Mermaid Nail Designs: Step-by-Step Guide
What are mermaid nails? It is the new nail art trend sweeping across socials in preparation for all the summer nail sets for 2025. If you are a nail tech who offers intricate nail art, your clients may likely request mermaid nail designs, if they have not already. We will take you through a step-by-step guide on how to do mermaid nails, as well as some different color combos that are perfect for creating different mermaid nail designs.
View this post on Instagram
How To Do Mermaid Nails
- Start with a base.
You can either start with a neutral builder gel, and add a color on top of that, or you can use a bolder Builder In A Bottle from the start. In the look above, we used the Enchanting BIAB™. A common trend is to put chrome powder over a neutral base layer to get a chrome mermaid nail effect. Cure your base layer once you are done. - Create a shell effect with 3D gel.
Using the butt of the Liner Brush, create dots with your clear 3D nail gel along the edge of the nail, starting in the center and moving toward the nail bed. Before curing it, take the brush end of the Liner Brush and drag the 3D Studio Gel™ down toward the nail bed. Make the lines on the outer edges curved. This helps create the look of a shell. Once you are happy with the lines, cure. - Add more detail.
You can leave the look as is if you are happy with it, but you can take an extra step by adding embellishments with pearls or incorporating more color details to give the appearance of waves. To add waves, you will need a secondary color — we used Weekender. Take your Liner Brush and draw curved lines from side to side. Before curing, take another brush like the Stroke Brush, and gently brush out the color to give it an ombre effect. Cure. - Seal with a top coat.
Like always, whenever you are done creating your mermaid nail art, seal all the nails with our Extreme Shine Top Coat.
Mermaid Gel Nail Colors
For summer 2025, it is a must to have your nail kit ready for mermaid nail designs. Don’t worry; we have you covered with the essential colors to have stocked for iconic mermaid-worthy nails.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mermaid Chrome Nails
If you want to have all the supplies to create mermaid chrome nails, we have plenty of Chrome Pigment powders that would create mermaid masterpiece looks.
|
|
|
|
|
Simple Mermaid Nails
Some of your clients may want to step out of their comfort zones and try some mermaid nail designs but still keep it on the simpler side. For those clients, consider more neutral colors.
|
|
|
|
|
We cannot wait to see all the mermaid nail designs you create this summer! Be sure to tag us on Instagram and TikTok so we can see and repost your looks.