Embrace wild looks and wow friends this Spring with our top nail varnish picks

IF YOU’RE lusting after an expensive looking manicure but are on a bit of a tight budget then we have you covered.

From snake bites to tiger mamas and cat-themed nails, we share a range of simple and funky styles to help you feel fresh and fabulous this Spring.

Snake bite

For nails that are ssso on-trend right now, add a touch of snake into your mani.

Start with a base coat, then follow with two coats of deep-green polish, such as Jessica Nail Polish in Meet At The Plaza, £11.

Then lightly coat the straight edge of a clean beauty blending sponge, such as Morphe Highlight And Contour Sponge, £8, with black nail polish.

Use this straight edge to create rough diamond shapes on two accent nails, and once the polish has become tacky, coat your sponge again and do one more layer of black to create a scale-like texture.

Then do the same with a white polish to give dimension. Use Beauty Bay Rose Gold Glam All In The Deets Fine Liner Brush, £2, to criss-cross the nail in white and black again before leaving to dry. The messier the better, so you don’t need to worry about being neat. Add a touch of glitz at the end with a gold glitter topcoat.

• Jessica Nail Polish in Meet At The Plaza, £11 from Jessica Cosmetics —
• Morphe Highlight And Contour Sponge, £8 from Morphe.com —
• Beauty Bay Rose Gold Glam All In The Deets Fine Liner Brush, £2 from Beauty Bay —

Tiger mama

Go vibrant with these tiger-inspired talons. To start, use a base coat on every nail and allow to dry.

Then, take an orange nail polish such as Essie Nail Lacquer in Meet Me At Sunset, £7.99, and paint just the top half of each nail.

Once dry, amp up the glam with a coat of sheer glitter polish over the top half. YSL La Laque Couture Nail Polish in Gold Magnet, £20, gives a subtle shimmer.

Next, lightly coat a fine liner brush in black polish. Starting on the side of your nail and working towards the middle, draw a triangle on each side until the orange is covered in stripes.

Struggling to get it straight? Cover up wonky lines with another stripe!

• Essie Nail Lacquer in Meet Me At Sunset, £7.99 from Boots —
• YSL La Laque Couture Nail Polish in Gold Magnet, £20 from John Lewis —

Abraca-zebra!

Get in line with cool-as zebra print. While you might think it’s too difficult to do on yourself, give it a try with our fail-safe guide.

Begin with a base coat before topping with two coats of quick-dry Rimmel London 60 Seconds Super Shine in White Hot Love, £2.99.

Then take a fine liner brush and lightly coat it with black polish before striping it on to your nail from the outside in.

Don’t worry about perfection – every nail should look different. Make sure you wipe the brush between stripes, as product build-up will make the lines look clunky.

Once the polish has dried, follow with a top coat to seal the deal.

Short of time? Just decorate one or two accent nails and team with pale pink on the others.

• Rimmel London 60 Seconds Super Shine in White Hot Love, £2.99 from Superdrug — 

Cool for cats

For a girlie take on OTT leopard-print claws, start with two coats of nude polish, such as OPI Infinite Shine2 Long-Wear Lacquer in Coconuts Over OPI, £13.50, before using your colour of choice to create two reverse chevrons in the bottom corners of your nail – pastel hues work well for this.

Use your fine liner brush to create straight, defined lines then fill in with the nail polish brush.

Once dry, take a dotting tool, such as Salon Services Dual Ended Birchwood Sticks, £1.69 for 10, and dip one end into a brown-toned polish and the other into black before randomly dotting both ends on to the nude section.

Struggling to get the design right? Practise on a set of blank falsies – try Elegant Touch Totally Bare Nails in Square, £4.95 – and leave them to dry before sticking to your natural nails.

They’ll last as long as a normal mani and no one will be able to tell the difference!

• OPI Infinite Shine2 Long-Wear Lacquer in Coconuts Over OPI, £13.50 from Feel Unique —
• Salon Services Dual Ended Birchwood Sticks, £1.69 for 10 from Salon Services —
• Elegant Touch Totally Bare Nails in Square, £4.95 from Boots —

• Nails: Mica Hendricks
• Beauty assistant: Tara Ledden
• Model: Reis at Body London

Stockists: Beauty Bay , Elegant Touch , Essie  , Jessica , Morphe , OPI , Rimmel London , Salon Services , YSL .