Looking for a chic way to show your Halloween pride? Sporting some cute yet classy Halloween-themed nail art is a great way to support your favorite fall holiday without overdoing it. We’ve picked out some nail art tutorials for you to try this Halloween. Whether you’re looking for something creepy or cute, we’ve got it all right here!
For most of these tutorials, you’ll find that having some nail tools will help. The most basic nail tools will include tiny nail brushes, which you can find online on Amazon, or you can drop by your local craft store and pick up the tiniest brushes you can find. As an avid nail artist myself, I own some that I ordered online specifically for nail art, but my favorite brush is actually just one that I found in a final sale paintbrush display at AC Moore. Dotting tools are another helpful thing to have when you’re doing a lot of simple nail art. I ordered my set off of Amazon, but you can also make your own a few different ways, as shown here. Once you’re equipped with these tools, you’ll be ready to go!
1. Spider webs: You’ll need a steady hand for this one, but the result is really cool. Bonus points if you add a little spider to match!
2. Candy corn: These nails look good enough to eat! The best part? They are super easy to recreate. If you’re particularly good at painting straight lines, you can freehand your stripes. If you’re like me and need some help in this department, don’t worry: you can find striping tips made for painting French manicures at many drugstores, as this tutorial suggests. If you’re feeling lazy, Scotch tape works as a great alternative to striping tips. Just make sure your polish is completely, 100% dry before you apply either striping tips or tape.
3. Googly eyes: This manicure will make you think of your childhood days of making googly-eyed crafts, so we knew they had to make the list. All you’ll need is your dotting tool, and you’ll be showing off your adorable nails to everyone!
4. Black cat eyes: Cat lovers, rejoice! This tutorial will show you how to recreate freaky feline eyes on your nails. Spooky!
5. Red and black ombre: These chillingly chic nails are perfect for all the classy ladies out there who want to rock their Halloween support in a more subtle way. This video tutorial shows how to recreate this look step-by-step, and even though it looks complex, it’s actually really easy. My favorite part about doing ombre nail art is that it doesn’t have to be executed perfectly to look awesome. Pro tip: make sure you wait plenty of time after painting your first coat of the red polish. If your nails are not 100% dry, the sponge will have the reverse effect and will actually remove some of your polish, and that isn’t what you want. Don’t forget to finish yours off with a matte top coat to perfect the look!
6. Halloween dotticure: Who doesn’t love some classic polka dots? This manicure is so easy, it doesn’t even need a tutorial. Bust out your favorite Halloween colored nail polish and your dotting tool and you’re ready to recreate this adorable look. Stressed about making your dots look randomly placed yet evenly spaced? Here’s how to create perfectly aligned polka dots for all you type A ladies out there (myself included). Don’t be afraid to switch up the colors or the patterns, too! Adding stripes on alternating nails or using purple and lime green polishes instead of black and orange would be great ways to add variation to this simple manicure.
7. Glitter effect: For all the girls out there who want to keep it truly simple, this is the manicure for you. Simply adding some glitter to your orange and black nails kicks your Halloween spirit up a couple notches, and we bet you’ll be getting lots of compliments with these classy nails.
8. Frankenstein and his bride: Frank and Mrs. Frank are a much cuter couple on your nails than in person. Recreating the faces of this tutorial might be tricky for beginners, and if so, you can just stick with doing the stitches shown on the index and pinky finger. It will still look fabulously freaky!
9. Ghosts: BOO! Did we scare you? No? Good, because we wouldn’t want to frighten you away from these adorable ghost nails! They are incredibly easy to recreate (no tutorial necessary!), and you can get creative with the faces on each finger, because no two ghosts are exactly alike.
10. Jack-o-lanterns: We couldn’t let you get away without a jack-o-lantern manicure! This one is for the truly dedicated nail artists out there looking for a challenge this Halloween. The faces on these jack-o-lanterns are tricky to recreate, but these Youtube tutorials break it down for you step by step. There’s actually four tutorials done by this nail artist, and each one shows how to do a different jack-o-lantern’s wickedly cute face. You can find them all conveniently located in this playlist.
11. Witches’ feet: These witches’ feet nails will have your friends cackling with laughter! Unfortunately, there’s no tutorial here. However, you can find tips for painting stripes in the candy corn tutorial. When it comes to the boots, I would start with the boot first, and then paint the socks sticking out of it. Start your boot about halfway down your nail, and start by painting all the straight edges of the boot first. You’ll need a steady hand to get those twirly toes, but don’t forget that if you mess up, you can always go over the stray marks with your white base coat and no one will ever know!
Enjoy your nail painting, and have a spooky Halloween!