19 Holiday Nail Ideas for the Perfect Party Manicure

We love getting all dolled up for the holidays, particularly finding ways to transform our beauty routine for the season. But as much as we enjoy whipping up holiday makeup looks and hairstyles, we get particularly jazzed for extending the festivities to our nails.

When imagining the perfect holiday party nails, we envision sparkles, shimmer, and time-honored color combos—red and green, green and gold, blue and silver, and so on. Of course, these colors and finishes can pair together to create so many pretty holiday manicures, so we rounded up over a dozen examples to help you find your perfect party nails on trend for holiday 2023.

Gingerbread Nails

You can never go wrong with gingerbread nail art for the holidays—especially this year, when emoji nails and nail stickers are trending. To recreate this look, you'll need a bottle of the Cirque Colors Nail Polish ($13) in the shade Renegade and a pack of the Deco Miami Deco the Halls Nail Stickers ($10).

Red and Green Art Deco Nails

For a less playful, more chic mani, consider this half-and-half red and green negative space number. The products used to create this pretty holiday party nail look include Bubble Crystal Candy Collection Nail Polish ($14) in the shade Kiwi and Aprés Gel Couleur ($15) in the shade Lucky Envelope. If you want to mimic the length, too, you'll need the Aprés Medium Round Tips ($4).

Christmas Light Nails

How fun are these dainty Christmas light nails? As intricate as they may look, they're actually not too difficult to recreate, so long as you have a fine-lining nail art brush, a dotting tool, and a steady hand. Start with a sheer, shimmery base, then draw a squiggly line across each nail with the brush. Next, use the dotting tool and cleaned brush to paint on each light.

Blue and Silver Swirl Nails

Blue and silver are the perfect color combo for Hanukkah nails or anyone looking to adopt a retro Christmas palette. The exact shade of blue used here is Blue Velvet Nail Polish ($15) from the Cirque Colors Atelier Collection.

Gold and White Holiday Nails

Gold and white is another vintage-inspired color combo perfect for the holidays. We love how nail artist Brittney Ellen transformed classic peppermint swirls with the luxe color palette. She used OPI GelColor ($13+) in the shades Sleigh Bells Bling and Coastal Sand-tuary to create the look.

Red and White Swirl Nails

Swirl nails were one of the biggest 2023 mani trends, so creating them with a red, white, and silver color palette (evocative of peppermint candy canes) is a great idea as we head into the holidays. Of course, with such an intricate design, you'll likely need a pro artist's skill to recreate this manicure.

Green Glitter Accent Nails

Pay homage to your Frasier Fir with these evergreen almond-shaped nails decked out with green glitter accent nails. To DIY a similar look, perfect your base with essie's Nail Lacquer ($10) in the shade Off Tropic.

Red and Green Plaid Nails

If you want your nails to look as pretty as a present, consider a plaid nail look complete with intricate little bows. Do yourself a favor, though, and book a nail appointment stat—because, trust us, you won't want to labor over these beauties yourself.

Peppermint Swirl Nails

Here's another example of peppermint swirl nails. Instead of opting for swirls all over, consider designating an accent nail or two per hand. The result will be just as head-turning.

Metallic Green Grinch Nails

If you love the shimmery green accent nails above, you'll swoon over this Grinchy metallic mani. No matter which nail shape or length you mimic it on, you can expect to earn endless compliments.

Tiny Gold Bows

Want to keep it cute? Opt for a holiday red mani topped off with teeny gold bows for a femme, minimalist holiday party look. Best of all, this design is easy to DIY. Start with your favorite red polish and top each nail with a bow from the Deco Miami Mon Cheri Sticker Pack ($10). If you're craving a bit more bling, check out the Deco Miami x Lele Sadoughi Classic Jeweled Nail Art Stickers ($12).

3D Sweater French Tips

If you're handy with builder gel or have a nail artist who is, consider this 3D sweater French manicure. It's cozy and chic all at once—especially with the unexpected matte finish.

Green and Gold Abstract Nails

Evergreen and gold is yet another winning holiday color combo. This nail look, in particular, offers a retro-chic approach to holiday party nails.

Snowflake Red French Tips

Let it snow! Consider this snowflake-covered red French manicure the adult version of the dance we used to do in hopes of a snow day.

Eggnog Mistletoe Nails

How cute are these eggnog-colored holiday party nails? They simultaneously remind us of the beverage of the season, sugar cookies, gingerbread houses, and classic mistletoe decorations.

Red and Green Abstract Mismatched Nails

We love the look of these mismatched red and green swirl nails. Whether you opt for two hands in one color palette, a hand of each, or a switch off on every other finger, you can't go wrong.

Snow-Dipped Tips

The East Coast is supposed to see serious snowstorms this winter, so these flurry-dipped tips are on point. For this look, nail artist Lauren mixed a few shades from the Static Nails Muted Pastels Palette ($29).

Red and Green Holiday Designs

Milky manis—one of the year's major trends—make even more sense around the holidays. (It's giving milk and cookies, no?) To deck out your milky mani for Christmas, keep it simple with fine-line doodles, or have your nail artist do it for you.

Red, White, and Green Polka Dot Nails

Last but not least, we have a cute and easy DIY: Red, white, and green dots for a confetti-inspired holiday party nail look. Festive, no?

Up Next: The 30 Best Red and Gold Nail Ideas For the Holidays

Read the original article on Byrdie.