14 clear nail looks that are more creative than you think – plus, the best nail art salons to visit

If you thought that clear or nude nail bases were boring, these nail designs prove you wrong. Our round-up of nail art designs, from spinning galaxies to canoodling cats, against a clear or nude base, are cute, chic, and anything but dull.

Here, we share 14 of our favourite clear or nude base manicures, as well as the nail salons that are best at creating beautiful hand-drawn nail art!

Cutest creative nail looks to wear this season

Pop-up peach and rainbows nails

The nude nail polish base in this manicure won’t steal the spotlight from the cute nail art designs like the sprinkle of tiny pastel flowers, a colourful dash of a rainbow, and pink pop-up peach.

Canoodling cats French tip nails

Out with classic French tips and in with the cat lady version: the canoodling cats French tip manicure. With a nude nail polish base, you get to feature fuzzy felines in a flurry of colours on the ends of your nails – and the cats get to have all the attention, as they would love.

Double trouble French tip nails

This French tip manicure features two monochromatic hearts – one in a lighter and another in a darker shade – that perfectly pair one another to jazz up your nail look. Double the hearts means that it’s also double the trouble.

Pastel magic nails

The rainbow, sparkles, and hearts designs are in just three pastel colours – blue, yellow, and pink, but they’re enough to introduce a fairy-tale vibe to your manicure. The soft colours against the subtle pink of the base make this manicure look diffused and altogether magical.

Glowing galaxy nails

Skip the light pink nail polish entirely with this manicure that features a clear nail polish base. Against the colourless extensions, the floating planets and sweeping lights look all the more celestial and three-dimensional.

Festive fairy lights nails

Bookmark these nails for the Christmas season, because the slim ribbons of colourful tiny dots are reminiscent of festive fairy lights. In our dreams, they’ll twirl around feathery pine trees and make the snowy streets aglow in December.

When life gives you lemons nails

We love how this manicure design spruces up simple French tips with lemon slices so that the regular, classic strips of yellow also appear like hidden pieces of sour fruit.

Lotso strawberry nails

Toy Story fans need these Lotso strawberry nails in their life. The manicure features nude base nails paired with Lotso’s big and smiling face, a purple strawberry, and deep purple hearts. The purple nails with little white patches also create accents that spruce up the manicure’s style.

Powder-puff nails

These nails recall sugar, spice, and everything nice, especially with the green, pink, and white pulsating heart design that’s in place of the classic French tips.

Since this manicure features soft and powdery pastel tones – baby blue, fair yellow, and dusty lavender, we’re calling these ones the “powder-puff” set.

Nude ombré rhinestone nails

The sheer pink to beige ombré doesn’t distract from the nail art that goes over it; at the same time, its jelly-like texture gives your manicure an even more supple, elegant style.

With a subtle and sophisticated nail polish base, you’re free to accessorise with heart-shaped rhinestones and a sprinkle of pastel flowers for a combination of classy and cute in a single manicure.

Little monsters French tip nails

These googly-eyed creatures surely up the ante on creative French tip manicure style. The funny expressions of each little monster lend to the playfulness of the design, not to mention their silly shapes and colourful skins that make this set one-of-a-kind.

Patterned French tip nails

Longer nails mean a larger canvas for a chunky French tip nail design, like these ones that have checkered patterns, black and white cow patches, and notebook squares.

There are even floating red cherries, vibrant rainbows, and fluffy clouds that spill over into the nude areas of the nail, for a drifting daydream mood.

Shinwoo Love Or Death nails

It’s not life or death, but love or death to Korean artist, Shinwoo. A nod to Shinwoo’s Blind Box “love or death” series, this manicure features a cute yet creepy ghost bear that’s stuck choosing between a heartbeat (to live) or heartbreak (to love).

A dramatic contemplation of love and life expressed through a tiny pink ghost bear? It’s just our type of manicure.

Porcelain rabbit nails

The smooth raised designs of the vanilla white rabbits and pale pink roses, paired with a frosty pinkish nail polish base, make this manicure look like a delicate porcelain artwork. Call it cute, elegant – anything but boring.

Best salons for nail art designs

OKKONAILS

Home-based nail studio Okkonails has created colourful manicured nails in every vibrant shade and stunning style that you can imagine.

You can browse the salon’s archive of floral-dotted pastel nail tips to bright abstract nail art – the designs are enough to match every mood you have and in every season.

It’s no wonder that influencers like @carrinelow, @itzeugena, and @hellotessa have visited this salon to get their digits done.

Even though home-based, the nail studio is furnished with Balinese-style carpets, decor, and cosy wooden furniture so that it’s so soothing to settle in and have your nails done.

A classic gel manicure is priced at S$30 (no colour) or S$40 (single-colour) at this salon, and you can top us with, for example, the “Star Dust”, which includes designs like abstract-drawn art, eclipse, and powders on four to six nails.

Check out the salon’s menu here.

Address: 3 Tiong Bahru Road, Singapore 162003
Contact: 8822 9209, or email [email protected]
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Manicurious

Manicurious’ interior is chic and cosy, and customers praise the truly pampering experience they enjoy when they get their nails done at this nail bar.

This is another salon that’s expert at doing hand-drawn nail art designs, like this set of soft white clouds paired with cheerful rainbows, or this smiley-face daisy manicure.

Since the nail artists are so skilled at painting custom nail art, they won’t have any problems recreating the looks that we’ve shared above.

A classic manicure is priced at S$30, with custom nail art priced from S$5 onwards. View the salon’s full menu here.

Address: 41 Beach Road, Singapore 189680
Opening hours: 11am – 9pm (Mon to Sat) | 11am – 8pm (Sun)
Contact: 6333 9096
Website | Instagram

EA Nail

EA Nail’s affordable prices and quality manicures are the reason customers love to visit this nail salon.

While the salon’s nail designs often lean toward a “rhinestone and glitter” style, the nail artists don’t fall short when it comes to creating cute, cheerful nail art designs like this Christmas-themed and milk tea Japanese cat sets.

Address: 8 Enggor Street, #01-01, Singapore 079718
Opening hours: 11am – 8pm (Tue to Sat) | Closed on Mon & Sun
Contact: Call or Whatsapp 9278 8891
Website | Facebook

Painted Nail Bar

Step into the Painted Nail Bar’s serene space for a pampering manicure and pedicure experience like no other. The cosy wooden furnishing and plush sofa seats make it easy for you to feel your tensions melt away as you have your nails done at the salon.

The nail artists’ meticulous and attentive services are to be praised as much as the studio’s clean and comfortable interior. The Painted Nail Bar’s nail artists are known for being especially thorough, from cuticle cleaning to massage at the end of your session.

It’s a given that this nail studio creates ultra-chic manicure designs too.

A Gel Manicure is priced at S$68 at this salon, and nail art costs S$5 per nail and up. View the salon’s menu here.

Address: Delfi Orchard and River Valley – click here to view location details
Opening hours: 10am – 8pm (Mon to Sat) | 11am – 7pm (Sun)
Contact: Click here to view contact details
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Mnails.sg

MM, the nail artist who runs Mnails.sg, is known for her excellent skills and attentive detail when it comes to creating nail art designs. Whether you prefer a sparkling and sophisticated set or one that has the cutest hand-drawn designs, this nail studio will get it right and just the way you want it.

Classic gel manicure with unlimited design costs S$75 at this nail salon. View the salon’s menu here.

Address: 55 Tiong Bahru Road, #01-53, Singapore 160055
Opening hours: 12pm – 10pm (Mon to Sun)
Contact: 8124 3094 (WhatsApp to make an appointment)
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