Royal Blue Wedding Guest Nails with Jewellery-Inspired Gold Details
This set was designed to complement my client’s wedding guest outfit, using rich royal blue, reflective cat eye and hand-painted gold details to bring everything together.
I love creating occasion nails this way. Rather than treating the manicure as something separate, we can look at the colours, jewellery, accessories and overall feel of an outfit and use those as inspiration for the nail design.
Creating the royal blue cat eye
For the blue nails, I layered a rich royal blue cat eye over Nail Thoughts LA Nights. The magnetic effect gives the colour extra depth and movement, changing slightly as the light catches it.
Against the brighter blue, I kept two nails softer with a nude base and used these for the more detailed nail art.
Jewellery-inspired nail art
The accent nails were hand painted with fine gold detailing and deep blue jewel-like centres.
Rather than creating identical patterns, I used coordinating shapes and details across the two nails. The gold against the nude base gives them an almost jewellery-like quality, while the blue connects them back to the rest of the manicure.
The result was a set designed specifically to complement my client’s wedding guest look, while still feeling like a piece of nail art in its own right.
Finding inspiration in fashion and jewellery
Clothing and accessories can be brilliant starting points for nail art. You might take a colour from a dress, the shape of a piece of jewellery, a metallic finish or simply the overall mood of an outfit and translate those elements into a manicure.
It doesn’t have to mean matching everything exactly. Sometimes picking out just a few details is enough to make the nails feel part of the overall look.
Want to develop your own nail art skills?
If you’re a nail tech looking to build your confidence with nail art and develop your own creative style, explore Paintbrush Nails education, including in-person training, online learning and creative resources.
About the Author
Kirsty Brown is the founder of Paintbrush Nails, an independent nail artist and educator based in Scotland. A Glasgow School of Art graduate and qualified Art & Design teacher, she combines professional nail education with a creative approach to nail art and design.