Enhance Your Next Manicure with 30+ Luxurious Gold паіɩ Inspirations

 

Gold French

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If you’re looking for an understated way to try gold nails, start simple with a French tip. To easily get the look at home, use French manicure stickers to section off your tips, then fill them in with your favorite gold polish.

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Warm Gold French

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Belakhlef loves gold French tips, as they’re a fun twist on the classic that’s easy to achieve on your own. All you need is a high-quality gold polish like Orly’s Lost In The Maize ($11), a steady hand (or a manicurist on speed dial), and you’re all set.

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Gold Nail Stickers

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If you don’t have the patience or funds for hand-drawn designs, you can always opt for a pack of gold nail decals. This metallic set—from Nails of LA by celebrity nail artist Brittney Boyce—offers a variety of expressive designs, including smiley faces, lightning bolts, dollar signs, and more.

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Negative Space Luxe

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“Negative space designs are always so cool and intriguing when done with gold,” Belakhlef says. For a design like this, they recommend making sure you push back your cuticles, dehydrate the nail, and apply a base coat (use a smoothing or ridge-filling one if you have unevenness). Then, apply a thin first layer and allow it to completely dry before moving on to the gold polish.

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All That Glitters

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If you find yourself struggling with technical nail art (totally normal), create a shimmering look in just one step with an ultra-glittery gold polish, like Mooncat’s I’m a MF Supernova ($14). According to Belakhlef, it’s way more forgiving if you mess up, plus the sparkles are absolutely gorgeous.

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Gold Foil Flecks

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Nail art or a masterpiece that belongs in an art museum? This intricate design is initially done on Après Gel-X tips ($32), but it’s also easy to recreate on your natural nails. The best part? Since there’s no right way to replicate a foil pattern, no one will be able to tell if your design turned out differently than planned.

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Golden Swirls

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There’s something captivating about gold nail art glistening in the sunlight, especially when the base is kept minimal. All you need for this look is a thin nail striping brush to carefully paint golden curves across each of your nails, making the result almost too easy not to go for.

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Gilded Outlines

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Due to its pearlescent nature, gold polish has a tendency to accentuate any damage or texture on your nails. Thus, ensuring you have well-groomed cuticles and a smooth nail plate before applying the polish is essential, explains nail artist Mazz Hanna. This is especially important for a design like this one, in which the gold pattern wraps around the border and truly highlights the nail itself.

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Gold-Dipped Tips

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Recreating this French tip chrome design is a breeze with a high-quality polish like Chanel’s Le Vernis in Phénix ($32). “It’s the ideal gold shade that complements every skin tone and nail length,” Belakhlef tells us. “Their new and improved wide brush ensures a smooth application.”

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Midas Touch

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If you’re not fully sold on allover gold polish, ease your way in by outlining your nails with a touch of gold. This design features OPI’s Do You Take Lei Away ($11) and Essie’s Caught on Tape ($9).

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Coquettish Charms

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We’re getting major Cleopatra vibes from this gold nail charm design, which makes the ongoing coquette trend feel extra luxe. If you’re already upping the ante with gold, take it up a notch with charms and pearls like these.

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Chrome Quartz

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This chrome quartz nail design feels like staring into a crystal ball, hoping and praying for all of your dreams to come true. While you could try to recreate this design at home, we recommend heading to a pro for best results.

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Golden Nugget

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Want to feel like a million bucks? Try a bold gold (say that five times fast) nail polish design that exudes the look and feel of royalty.

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Long and Luxurious

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Imagine the power of typing with these stunning, ultra-long gold nails—they’re practically guaranteed to make your workday fly by. Either head to a pro to recreate this level of intricacy, or create a similar look by attaching charms and metallic accents to a gold base.

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Ultra-Glossy French

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Just like with any French tip design, a glossy topcoat is essential to emphasize your luxe gold nails. “I love Chanel’s Le Vernis Gel Coat ($32) and JinSoon’s Hyper Gloss Top Coat ($22),” Hanna says.

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Floral Gold Leaf

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For those looking to showcase their nail art prowess, using nail varnish on gold leaf paper is the way to go—think TikTok-worthy viral nail art. We love the rose art here, but you can create it with any floral design you like.