Butterfly Nail Art Designs

Applying creative nail art to a regular manicure has the ability to make the nail polish pop and stand out. Butterflies are both a fashionable and beautiful addition to the nails.

Dainty Pastel Butterfly

No need to set an appointment with your nail tech for these charming nails; you can do them on your own.

Use a lavender color on the bottom of the nails, and create a French tip. If you're not comfortable with free handing the tips, try using some French tip guide stickers.

The intricate butterflies can be created by using a white Sally Hansen Nail Art Pen. You can also use a black nail art pen to add accents.

Butterfly charms can be the perfect finish for freshly manicured hands. You can purchase these charms from sites like Etsy and ebay.com.

Create a French tip using a glitter nail polish on the bottom of the nails and wait until the nails are completely dry.

Charms can be applied with a nail glue, and a layer of topcoat should be applied afterwards.

To start creating these fresh fairytale nails, begin on nails that have been painted a very light lavender or lilac color.

Start by painting the body of the fairy first, using a black nail art pen. Next, lightly sketch the outline of the wings with the same black pen and let dry.

Fill in the wings using a combination of yellow, white and orange nail art pens and let dry.

Apply a layer of glitter nail polish and finish with a top coat.

Liven up classic red nails by adding some extraordinary black butterflies to a few fingers.

The best thing about these butterflies is that they don't have to perfect. After painting the nails red, proceed to use a black nail art pen to draw on the butterflies.

Use a gold nail art pen to make accents around the butterfly as pictured.

Fill in the butterfly wings with small rhinestones, and apply a layer of top coat.

You don't always have to use the entire body of the butterfly to find nail art inspiration.

Begin by creating a silver French tip. Next, use black and white nail pens to create the wing. Some nail pens have the ability to run over when pressed to hard, so take your time when making these thin lines.

Complete the design by adding rhinestones to the wings. Apply a layer of top coat to help preserve the nail art.

This design only requires the tips of the wings along the nails.

First, decide which color you want the wings to be on each nail - either pink or blue. In your chosen nail art pen color, begin to only draw the very tips of the wings toward the bottom of the nails.

Go back in with a black pen to define the wings more by creating lines.

Finish the look with a layer of top coat.

This monarch design may look complicated, but its one of the easier designs to achieve.

Begin by painting the nails pink first and let them dry. Next outline the nails in black with a nail art pen, and begin to make curved lines along the nail bed. Use a white nail pen to add dots to the bottoms of the nails, and finish with a topcoat.

To get the ombre effect as pictured, use a light purple polish like one from Essie Nail Polish in the color Play Date. On a piece of wax paper, pour a small amount of the second color like M.A.C.'s nail lacquer called In the Dark Purple.

Apply the polish to the bottom of the nails with a sponge, apply a topcoat and let dry.

Next with a black nail art pen, begin to create the wings, being sure to cover up the line of demarcation between your first layer of polish, and the polish applied with the sponge.

Add rhinestones to the wings, and complete with another of top coat.

More Options

Butterflies aren't the only option to dress up your nails. Take a look at simple nail art ideas to get inspired!