The holiday season is here, so you know what that means – it’s time for a new festive manicure. With so many parties and gatherings on the calendar, it’s worth the splurge to get into the spirit. Try these 30 festive Christmas nails that you’ll actually want to wear.
30 Festive Christmas Nails You’ll Actually Want To Wear
1. Festive Mistletoe
Simple and elegant, these mistletoe nails will catch everyone’s attention. The white and red color scheme pairs well with any winter outfit. You can have your favorite nail artist freehand this design, or you can try these press-on nails with a similar design and look.
2. Nightmare Before Christmas-Inspired Nails
Are you a fan of Nightmare Before Christmas? If you prefer things a little dark and moody, you’ll love this design for the holidays. These press-on nails have similar designs. You can use simple black sparkly nail polish for the rest of your nails.
3. Gingerbread Snowflakes
How adorable are these nails? Candy cane stripes, red and green sparkly snowflakes and gingerbread houses and men. What’s not to love? You can grab these exact nails as a press-on set on Amazon. But if you have a really talented nail artist, they might be able to create your own custom design.
4. Grinch Nails
Are you a fan of the Grinch and his holiday antics? You’ll love these press-on Christmas nails, which have a hand-painted Grinch design – including the iconic Grinch hand holding a red ornament. All 8 nail designs are included in this set.
5. Pink Matte Snowflakes
Here’s a gorgeous pink matte design with snowflakes and the classic V-shaped tip. You can grab these exact nails from Walmart for just a few dollars. If you’re not a fan of press-ons, use a matte pink color for your base and use snowflake and V-tip nail decals to pull off this look.
6. Plaid, Snowflakes and Stars
Red is the perfect color for Christmas nail designs, and these press-on nails have the perfect subtle designs for the holidays. The plaid, snowflakes and stars designs are festive but not too over the top, so you can wear them just about anywhere – even after the holidays are over.
7. Starry Night Nails
I love these nails because they’re different from the usual holiday designs. The rich blue/black color contrasts nicely with the nude-colored nails. I love the cute cat reindeer and ornament designs. But what you’ll really love about these nails is that you can buy the set right on Amazon.
8. Mistletoe and Holly
These gorgeous nails have pretty little red rhinestones and elegant painted mistletoe designs. You can use decals for these designs, or your favorite talented nail artist may be able to pull off these designs.
9. Black Winter Press-Ons
If you want to change things up, these black Christmas nails are gorgeous. You have the plaid, Burberry-inspired nail, black snowflakes, black stripes and a gorgeous rounded black French tip with a cable knit sweater design.
10. Elegant White Winter Nails
These nails are gorgeous (although I’m a little convinced they might be AI-generated). Even if they aren’t for real, I did find pretty tree nail decals you can use to recreate this design. Use a silver sparkly color as your base and create a gradient to a white tip to complete this look.
11. Golden Trees and Stars
Here’s a really simple but pretty design for the holidays. This nail sticker set will have almost everything you need to recreate this design, and you can use this ILNP gold nail polish for your ring finger.
12. Simple Elegant Red Nails
This red color is gorgeous and elegant – perfect for a holiday party or just to celebrate the season. The subtle snowflake on the ring finger adds a festive touch without being too flashy. This decal set has a ton of snowflake designs to choose from.
13. Snowy Winter Holly
I love this nail design because it looks like freshly fallen snow on a winter day. Amazon sells these exact nails as a press-on set, so you can rock this look all holiday season without stressing or breaking the bank.
14. Fun Colorful Christmas Trees
These Christmas nails are so fun and colorful. They’re also proof that you don’t need super long nails to pull off something cute for the holidays. The colorful Christmas trees would be easy to paint, and the polka dot designs are the perfect complement to the holiday trees.
15. Rose Gold Snowflakes and Sparkles
These rose gold nails are so festive yet elegant. Choose a pretty pale pink color for your first three fingers and metallic rose gold for your ring and pinky. Add a few snowflake decals, and you’re ready to celebrate the holidays.
16. Santa Inspired Nails
How cute are these nails? I love the “Ho Ho Ho” decal. It adds something fun to the look. The sparkling white ring finger pops against the red and snowflake designs.
17. Christmas Joy
So simple yet so festive and pretty. Holly, white polka dots and “joy” make these nails perfect for the holidays. A talented nail artist can easily recreate this look, but I also found press-on nails with almost the exact same design if you want something really easy and simple.
18. Red and Green Polka Dots
I love how simple these nails are, yet they’re still so festive. Red and green metallic polish make these nails pop. And the polka dot middle and ring fingers add a fun touch. You can easily do this yourself if you have a nail art kit.
19. Candy Cane Nails
Christmas nails that are designed to look like candy canes are always so cute. You can use red and white to make your own stripes across your nails, but vinyl stencils will make it much easier to make even stripes.
Art sticker decals will also do the trick.
20. Red Twinkle and Snowflakes
Red is red – everyone will be wearing it during the holidays. Featuring a deep red nail polish, this design really pops, thanks to the white twinkle design, which is easy to mimic thanks to these self-adhesive stickers.
If you have a steady hand and a thin brush, you can ditch the stickers and make the twinkle free-hand.
21. Red Tipped
If you’re not a nail artist, you’ll appreciate these red-tipped nails. Simple and easy to recreate, all you need is a white and red sparkle nail polish. The hardest part? Blending the red and white to make a seamless gradient.
Not sure how to make a realistic gradient? Watch this YouTube video:
22. Millie Glitter
Glitter is in this holiday season, and you can easily ditch the nail salon and recreate these looks yourself. While not traditional in any sense, the stylish chose a very light purple color for some nails, white for others and a glitter – like this one.
You’ll need to add the sparkly Christmas balls on your own using a thin nail brush.
23. 3D Snowflakes and Silver
Silver bells ring through the air at Christmas, but these nails will take you to the next level during the holiday season. Recreating this exact look will be tricky, but I found a close option on Amazon that looks just as good.
24. Holly Tree Nails
Holly tree nails are a great look during the holiday season. You’ll find similar press on nails online, but they’re not a 100% match. What’s missing? The silver snowflakes are pressed on top or designed by hand.
25. A Green Christmas
A simple green Christmas is a good way to describe these nails. You’ll notice the nails are made with clear and glitter-green nail polish. You can make the snowflake using nail art stickers, such as these ones.
26. Simple Christmas Nails
With so many bright nail colors and glitter, it’s refreshing to see a muted color scheme like this on the list. You’ll need a dark red and green color, as well as a cream and thin nail brush. A thin nail brush will make it easy to add the stripes to one nail, like in the Pin above.
27. Sugar Cookie Nail Art
Multiple shades of pink are used for these nails that feature a gingerbread man on one nail (how cute, right?), one nail that uses a darker pink with glitter and stripes and the pointer finger has a glitter swirl coming from the middle that completes the look.
28. White Snowflake Press Ons
It’s amazing what a talented nail artist can do. Imagine these nails on a person with a white, elegant dress. Silver glitter is used to accentuate the nails, along with white stripes and even snowflakes.
If you’re not a nail artist, I’m happy to report that you can buy this exact look on Amazon – just apply.
29. Snowbear Bliss
How adorable are these nails? One is painted a light blue with snowflake decals on them, but the real star of the show is the snowbear – a cute bear with a scarf – that is painted onto the nail.
Using a thin brush, you can recreate this look with an oval body for the bar, circular ears and black dots for the eyes and nose.
30. Red Sparkles and Snowflakes
Red is an iconic color at Christmas and one that will make your nails the focal point of any party. And with this nail idea, it’s so simple. All you need to do is apply red glitter nail polish and use a nail decal for the snowflake.
You can get the 3D self-adhesive nail decal here and apply it using tweezers if you want to be very precise.
