Christmas is coming and the goose is getting fat… Or however the old Christmassy song went. The festive season is now well underway with many already having their Christmas decorations up, and most of us wishing we’d started our gift shopping a lot sooner!
Remember to take some time out to treat yourself this festive season! What better way than to get the party season kick-started with these Christmassy delights – 31 nail art designs you have to try this year!
1. Cute Santa Claus Nails
Instagram / ane_li
Nothing says Christmas quite like Santa Claus and this design is one of the easiest and best to start with for Christmas 2015. A red nail with a white stripe going along the centre vertically, and then along the edge of nail horizontally gives you the perfect backdrop for Santa’s belly, and the belt is also an easy addition.
For the rest of the nails, keep things elegant and simple with a nude bottom coat (easy to pain Santa’s face on to), with just the right amount of gold glitter to keep things elegantly festive. The mistletoe is an optional extra but you never know… Mistletoe sure comes in handy when there are cute guy’s around to smooch!
2. Polka Dots + Christmas Tree
Instagram / PaulinasPassions
Who said polka dots couldn’t be festive? You have a classic cream bottom coat with red, gold and green dots added either scattered, or in the shape of a Christmas tree like the one feature nail shown here. The gold star embellishment adds a beautiful finish!
3. Candy Cane Nails
Instagram / thenailtrail
Those red and white stripes that make up the candy cane design is so symbolic of Christmas yet we often forget about this simple, classic design when we look for Christmas nail designs.
You can get strips of nail foil which you can place over a red or white backdrop, before painting over the entire nail with the alternate color. When you remove the foil strips, the contrasting color will pop through, giving you an easy way to recreate this look at home when you’ve only got a few minutes to spare.
Handy hint – red nails can be added to with ease so if you’re stuck for ideas, always go with a festive red base!
4. Santa Claus Suit Accent Nail
Instagram / fairlycharming
Remember I said that red was the best festive base color you could go for? Well, this nail design is a classic example of why. You can add a festive red glitter topcoat to keep things simple. You could also add a green gem embellishment to add a little something extra. If you wanted to take things even further, you could always steal that Santa Claus suit you painted in the first design in this post on one feature nail.
5. Christmas Trees Manicure
Instagram / nailsbyjema
This is such a unique look and one that not many people will be rocking this Christmas, that’s for sure! (Well, not until now anyway!)
If you want something classic, elegant, simple and yet stands out this festive season, these green and white Christmas tree nails are the perfect design for you. It’s a classic white backdrop with tape used to form the Christmas-tree-triangle. The watercolor effect is a little harder to achieve if you’re a beginner, but there are plenty of tutorials online you can copy. The good news is that you don’t need any other color than the two you have here. They can be mixed together to recreate the marble, watercolor look.
6. Festive French Manicure
Instagram / naildecor
If you’ve already got a French manicure and you only have a few minutes to jazz up your nails, the easiest thing you can do is add a touch of glitter. In fact, just like the red base coat I suggested, I would highly recommend you always have a glitter top coat to hand. It’s amazing how instantly revamped these classic nails are with the addition of some sparkle, and the mistletoe is once again a little added extra!
7. Elegant Christmas Nails
Instagram / fairlycharming
See… I told you glitter was great! Another great and simple look, the black tip is easy enough to recreate yourself, and the Christmas tree-shape might take a few shots but practice makes perfect. Add those random glitter sparkles over the top and what do you have? 5 minute festive nails!
8. Christmas Gift Nails
Instagram / nailsbyjema
Not just great for creating that candy cane design from earlier on, nail foils are a great way to add something really beautiful to your manicure. Simple red nails (again with the red!) are instantly glammed-up with the addition of a few silver foil strips, and the bow embellishment is another great way to add a bit of bling.
9. Cute Manicure Idea
Instagram / polishedtwins
Sometimes you just need to go cute and what cuter than this adorable reindeer design? Pick your favorite nail and make that one your feature nail, or go all-out and have each one differently festive-themed like you can see here. Who cares if you can’t pick your favorite – have them all!
10. Holly & Candy Cane Nails
Instagram / thenailtrail
In order to keep your festive nails for longer, always make sure you add a base coat before applying any designs. This will give the polish something to stick to, and when you apply a top coat too, it seals in your finished masterpiece giving you chip-free nails for longer. Plus it helps to avoid that awful staining that you can often get with bright colors such as red and green…
