Amazing St. Patrick’s Day Nail Designs

We’re sure we’ve only just celebrated the New Year, and then Valentine’s Day … how is it already March? We can’t cope with how fast this year is going by.

1. Pot of Gold

St. Patrick’s Day falls on the 17th March, in case you weren’t already aware, and it was once a celebration that started in Ireland but has become so popular, it has fast taken over the entire world. It’s a time of the year designed for all green things, so there’s likely to be a lot of green nail designs coming up … just warning you.

Instagram / thepolishlist

2. Clover Accent Nail

The clover, or shamrock, is a common symbol associated with St. Patrick’s Day, although most people do not know why. That’s fine, we’re about to educate you, because we’re nice like that …

In the times of the old Celts, they actually called the shamrock “seamroy”, and it as actually a symbol of spring – rebirth. As the 17th century came about, it started to become more of an Irish thing altogether than a “rebirth” thing, and when the English came around and started trying to take over everything, the Irish used the leafy plant as a symbol of unity. Cool story, right?

Instagram / sinneyarchive

3. Easy Green & Gold Design

Going back to the whole shamrock idea, and it was actually used by St. Patrick to educate people, another reason why it has become closely associated with the big day. The three leaves on the plant were said to represent the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, otherwise known as the Holy Trinity. Alternatively, add another leaf on and make it a four-leaf clover, and you’ll be bringing yourself a bunch of good luck. Just another excuse to rock these fab nails, to be honest.

Instagram / melcisme

4. Cute Leprechaun Design

A big event like St. Patrick’s Day just gives you the perfect opportunity to let your personality shine through, if only for one day. Even your boss can’t complain about your brightly coloured nails if it’s just for one day … Right?

Instagram / clairelofthouse

5. Green Glitter Nails

Here’s a totally un-related fun St. Patrick’s Day fact for you – on March 17th, Irish men and women all over the world (but especially in Ireland) get together to eat a traditional meal. You’ll never guess what that traditional mean is … Cabbage and corned beef. Totally not glam at all, right? That’s not to say you won’t need nails that scream glam, and that’s why these St Patrick’s Day nail designs are a winning combo.

Instagram / lunaloveschocolate

6. Gold, Rainbow & Clover

Did you know that the colour green wasn’t always the one closely associated with St. Patrick’s Day? If you’re looking for glam St Patrick’s Day nail designs, how about going blue? It’s reported to be the original colour linked to the day. Or, just do what this nail designer did, and throw all the colours into the mix for good measure. A rainbow is linked to leprechauns, and those are linked to St. Patrick’s Day too!

Instagram /nailistayco

7. Classy Clover Nails with a Pop of Gold

When it comes to doing your mani / pedi, you might want to do when you’re fresh out the shower, but that’s not always the best time. Your nails will be both softer and weaker once they have been saturated with the hot water and steam, and that means you’ll be more likely to cause them damage. Give it a couple of hours and let them rest and come back down to room temperature first.

Instagram / mvargas_nails

8. Stripes, Glitter & Clovers

We’re going to tell you something incredibly shocking right now. St. Patrick himself wasn’t actually from Ireland. We’re sorry to break your hearts, ladies, but the big man himself was actually from Wales. Close … Console yourself with these beautiful St Patrick’s Day nail designs. Go on, we’ll let you.

Instagram / sensationails4u

9. Cool Nail Idea

Are you “wrapping” the tips of your nails? What we mean by this is applying a layer of base coat, main nail shade, and then top coat, right at the edge of your nails. This is often the part that gets bashed about a lot, yet it’s the place you always forget to protect. At the end of your mani, wipe the excess top coat off the brush and just lightly glide along the very edge of your nail. This gives them an added layer of protection, and ensures that your colour lasts the distance.

Instagram / fervelia

10. Green Glitter Nails + Clover Accent Nail

If you want to take supplements to help your cause in recreating these St Patrick’s Day nail designs, you’re in for a spot of good news. There are so many to choose from. One of the best ingredients you’ll find, and one that is often found in many base and nutrition coats, is gingko biloba. It sounds like a made-up things, but it’s not. It’s help to strengthen weak nails, protect them from the elements, and nourish / hydrate them back to good health again. There you go – easy herbal tip you can do at home.

Instagram / majikbeenz

11. Nail Design for Long Nails

Not only was green NOT the first colour to be associated with St. Patrick’s Day, green was actually considered to be an UNLUCKY colour. We bet you’ll have nothing but luck if you rock these fabulous Paddy’s Day nails though. Fancy taking on that bet?

Instagram / fervelia

12. Simple & Cute

Do you want to know another St. Patrick’s Day fun fact? We know you do. Every year, in the city of Chicago, a green dye is poured into the River Kelly, and for around five hours, all the water turns completely green. We don’t need that much green in our life to celebrate the big day, of course, and these St Patrick’s Day nail designs are about enough for us!

Instagram / mayasnailart

13. Green & Gold

Believe it or not, the first Paddy’s Day parade didn’t actually take place in Ireland like you might have thought. It was the American’s that really brought the tradition to life. During the 1760’s, New York decided to hold a parade and the rest, as they say, is history.

Instagram / _lovely_nails_

14. Dark Green Design

Every year on Paddy’s Day, the very Irish drink, Guiness, is drunk by the bucket load. On the 17th March, 11 million pints are predicted to be consumed, going by previous yearly trends. Just for some sort of comparison, the regular daily total for Guinness consumption is 5.5 million pints. The figure doubles on Paddy’s Day! We probably won’t be drinking any Guinness, we’ll be honest about it, but we are going to celebrate in style. It’s like to be with talons as fabulous as these Paddy’s design.

Instagram / sensationails4u

15. Fun & Bright Design

In order to get a manicure that looks as good as these glam St. Patrick’s Day nail designs from Instagram, you’re going to need to do things the right way. You should start with a clean, residue-free nail, and that means getting rid of everything – old polish, oil, cream, everything. Wash your hands. Use a base coat that is designed for your nails. Then use thin shades of your base colour, rather than thicker ones. Let to dry entirely between coats, and make sure you cover the entire thing with a strong base coat, and preferably one that is designed to be used with your base shade and main polish colour too. It might sound like a lot of work, but you will thank us for it at the end. We promise.

Instagram / thenailtrail

16. Simple Design for Short Nails

Just because you have short nails doesn’t mean you need to miss out on all the fun. This simple design for short nails is perfect, and is definitely one of our highlights from the St Patrick’s Day nail designs. Make one green, one gold, one white, and into the final one, incorporate some sort of Paddy’s Day themed design – shamrocks, rainbows, leprechauns, that kind of thing.

Instagram / mayasnailart

17. Fun & Festive Nails

When working with green nail polish, it’s not unusual for the paint to leave behind a yellow-like stain when you take it off. Although this is a pain in the butt, there are things you can do to counteract it, although you’ll want to know about them before you get your mani done. The trick is to soak small pieces of cotton wool in nail varnish remover, and then place on your nails, allowing to sit for a minimum of two minutes. When you go to wipe it off, it’ll not only come off easier, but you’ll be less likely to be left with that staining. Not only that, using lemon juice, or fresh lemon, can also help to counteract the yellow shade.

Instagram / sensationails4u

18. Green Ombre Nails

Ombre nails are super awesome nails, and they create one hell of a stunning backdrop for these St Patrick’s Day nail designs. In order to recreate this look, you’ll need to grab yourself one of those makeup sponges, but not the beauty blender style, the triangular ones. On it, paint a dark green, then a light green, then a white shade, all in stripes. When you press the sponge onto your nails and remove again, you’ll be left with something that looks a little bit like this. In other words, damn fabulous.

Instagram / thenailtrail

19. Green, Gold & White

For when you really don’t want to get fiddly, remember there are always nail wraps you can buy. They’re great for when you don’t have the time or the patience to handprint little designs such as shamrocks, hearts, etc. The same applies for the stripes detail nails too. All you need to do is take a little look around online and you’ll see that there are hundreds of ideas you can choose from. Which one are you going to choose though, that’s the important question!

Instagram / sensationails4u