Winter is melting away and spring is rapidly approaching, which means many of us are ready to trade in our dark, vampy nails for lighter, brighter options. Spring nails are often associated with pastel shades of yellow, green, blue, pink, and lavender, worn solid or in dainty nail art designs like florals or soft ombrés. But you don't have to commit to light colors: Due to their association with nature, earth tones are also a great option for March.
Whatever color scheme you choose, we've got you covered on the inspo front. Ahead, we rounded up 30 manicure ideas from March. Scroll on to find your first mani of the season.
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Water-Inspired Nails
This fresh seafoam green manicure features three-dimensional water droplets, a nod to nature, accented with a reverse French cuticle accent in silver. While it may sound like a lot, all the elements work together.
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Dainty Floral Nails
Come spring, the more floral nail art, the better. These teeny, tiny pastel-colored flowers are the perfect way to transition into spring's vibe.
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Frosted Sage Nails
Sage green polish with shimmer is a pretty option for a feminine, spring-inspired manicure. It's perfect for any nail length or shape, but we're partial to the shorter, rounder silhouette shown here.
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Green and Gold Double French Manicure
Green and gold is one of our favorite color combinations. This sophisticated double French manicure style features thick Kelly green tips and a microthin band of yellow gold for a jaw-dropping look.
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Terrazo Manicure
Pairing a solid shade of deep green polish with a terrazzo design—achieved with either nail decals or free-hand design—makes for a funky, unexpected look. The best part about this style? Nothing needs to be perfect; the more varied the design, the better.
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Green Swirls
Green nails are sure to be in heavy rotation this spring, and this simple set is an easy way to incorporate the color. Thin white swirls help soften the more weighted green ones, creating a pretty manicure that is perfect to wear all month long.
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Neon Green
Nothing screams "winter is over," quite like a fluorescent manicure. This extremely easy-to-DIY look centers around the perfect shade of neon green, which should be supersaturated with minimal blue undertones.
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Glitter Velvet Nails
For a more neutral-looking manicure, try an oyster velvet polish with plenty of glittery shimmer. Perfect for wearing year-round, this pretty manicure is the definition of sophistication.
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Pastel Tie-Dye
This nostalgic tie-dye manicure will send you back in time. To keep things more subdued, swap out the neon shades commonly associated with tie-dye for pastel tones.
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Pretty Pastel Skittle Nails
Skittle nails don't always have to be solid colors. Throw a little texture into your mani with a silver glitter accent nail.
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Modern Palm Beach Vibes
There's something about a pink, green, and white manicure that conjures images of the preppy-chic island of Palm Beach. Take inspiration from this look, which uses the colors for French tips and swirl details, creating a modern mani that's fun and sophisticated.
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Seafoam Green Waves
A bold, wavy nail design in light and dark green perfectly complements classic white nails. The spunky pairing creates a fun vibe that's easy to pull off on all nail lengths, especially shorter ones that are immaculately groomed.
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Mod Orange and Green Nails
The key to pulling off a bold color palette and intricate nail art is to pair complementary colors in various hues. Sure, there's plenty of contrast here, but this green and orange combination is simply stunning. The swirls and '60s-inspired design pulls the manicure together.
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Simple Coquette Nails
There's nothing quite as pretty as a simple yet elegant velvet manicure, and when done in a pearly pink hue, the look is sheer perfection. A dainty silver bow is the perfect finishing touch.
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Leafy Greens
This earthy green set gets added dimension with vine nail art. The perfect manicure for easing your way into spring, keep the nails on the long side (or opt for nail extensions or tips) so you have plenty of real estate to sketch out the full design.
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A Textured Manicure
Textured nails are always a fun option. While some nail polishes, like this one from Death Valley Nails, include heavier particles for more of a grainy finish, you can fake the look by lightly flicking black polish across the nails.
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Rainbow-Colored Skittle Jelly Nails
For a distinct take on the viral Skittle nail trend, trade out polishes with a traditional finish for those with a jelly one. A few coats will give your nails the perfect amount of sheer color.
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Pretty in Pink
Ethereal princess pink nails never fail. To recreate this manicure, go with a shimmery light pink polish that reads more chrome than it does glittery. Layer on white chrome powder for even more sparkle.
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Ultra Girly Nails
Deciding on a single nail look can be hard—which is where this perfectly curated mismatched set comes into play. Equal parts dainty and intriguing, each nail is outfitted with a feminine 3D element for an out-of-the-box style we love. Add some glitter French tips and chrome elements into the mix, and your nails just earned the status of the ultimate conversation starter.
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A Black Glitter Manicure
If you like wearing dark nails year round, make a classic black manicure even more glamorous by layering silver glitter polish over it. It's an instant upgrade, ideal for festival season.
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Ombré Sorbet
For a unique and almost cloud-like look, this pastel ombré manicure is the perfect way to kick off spring. Each color blends into the next with no harsh lines to create a gorgeous effect.
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Orange Airbrushed Nails
If you really want to experiment with bright, bold colors, try a peach and tangerine airbrush manicure. Add dimension with barely-there lines and gold foil concentrated on the sides of the nails.
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Floral French Tips
French manicures are always a good idea, but adding springtime floral details makes them look even prettier. Sticking with lighter shades of blue and green and keeping them just to the tips of the nails gives the manicure more of a sweet and delicate feel.
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Color Pop Nails
When it comes to creating the ultimate mismatched manicure, incorporating various elements like colored tips, swirly nail art, and floral designs is key to nailing the look. This manicure does just that and then some, and the light colors work to tie it all together. Extra points for keeping the base of the nails neutral, which doesn't detract from the designs.
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Half Wave Nails
Wavy nail designs are one of the simpler DIY manicures to master yourself. Start by painting the entire nail with the lighter polish; then, using a fine-lining nail art brush, create your wavy line in your contrasting color. Fill everything in, top it all off with a glossy top coat, and you're done!
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Two-Toned Graphic Nails
An easy way to elevate a French manicure is with two-toned tips. Here, the dark-meets-light combo of royal blue and mint green and the asymmetrical detail (with one half of the nail tip extending below the other) keep things interesting.
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Pastel Pink Swirls
If you can't choose between baby pink and lilac, sport a bit of both with an ombré swirl style like this one. Touches of peach strewn throughout break up the colors, and a micro-thin line creates added visual interest for super playful nails.
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Hot Pink Gradient Fade
For a fun and unexpected take on hot pink, try a gradient manicure. It's a distinct way to wear the shade that's not solid or an intricate nail art design.
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Micro Nail Art
Here, lavender jelly nails are the background for an oh-so-good mix of super thin stripes, ultra-small dots, and a minimal reverse French. This is the type of nail inspiration you'll want to show your manicurist at your next appointment.
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Striped Marble Nails
The viral water marble nail trend is hitting hard at the moment, and when done with Earth tones, the look is simply stunning. These funky nails are sure to turn heads.