Easy Holiday Nail Designs

Updated 2025.01.05. This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, Lots of Lacquer and its partners may earn a commission or other compensation, at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

The holiday season is upon us and that means so is festive nail art!

If you’re looking for holiday nails, Christmas nail designs or simple festive neutral nail looks, inside this post, you’ll find the inspiration you seek.

Holiday nails don’t have to be complicated; they can be easy and achievable. You may already have the supplies you need to create simple, yet appropriately festive nail designs.

I used to feel intimidated by all the gorgeous Christmas nail designs out there, until I started practicing them. As soon as I rolled up my sleeves and gave a few designs a go, I realized it wasn’t that hard. I was hyping myself up over nothing and as it turned out, I could make beautiful nail designs too.

If you tend to talk yourself out of being capable of creating stunning nail art, I encourage you to just give it a try. You may have some beautiful designs inside of you that are beyond your current comfort soon. They are just waiting for you to set your imagination free.

As we get started creating the easy holiday nail designs, one of the biggest concerns you may have is how to stick glitter to the nails.

If the glitter comes in a liquid formula, you’ll lightly dab it where you want it with the brush when your base coat is dry. You can also use a dotting tool if you need the dots in very specific places, which you’ll see below.

If the glitter comes as a dry powder, you can apply the glitter with the pad of your ring finger or a makeup sponge when your base color coat is tacky.

In both situations, you’ll apply the glitter accent as your final step before your top coat. The top coat will hold the glitter on the nail by sealing it into the design.

So let’s begin.

Below you’ll find a Red and Gold Themed Nail Design and a Christmas French Tip. Both are easy to do. The instructions, plus the supplies I used, are below each set of photos.

Red And Gold Nail Design

How to create this easy Red and Gold Nail Design:

I used Huella Beauty’s formulas as they’re 15-FREE and dry quickly. If you choose to go with the shades I selected, use coupon code LOTSOFLACQUER for 10% OFF at Huella Beauty! Though, any bold cream red and chunky gold polish will do. If you don’t have a chunky glitter gold polish, a chunky glitter green would also work.

Step 1. Apply 2-3 coats of your chunky gold polish, shown is Gold-Faced Liar, to your ring finger nail (shown is 3). Step 2. Apply 2 coats of your cream red, shown is Lifted Soul, to all other nails.

Step 3. When the 2nd coat of your cream red is tacky to dry, lightly dab 1 coat of your chunk gold polish on the tips of all red nails..

Step 4. Finish with your favorite top coat, I used essie gel setter.

Don’t overthink getting the gold glitter perfect. It’s okay if it lays slightly differently on the tips of each nail. The glitter chunks are so big so you’ll have some natural variation in every nail, and as it dries, you can move the big glitters into place as desired.

Christmas French Tip

How to create this easy Christmas French Manicure

You’ll need a dotting tool (this is the dotting toolset I have) plus a sheer pink, opaque white, gold shimmer and cream red polish. In lieu of gold shimmer, green shimmer would be an excellent substitute. Step 1. Apply 2 coats of your sheer pink, shown is OPI Passion - this is my favorite sheer pink from OPI. Wait for 3-5 minutes between coats to dry. Step 2. Apply 1 coat of your opaque white, shown is OPI Suzi Chases Portu-geese on the nail tips. Use the bottle brush held sideways to swipe on tips. Don’t worry about getting this smile line perfect, you’re covering it with dots in the next step. Wait 3-5 minutes for it to dry. Step 3. Using a dotting tool, alternate dots of gold shimmer and red cream along the French smile line, shown is OPI Suzi’s Slinging Mezcal and OPI Red Hot Rio.

Step 4. When dry, or in about 5 minutes, using a soft, gentle hand, apply your favorite top coat, shown is essie gel setter.

So there you have it! Two easy holiday nail designs. 

While these designs are more Christmas color themed, remember: you can change up the colors depending on the holiday you are celebrating or the event you are going to.

For example, for a New Years Nails look, you could use navy blue, white and silver, black and silver, or black and gold, as ideas for alternate color combos, using the same techniques above.

Which holiday nail design do you think you’ll try first?

Other Articles You May Enjoy:

• Christmas Nail Ideas

• OPI Gingerbread Man Can Swatch

• OPI Gold Nail Polish

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