Five Manicure Ideas from Pinterest

Take advantage of the recent resurgence of nail art, and get outrageous with your nails – before plain ballet pink comes back to end the fun. We found five pretty, fun, and cool manicure ideas on Pinterest that will instantly perk up your summer duds. The best part is you can easily do these manicures at home, so forget a pricey bill at the nail salon.

Nautical nails from The Beauty Department

Lauren Conrad's beauty blog, The Beauty Department, never fails to deliver cool manicure ideas – and the best part is that the beauty experts behind the site break down each stylish idea into easy-to-follow, fool-proof steps. Even the most smudge-prone amateur manicurists can handle crafting this sailor-inspired striped mani.

Mixed prints with a glitter accent nail

I love this manicure because it's bright and fresh for summer. A manicure made of mixed prints isn't exactly a new idea, but this is a fresh approach, thanks to the soft color choices. The light yellow and white combination makes the differentiation between each nail look subtle and sweet. The bedazzled thumb adds a pop of glam that’s fun and unexpected.

Mod and colorful

This pop art-inspired manicure may look like it requires an art school degree to master, but in reality, this look should be fairly easy to replicate thanks to the use of straight lines. Really, the mod design is just a combo of different colored lines – you can do this mani in a pinch with a steady hand or, better yet, nail polish pens.

Gold foil manicure from The Beauty Department

Once again, Miss Conrad delivers a chic and easy manicure on her beauty blog. The most impressive thing about this edgy, modern mani is that it looks extremely complicated and professional when complete – but in actuality, it’s super easy to add the show stopping gold foil accent that makes it so unique. The Beauty Department chose to do a gold and turquoise combo, but we think this look can be reinvented continually with the use of new color pairings. White and gold, silver and pink, purple and gold – the options are endless.

Colorful French manicure

This chic, fashion-forward nail job is an update on the classic French manicure in two ways: It ditches the usual pink-and-white combo for a color-blocked look of two complementary cool-toned colors, and it takes the contemporary style one step further by having the colors reversed on both hands. Subtle yet dramatic.