As the holiday season kicks into gear, there’s so many opportunities to show off your fun a festive holiday looks, including nail designs. Here are some fun ways to polish your nails to festive perfection, with looks that can be achieved by anyone — from simple designs to ones that look like they were created by a cosmetology program graduate.
With a steady hand and some holiday cheer, your nails will shine with these festive designs.
Festive Design Ideas for Nails
Snowflakes
You’ll be dreaming of a white Christmas with this lovely, but simple snowflake design. All you need is a base color, white nail polish, and a small tool (it can even be the tip of a mechanical pencil) to create your snowflake. Get the full tutorial here.
If you’re feeling extra adventurous, use a white nail polish as your base and choose a festive jewel tone for your snowflake design!
Classic Red and Green
While traditional red and green might be overkill in an outfit, themed nails are a fun way to keep holiday traditions. For an extra glamorous look, top your manicure with a matte top coat.
Starry Night
Remember, holiday colors are more than just red and green! Pair a deep navy blue with a shimmery silver or glitter polish to bring holiday sparkle to your manicure.
Make Your Nails Look Festive with These Ideas
Candy Canes
Your nails will look good enough to eat with this fun and festive nail design. Start with a fun base color like a shimmery gold. Then, with a thin paint brush, create a white candy cane swoop on the end of your nail. Once the white polish is dried, you can add red polish lines to create your candy cane.
If you want to fully commit to this festive mani, follow this tutorial for candy-striped nails.
Christmas Tree
This classic Christmas tree shape is so easy to pull off, because using tape strips helps you have perfectly crisp tree lines. You can pick a solid base color, or even something bolder like sparkly glitter or a holographic polish — it’s up to you! Cello tape or stationary tape is your best bet for creating clean lines with no color bleeds. Feel free to add glitter polish to your tree design for a decorative effect. Check out this step-by-step tutorial for Christmas tree nails.
Festive Water Marbling
Water marbling is a fun technique for nail art, so it’s a great choice for festive nail designs. Here is a tutorial for how to water marble your nails — all you need to do is figure out which festive color combinations you want to go with!
Remember, when it comes to festive nail art, you can do as little or as much as you want to create your perfect holiday look. Don’t feel like you’re confined to just red and green, because the holidays are also a great time to rock jewel tones, metallics, and of course, glitter!
If you have a passion for nail art, why not turn it into a career? Check out the cosmetology programs at Health and Style Institute, and contact us to speak to an admissions advisor!
