The holiday season is officially here! That means it’s time to sleigh (pun intended) with some incredible holiday nail art inspired by the end-of-the-year celebrations. Whether you love a festive manicure with all the trimmings or prefer a toned-down nail set, a holiday-inspired manicure is a sure way to lift your spirits and elevate your look.
While some folks may want to throw snowflakes and Christmas trees on all ten fingertips, others may prefer something a little simpler—either way, we’ve got your back. We’ve rounded up a few of our favorite holiday-inspired nail art looks you can easily recreate at home, so let them serve as inspiration in the upcoming months.
1. Dainty Snowflakes
Jazz up nude nails with some pretty snowflake designs. First, paint on a thin layer of your favorite gold or silver glitter polish and wait for it to dry. Then, use a nail art brush to draw on delicate lines and add tiny circles to give them that snowflake shape.
2. Navy Plaid
You don’t need a holiday-specific design to make your mani extra festive. Instead, you can choose to add a few accent nails with seasonal prints like plaid, instead.
3. Elegant Ornaments
Christmas ornaments aren’t just for your tree. Using a slim nail art brush, paint a few cute ornaments in gold, silver, white, and red on top of a nude nail color.
4. Gold Dipped French Mani
If there’s ever a time of the year that screams for metallic fingertips, it’s definitely the holidays. Take your regular French manicure to new heights with this elevated Christmas-ready version. To recreate, use a French mani stencil to help achieve a perfectly crisp line.
5. Simple Gold Squiggles
Ho ho ho! This elegant green and gold combo is easy to recreate and will stylishly play up every holiday outfit you have planned for the season.
6. Dreidel, Dreidel
Celebrate Hanukkah with this delicate design. If the idea of creating little dreidels sounds daunting, you can opt for using nail art decals instead.
7. Candy Cane Swirls
Holidays or not, who doesn’t love a candy cane? Let your nails indulge in this tasty peppermint treat with this candy-inspired nail design. All you need is your favorite red, white, and pink nail polishes, a tiny rhinestone for the center, and a nail art brush—this YouTube tutorial walks you through it.
8. Let It Snow
There’s something magical about snow that really makes the holidays come to life, whether IRL or through our beauty looks. Watch the quick tutorial above to learn how to create snowflakes on your nails.
9. Rad Plaid
Plaid is fashion’s unofficial pattern of the season, and guess what? Your nails can get in on the action too! For a vibrant holiday-inspired plaid manicure, try OPI Nail Lacquer in “Big Apple Red.” Honestly, it’s the perfect red for you to rock throughout the holiday season, both alone and as a base for nail art.
10. Holiday Inspired Negative Space Nails
We love geometric nail art because it puts a fun yet minimalist twist on a simple mani. Grab your favorite shade and play around with this trend–we hope to see this one for many seasons to come.
11. Mix Match Holiday-Themed
If you really want to get into the spirit, try throwing everything you love about the holidays onto your nails all at once. Whether it’s candy canes or ribbons, no one will be able to stop staring at your holiday-ready mani with a look like this.
12. Christmas BFF
As you may be well aware, Santa and Rudolph are the ultimate duo. Paint them on with your handy nail art brush and glue on an acrylic red circle for that 3D pop. Trust us, this look will get you on Santa’s “nice” list.
13. Bling Bling, Hooray!
Get ready to party with this fun look. Add rhinestones, faux diamonds, and gold accents to a nude base to make your mani pop and really stand out from the crowd. Go ahead, be extra.
14. The Gift Of Nails
Make gift-wrap nails your early holiday present to yourself this season, and play with your look by switching up the designs on your nails to add an extra fun twist. Try Sinful Colors Nail Polish in “Queen of Beauty” to make the gift-inspired nails sparklier and more special.
15. Classic White & A Glittery Twist
Snowflakes, stardust, or simply a glittery white polish? If you want to keep your nails simple and add just a sprinkle of holiday joy, try out this classic look with a subtle holiday vibe. Using glitter is the perfect way to spruce up your nails that will look classic with every outfit you wear. Make your tips shine and create your own winter wonderland with this simple and easy-to-recreate style.
16. Baby Gemstones
Holidays were meant for being a little extra, so why not throw a few holiday-inspired gems onto your mani? To recreate this look, create a thick, asymmetrical line at your tips using a gold nail polish, then add a few tiny gems on top using nail glue. Ta-da!
17. Mixed Metals
Instead of designing nail art, opt to mix and match your nail polish colors to give your manicure dimension with ease.
