Beyond the Ordinary: Discover 49 Extraordinary Olive Green Nail Design Ideas for Every Occasion

Allover Olive

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For a true celebration of the shade, an allover coat of olive green polish is all you need. The rich hue is a perfect choice year-round, from the warm days of summer to the chills of deep winter.

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Matte Madness

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Enhance your olive green polish by playing with its finish. The easiest way to switch up a favored hue is by pivoting from glossy to modern matte.

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Negative-Space Garnish

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Thinking you might like to try a negative-space option? This minimalist manicure is all about the negative space, except for those sweet little olives that is. It might be too literal a take on the trend, but we never knew a dirty martini we didn’t like.

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Down to Earth

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Earth tones are very in right now, and we love how this manicure starts with a warm neutral base and uses olive green as a fun accent.

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Prismatic Green

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These endless pools of glittering green are practically hypnotizing. The look was created with Cirque Colors’ Nail Polish in Cannabliss. This polish is sadly out of stock, but its finish can be replicated using any magnetic nail polish with metallic silver pigment.

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Green Diagonals

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Why choose one shade of green when you can wear two? The trick to creating these crisp diagonal nails is to use striping tape. Once your base layer dries, stick a piece of tape diagonally across your nail and paint against it with a green color of your choice. Once dry, remove the tape and finish with a topcoat.

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Art Deco Accent

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We love the way this olive mani incorporates an accent nail—it helps make the dusty green color pop. Plus, how fun is the art deco pattern? It resembles paint swatches in the best way possible.

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Olive Marble

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Talk about texture! This marbled design is sure to look stunning at golden hour and beyond.

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Groovy Swirls

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These retro swirls are positively groovy. The easiest way to recreate the design is by using a striping brush to make waves.

The key to DIY-ing a gorgeous manicure is to start with a base coat, end with a topcoat, and regularly reapply cuticle serum during the lifecycle of your design.

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Crisscross Corners

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These pale olive and gold nails are sure to earn endless likes. With two simple corner accents intersecting, how could they not? It’s like decadent jewelry for your nails.

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Wild Tips

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ICYMI, French manicures are very in. These offer a modern update on the classic look by opting for a striated, animal-print design.

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Evergreen Details

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If you prefer a darker olive hue, opt for evergreen. These nude nails with dainty details are undeniably eye-catching.

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Green French Tips

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Classic French, but make it olive green. This earthy take on the timeless manicure is a no-brainer.

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Shades Aplenty

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Let your green thumb come out to play with this sweet, multicolored mani. The varying shades work nicely for a subtle gradient look that doubles as an ode to olive green.

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Understated Lines

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These green negative-space nails offer a moodier finish to your manicure. Skip the curves and opt for crisp lines for this modern design.

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Mixed-Medium Manicure

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A little matte, a little gloss, a little gold—what more could we possibly ask for? A dash of gold against a deep green base strikes the perfect balance between sophisticated and fun.

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Negative-Space Sparklers

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Honestly, we’re totally down for sparkles and this delightful negative-space take has us swooning already. Get ready for spirit fingers.

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’70s Chic

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Olive green looks great alongside a ’70s color palette of brown, cream, and orange. The designs are ultra cool, too.

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Chevron Stripes

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Kind of abstract, kind of wild, we love how the olive green base stands out against white, zebra-inspired stripes. This nail shape is a bit rounded, but we’d love to see the design on an almond-shaped tip.

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Yellow Pop

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Who knew we’d love buttercup yellow and metallic green so much? This manicure made believers out of us.

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Olive Trim

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Sometimes creating a statement-making mani is as simple as painting your nails nude and creating a contrasting trim. Pretty chic, huh?

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Opulent Olive

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Glittering metallic olive is about as opulent as it gets. We love how none of the color’s warmth was lost in the sparkle.

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Golden Half Moons

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This reverse French manicure incorporates sparkly gilded tones against an already stunning olive base. Use a detailing brush to sweep the gold polish around the base of the nail bed for an impeccable finish.

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Chromatic Contrast

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This olive green chrome is oh-so silky. The decadent finish was practically made for summer fêtes.

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Graphic Shapes

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This graphic design in a palette of green is one of our favorites. Best of all, it looks more difficult than it really is. To create the look, you can use long, thin striping brushes or layer tape over the dry base color to create stencils you can easily paint within.

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Earth and Sky

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This mani makes us think of a bright, cloudless sky against a green, rolling field. Plus, the negative-space aspect is a full-on win in our books.

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Abstract Mix

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This mix-and-match set is incredibly chic. We love the juxtaposition of matte olive green tips with the high gloss abstract art.

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Green Argyle

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A little prep with a whole lot of autumnal coziness. This olive green argyle-inspired nail art has us ready for fall.

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Color-Blocked Tips

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If you can create a French manicure, you can recreate this. All it takes is substituting the signature white tip with a combo of olive and emerald green polish.

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Bejeweled Green

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In case it’s not totally obvious by now, let this manicure convince you that olive green and gold are a match made in heaven. The gold 3D studs elevate the otherwise plain polish to majestic heights.

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Olive Blooms

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