Striped nail designs are the cool-girl alternative to polka dot nails

Earn your stripes.
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When it comes to nail designs, there are so many (some might argue too many) options to choose from. Leopard, tortoiseshell, stars, but what about striped nail designs?

While other prints are all great choices for your spring manicure, we’re earmarking striped nails as the print that everyone will be wild about this year – a bit like how polka dots totally took over both fashion and beauty last year.

Why stripes? What’s not to love? A super versatile style, you can make them as minimalist or maximalist as you like, and with a few small tweaks to the colours, they can be worn all year long.

While it’s better to leave this style to your manicurist – particularly if you’re after sharp, defined stripes – it is possible to achieve at home too. If you’re a beginner, first try using vinyl tape. After applying your base coat colour, use tweezers to place thin strips of tape symmetrically along the nail bed and then paint the alternate colour on top. Remove the tape and use a small brush to touch up any overhang. For expert home manicurists, you can more simply freehand the stripes, letting the length of the nail brush do all the work.

If you’re visiting your nail salon, you can leave all of these worries at home and jump straight to planning which striped nail designs you want to try out. To help you get ahead of the curve, here are 25 striped nail designs to save for your next nail appointment.

Striped French tips

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Optical striped nails

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Mixed striped nails

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Espresso striped nails

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Romantic striped nails

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Minimal striped nails

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Vertical striped nails

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Mix and match striped nails

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Beach towel striped nails

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Vintage wrapping paper striped nails

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Fuzzy jumper striped nails

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3D fuzzy jumper French tips

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Soft striped nails

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Glass striped nails

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Green striped nails

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Retro swoosh striped nails

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White striped nails

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Cat-eye striped nails

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Rainbow gradient striped nails

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Diagonal striped nails

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Matrix striped nails

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Multi striped nails

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Butter yellow striped nails

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Blue ombré striped nails

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Pride striped nails

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