8 nail artists to follow on Instagram if you’re looking for inspiration

Betina Goldstein (@betina_goldstein)

Short nails always get the short end of the stick. If you’re looking for inspiration for your tinier tips, it can be difficult to come across any on Instagram, because everyone seems to only show longer acrylic tips. But Betina Goldstein champions the shorter natural nail, showing intricate and dramatic designs with cool additions including gold-leaf paper, gems and jewellery. If you’re looking for something subtle (like if you’re getting wedding nails!), keep her on your radar.

Park Eunkyung (@nail_unistella)

Some nail artists do a great job at executing the trends you love, but then some—like Park Eunkyung— create the trends in the first place. The South Korean artist is known for shattered-glass manicures, wire manicures and negative-space manicures, especially as she does them on her famous clients like Blackpink, Gigi Hadid and Cara Delevigne. Follow her if you’re looking for dramatic nail art inspiration for a major event.

Jessica Washick (@jessicawashick)

Jessica Washick is a Nike designer by day and a nail artist by night, and you can tell that she’s flexing her creative design muscles onto her nail art too. The colours are dramatic—you’ll find blue, green and pink on just one teensy nail. But the designs are functional (just like the shoes she designs), so you’ll rarely find ultra-long talons or dangly nail jewellery on her page.

Britney Tokyo (@britneytokyo)

For Britney Tokyo, more truly is more. She’s created looks you’ve probably bookmarked, such as Harry Styles’ fruit manicure, Rita Ora’s hole-punch design and Kim Kardashian’s kimoji tips. She’s tried everything, but bejewelled coffin nails with a different design on each nail is her favourite—everything is over the top, and each design is cooler than the ones you’ve tried earlier.

Hang Nyugen (@thehangedit)

Hang Nyugen is known for her super balanced, elegant designs that’ll put a smile on your face as you scroll through her Instagram account. There are smiley faces, butterflies and rainbows all over her feed. Negative-space designs are her forte, so if you’re going the minimal route, you’ll want to hit that follow button.

Michelle Humphrey (@nailsbymh)

Michelle Humphrey is a true celebrity nail artist and works with clients like Dua Lipa, Adele, Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Addison Rae. So if you’re interested in keeping up with what your favourite stars are wearing on the red carpet and on magazine covers, here’s where you’ll get the BTS. Expect nail art you can cop for work or for a more formal event, but with playful colours or an unexpected design element that’ll spice things up just enough.

Chaun Legend (@chaun_legend)

Cardi B called Chaun Legend to paint the Louis Vuitton logo onto her nails when she bought a new bag—and this is just one of the many crazy house calls that Legend has done. If you get the kind of nails that he does—for clients like Kylie Jenner and Hailey Bieber—you probably won’t be able to undo buttons or open a bottle cap, but your tips will be a major conversation starter. The designs are bold and include elements like swirls, graffiti, glow-in-the-dark patches and stained glass.

Sojin Oh (@sojinails)

Love those water drop nails that all the cool kids were wearing? Sojin Oh created those 3D wet–look nails for Kim Kardashian’s Skims Campaign—a nail look that so many people are urging their nail techs to imitate. She pushes the boundaries when it comes to nail art, adding sculptural shapes and structures onto the nail bed to create wearable art.

8 nail artists to follow on Instagram if you’re looking for inspiration

From bold, dramatic designs to functional yet unique ones, these nail artists are constantly pushing the envelope

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