat.
Elegant nail design with snowflakes
- Paint your nails with a creamy, opaque nail polish in a delicate nude rosé.
- Apply a burgundy nail polish diagonally across half of your nail.
- Repeat the step with a dark red nail polish, but make sure the previous color is still visible.
- Using a thin nail art brush and pale pink nail polish, paint an X on the border between the red and rose nail polish.
- Draw four smaller lines between the first snowflake arms.
- Then use the dotting tool to place a dot at the end of each snowflake arm.
- Draw two small slanted lines on each of the longest lines.
- Finally, paint all nails with a glossy top coat.
Christmas nail design with snowflakes
This simple nail design is perfect for short nails with an angular shape. This makes the round snowflake stand out even better. You can find out more about the different nail shapesread here.
- Apply a base coat.
- Apply a self-adhesive decorative strip across the center of the nail.
- Paint the outer part of the nail with a shimmery Christmas red nail polish.
- Remove the nail art strip and draw a line across your nail using white nail polish and a thin brush.
- Using the same brush and the white nail polish, draw a line that is perpendicular to the previous line.
- Draw two more lines that go over the intersection of the previous two lines, forming an X.
- Using the white nail polish and the brush, make 6 more dots on the arms of the snowflake. Distribute these in a small circle around the center.
- You can paint the snowflake on another nail and paint the rest of the nails red.
- Seal the nails with a top coat.
Changing the lengths creates beautiful variations in the basic shape of the snowflakes
Paint snowflakes using dots
And here is another very simple way to paint snowflakes on nails. First you set the points and then use them as the starting point for the lines. Paint the lines from the outside in. This also ensures more depth in the design.
Pay attention to the symmetry
And here the method with the points is shown even better. To paint an eight-pointed snowflake, first make 9 dots: 5 vertically and 4 across the nail. Add 4 more, between the arms of the snowflake. Now all that's left is to connect the dots.
If you want to paint your nails in two colors, you can also try the following idea.
- Paint the nail with the white nail polish.
- Apply a red base coat diagonally to half of your nail.
- Using a thin brush and the red nail polish, draw three lines that intersect at a point on the white part of the nail.
- Using the same brush but with white nail polish, extend the lines to the red area.
- Add small strokes to either side of each arm of the snowflake, alternating between the red and white nail polish depending on the surface.
- Put a few small red dots on the white part of the nail.
- Draw white dots with a thin brush and the white nail polish. If there is still space, you can also add a simple white snowflake.
- Finally, apply a topcoat.
Elegant nail design in wine red and with silver snowflakes
A nail polish in rich red is a classic for Christmas nails. It is often combined with simple white. However, if you want to use a different shade of red that makes your nails look classy and elegant, then go for wine red. If you want to paint a hexagonal snowflake on your nails, make sure that the arms always branch out at a 60 degree angle.
Simple design for gray nails, short, matte
If you have very short nails, then you can simply paint half a snowflake. Start at the side of the nail and draw three lines towards the center of the nail. Paint the short strokes on each arm of the flake and glue a rhinestone in the center.
And here's another half snowflake variation, this time for longer nails. The contrast between the opaque nail polish and the empty areas is very interesting, but requires a lot of patience and a precise hand.
Winter gradient nails
A beautiful color gradient from blue to white is the basis for this winter nail art. For this you need three different nail polish colors in blue. These are applied horizontally next to each other on the sponge and then dabbed onto the nail. A beautiful guide to ombre nails,can be found in this article.
Snowflakes also look beautiful with baby boomer nails
If you want a modern alternative to classic French nails, then you can go for the baby boomer look. The beige tone fades into a milky white towards the tips and looks extremely natural.
By the way, the combination of beige and white looks beautiful even without a gradient
Snowflake nails with glitter tip
This is how it works:
- Paint the nails with a clear nail polish.
- Apply a silver-gray metallic nail polish horizontally to the sponge.
- Press the sponge onto the nail to transfer the nail polish.
- Apply glitter nail polish to the same sponge.
- Press it onto the nail over the gray nail polish.
- Using a thin brush and pink nail polish, draw a snowflake on your nail.
- You can also paint a white flake next to it.
- Finally, apply a topcoat.
This nail design looks beautiful on both short and long acrylic nails
Floral snowflakes
Snowflakes have a fascinating geometry. But if you want to experiment a bit with their shape, you can bend the lines slightly and create a beautiful, floral design.
Flowers made of rhinestones can also be turned into beautiful snowflakes with just a few strokes
Make fancy snowflakes yourself with Drag Marble
There are other ways to create the simple basic snowflake shape with nail polish. If you like abstract shapes, you can try the drag marble method. It's very simple:
- Paint the nails with the color polish of your choice.
- While the base coat is still wet, add any number of drops of white nail polish to make the snowflake shape. First make a cross and then an X over it.
- Drag a toothpick or fine dotting tool through the dots, from the end to the middle of the snowflake. This creates a series of chained hearts.
- Finally, glue a rhinestone to the middle of the snowflake.
Nail design with snowflake stamping
If you can't paint such delicate snowflakes freehand on your nails, use a stamping set. The stamping stencils are now available in a wide variety of shapes and variations that are guaranteed to suit every taste. We have detailed information on how nail stamps workexplained in this article.
And here is an idea for a beautiful 3D effect achieved by several layers of nail polish and stamped snowflakes.
- Apply a base coat.
- Paint your nails with an opaque blue nail polish.
- Then apply blue holo glitter powder to the nails with a brush.
- Use a snowflake stamping plate.
- Transfer white snowflakes of different sizes on your nail.
- Paint the nail again with blue nail polish. So the first snowflakes remain in the background.
- Repeat the stamping step.
- When the polish is set, apply a top coat.
Make the snowflakes shine with glitter powder
Nail design professionals like to work with glitter powder. It is suitable for both full cover nails and flashy accents. The glitter particles are super fine and create a more elegant look than coarse glitter polishes.
- Paint your nails baby pink and a creamy nude shade.
- Using a dotting tool, put a white dot on your nail.
- Use a thin brush to paint a snowflake on your nails.
- Pick up some holo glitter powder with the cuticle spatula and sprinkle it over the nail. Remove any remaining glitter powder with a fan brush.
- Add more little dots into the design to make it even cuter.
- Apply a top coat.
By the way, nail art powder is also often used to do thisNail design with knitting patternto make it even more realistic. The matt look makes the fingernails look very cozy, like a sweater. In this video you can see how the powder is applied to gel nails:
