By 

Kara Jillian Brown

February is here and Valentine’s Day is in full swing. That means it’s time to rock cute and romantic manicures. It’s time for “the ultimate girly manicure, and it’s personally my favorite time of year,” shares nail artist Rachel Joseph. She says there are lots of ways to achieve this vibe. “Valentine’s Day nails are usually filled with hearts, glitters, reds, pinks, and white,” she says. “There are a ton of different looks you can do to achieve v-day nails, either by going all out with a themed look or keeping it simple with a chic pink or red French manicure.”

MEET THE EXPERT

• Rachel Joseph is a nail artist who works with Nailing Hollywood.
• Tara Haye is a nail artist who works with Nailing Hollywood.
• Eunice Park is nail artist and a research and development manager at Aprés Nail.
  

To inspire your next look, browse 50 gorgeous Valentine’s Day nail ideas below.

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Lipgloss Hearts

Take your lip gloss mani and make it even sweeter by painting white hearts at the tip before applying your final coat of jelly polish. This gives the hearts a bit of that lip gloss haze.

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Heart Gradient

“If you’re like me and you absolutely love pink, try different variations of heart manicures,” sys Joseph. “Have fun by choosing a few of your favorite pink shades and switch them up on each nail.”

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Red-Pink Ombré

I created this look by painting my nails with two polishes from Aprés. I painted Soulful Ginger ($15), a bold red, to the tips and Electric Flamingo ($15), a hot pink to the rest of my nails. Before curing the gel, I used a makeup sponge to blur the line between the two polishes for a gradient effect.

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Checkers

Hot pink and fiery red are the stars of this vibrant design. A few nails are solid colors, while the others are a mix of checkerboard and graphic hearts.

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Tic Tac Toe

“People love to connect chocolate with Valentine’s Day,” says Haye. “A dark chocolate brown polish is a unique option for the month of love nail looks. Dark brown used with the colors pink or red creates a beautiful harmony for Valentine’s Day.”

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Coquette

Go coquette with a mix of pink bows on a milky white base. A little crystal in the middle of one of the bows adds a little hint of glam.

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Pink Bikini

This simple pink mani features a few coats of Pink Bikini ($10) from Kathleen and Co. It’s a nice and creamy pink with subtle blue undertones.

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Brightest Red

Go red with this shade that’s so fiery it’s nearly orange.

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Dainty Florals

This dainty floral manicure is perfect for Valentine’s Day. It uses two shades of pink with half of the nails featuring a light base with dark florals and vice versa. For even more interest, some of the nails concentrate the florals around the tip while the others are focused around the base of the nail.

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Glitter Hearts

“On our Instagram page, we have several nail looks created by some very talented nail artists using our new Valentine’s Day Palettes,” says Park. “The looks are super easy to create as the colors are very creamy and opaque, making them easy to apply and create nail art with. And with 16 colors in each palette, the Valentine’s Day nail art combinations are endless!”

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Wild Pink

This gorgeous look features a hot pink polish infused with finely milled blue shimmer to create a bold and reflective finish.

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Tea Time

This pretty look was created with three coats of DND Gel’s Tea Time ($9), a sheer, milky pink polish. Note that because it is a gel shade it requires the proper base and top coat as well as a UV or LED light for curing.

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Valentine’s Skittles

Make your Skittles mani on theme with shades of red and pink. This look uses a mix of regular and shimmer polishes to add even more dimension.

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Heart Tips

With an almond-shaped nail, you can create a pretty minimal design with a range of heart outlines in place of a traditional French tip. The base of the heart perfectly mimics the shape of the nail.

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Be Mine

This design features a mix of sparkly red tops, a heart-centric tic-tac-toe board, and a love letter. Although there’s a lot going on, the artist kept the base neutral to simplify the look.

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Love’s Journey

This super cute manicure features red, coral, and pink wavy stripes going down the middle of each nail like a winding road, while little white hearts and dots dance down the line. A few of the nails feature a solid red polish to anchor the look.

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Raven Red

Raven Red ($6) from Eternal Cosmetics is a stunning true red polish because it doesn’t lean too blue or too orange.

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Heart Tips

This look features a nude base with a collection of hearts at the tip of each nail. The layout of the hearts remains consistent across the nails, yielding a super cohesive look.

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Hot Pink Hearts

This nail look deviated from the classic saccharine pinks associated with Valentine’s Day and uses a cool-toned berry shade. One nail per hand got pretty little hearts in the same shade.

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Coquette Tips

The black French tip manicure features pink and red bow stickers to create cute coquette vibes.

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Hidden Hearts

I love the peek-a-boo effect of this heart design. Four shades of pink and white were used to create this look. Each nail features a small heart painted in one of the shades most similar to its base, creating a pretty tonal look.

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Bubblegum Jelly

This bubblegum jelly polish adds a was of color to the nails while allowing the natural nail’s half moons and smile lines to show through.

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Simple Hearts

This nude manicure keeps it simple with a small maroon heart painted at the base of each nail.

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Love Is in the Air

Red dominated this nail look that features two fingers per hand with a nude base and red and white hearts.

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Black Heart

Get in on the Valentine’s Day nail fun without using a touch of pink with this design. It features a milky white base and black polka dots with one black heart per nail.

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Candy Hearts

Lean into candy hearts with this cute design. The middle and ring fingers feature graphic candy hearts on a nude base while the other fingers have a few coats of a shimmery bubblegum pink.

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Pink Geometric

If you’re more into clean lines than hearts, go the geometric route and keep the look flirty with the use of pink polishes.

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Milky Heart

This design features a milky white base and one big red heart per nail. It’s simple and to the point.

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Ombré Tips

This sweet design features a nude base with a sparkly pink ombré tip and a single white heart per nail. The pink polish has a golden shimmer that adds warmth to the overall look.

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Peach Fuzz Love

Forgo pinks and reds and lean into Peach Fuzz, the Pantone color of the year instead. This look features a milky white base with a peachy polish coating the pink nail and a few peach hearts on the ring finger.

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Razzle Dazzle

Mãi Mãi ($17) from Cirque Colors was used to create this dazzling nail look. Although the design — inverted triangle tips on a nude base — is quite simple, the bold polish makes this look super interesting.

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Glitter Skittles

This Skittle look uses a blend of pink and purple polishes in both satin and glitter finishes for a fun and dynamic manicure.

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Dainty Hearts

Tiny red hearts sit atop a baby pink base to create this sweet look. It’s finished off with a light coat of silver glitter

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Dots and Hearts

Pink hearts and white dots on a nude base are the stars of this nail look. These nails are surrounded by a pretty pink shimmery pink.

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V-Day Mix ‘n Match

For a super festive mix-and-match style, incorporate tons of hearts, dots, swirls, and stars using shades of pink, red, and white. Finish it off with a shimmery top coat for a super cute effect.

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Mauve Lip Gloss

Simple and pretty, this look features a few coats of milky mauve polish to create this nude lipgloss effect.

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Sketched Hearts

This look keeps things colorful, employing electric shades of pink, green, blue, red, and orange to create hearts. Each heart has a little black outline of a heart inside of it, creating cute sketched vibes.

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Paper Airplane Nails

This milky matte look features an adorable paper airplane design, with the plane seemingly flying from one nail to the other flying in a path that creates a heart.

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Valentine’s French

This square nail design features a super sheer base, baby pink French tips, and deep red hearts.

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Unforgettable

A few coats of this berry pink polish is more than enough for a solid Valentine’s Day nail look. This look was done with the shade Unforgettable ($16) from Static Nails.

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Reflective Red

Celebrity manicurist Julie Kandalec created this look using two polishes from The Gel Bottle Inc. Glass Red ($19), a true red, as a base, and then a coat of Doll ($19), a reflective shimmery pink, on top.

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Squiggle Tips

Go abstract with this squiggle design. It features a nude, sheer base with pink tips with hot pink squiggles. The base of each tip and the design of the squiggles are different on each nail to keep the look interesting.

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Pink and Red

Pair pink and red with this simple design. It’s anchored with fuchsia polish on most of the nails and a nude, sheer base with pink and red hearts as the accent nails.

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Outlined Frenchie

This bubble gum pink French tip design is accented by red lines along the smile lines as well as hearts.

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Bad Romance

This clean design features simple red French tips. It was painted with the shade Bad Romance ($17) from Luxa Polish.

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Keep It Simple

For a minimal design, paint all of your nails a pale pink and add a tiny pink glitter heart to the base of one nail.

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Baby Pink

This clean look comprises just a few coats of polished pale pink. A healthy dose of cuticle oil makes the nails really shine.

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Pearls and Hearts

This look features pearl decals settled among bright pink hearts on a milky base.

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Patterns That Pop

This pretty mix-and-match design features checkerboard print, hearts, and smiley faces using shades of pink for the designs and a mix of nude and white as the bases.

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Muted Mix ‘n Match

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