'Tis the season to be polished.
Let your makeup play the subtle card when it comes to holiday beauty. Here, 15 of our favorite bold, colorful, and festive nail art looks from Instagram's mani maestros that are guaranteed to get you in the holiday spirit.
1
Starry Night
This negative space glitter star manicure is festive enough to last you straight through New Year's Eve.Try: Lauren B Beauty 33 Carats nail polish, laurenbbeauty.com
2
Candy Striper
Upgrade your year-round nude manicure with a tiny candy cane painted along one side of each nail.Try: Essie nail polish in Prima Ballerina, ulta.com.
3
Sugar Plum
A rich plum nail polish is just as festive as red, green, blue and silver—but far less expected. We love it paired with a single delicate snowflake accent nail.4
Gilded Wrapping
A golden take on a classic plaid pattern makes your nails look like super-fancy wrapping paper.5
Foiled and Festive
Though we're a fan of foiled manicures all year long, we love how this take on the metallic trend feels right for the holiday season without being too literal.6
Seeing Red
Red glitter nail polish is the epitome of a holiday manicure.Try: Le Chat Nails Dare to Wear Nail Polish in On The Red Carpet, lechatnails.com
7
Nail Ornaments
One could say that a holiday manicure is the beauty equivalent of a Christmas tree ornament. This design from LA-based nail artist Hang Nguyen takes that idea and runs with it.Try: Nails Inc. Paint Your Nails Happy collection, nailsinc.com
8
All Wrapped Up
A manicure inspired by bows and ribbons is cute, but sometimes we're looking for something a little more minimalistic. This negative space and foil-strip manicure from South Korea's famous Nail Unistella looks like the cool-girl version of a wrapped holiday present.9
Sweater Weather
Why don't you match your nails to the buffalo plaid blanket you'll be using to stay warm by the fireplace this holiday season?10
Eight Crazy Nights
Any combination of blue-and-silver works for a Hanukkah-inspired manicure, but if you've got the patience (and hand-eye coordination), try this nail art design using metallic nail striping tape.Try: OPI Infinite Shine nail polish in Get Ryd-of-thym Blues, amazon.com.
11
Red and Gold
You can't go wrong with any combination of red and gold this holiday season. We love how nail artist Jessica Washick paired a half moon red manicure with three gold Swarovski crystals glued to the base of her nail.12
March of the Penguins
If you're bold enough to get this penguin manicure, prepare to be stopped one hundred times a day to the sounds of "ooh!" and "ahh!" and "so cuteeeee!"13
Subtle Glitter
You don't need to cover your whole nail in glitter to get in the festive holiday spirit. Manicurist Betina Goldstein's design features a few colorful glitter dots on a clean nude polish backdrop.14
Holiday Baubles
All you need is a skinny nail brush, a steady hand, and a little patience to create this festive red-and-gold nail art look at home.Try: Nails Inc Less Bitter More Glitter Nail Polish Duo, sephora.com.
15
The Grinch
Nail artist Amy Tran created this Grinch-inspired nail art look using China Glaze's limited edition Grinch nail polish collection (of course).
