The season everyone has been anxiously waiting for is almost here: *spooky szn*! Now is the time to prepare your best Halloween ideas, from finding your scariest costumes to planning your boldest makeup looks. While I can’t wait to countdown to Halloween by watching my favorite horror movies and making the tastiest treats for the next fall party, another way I’m preparing this year is by looking for nail inspiration.
Decorating your nails is the perfect way to stand out this Halloween. You can choose a nail idea to match your costume or to add some extra Halloween spirit to your everyday style. You can ask your nail tech to try out a fun design design, buy press-on nails to save some time, or DIY the whole look yourself with just a bit of nail polish and creativity. The possibilities are endless — but no matter what you choose, your nails are guaranteed to look amazing this Halloween with these nine fun nail ideas from TikTok for you to recreate!
- Spider webs
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Spiders and their webs may be scary in real life, but they make great nail designs. This spiderweb design will give you a fun yet edgy look and is simply done by painting a mixture of straight lines with short curved lines connecting them, replicating the shape of the webs. It can be done with black or white polish. Feeling daring? You can also outline them with glitter or glue on sequins to make them pop!
- Mini ghosts
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This ghost design is a simple look to try! To get the look, paint a swirled oval shape for the ghost’s body. Then, use a nail dot tool to add three dots for the eyes and mouth with black polish. You can paint multiple ghosts on each nail or just add one for a statement nail, like TikTok user @nailartbysig did.
- Glowing jack o’Lanterns
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Jack O’Laterns is one of the most loved Halloween nail art designs, and for good reason. There are two ways to get this look: First, you can use your nail as the base for the pumpkin by painting it bright orange and then drawing on the face. Alternatively, the second way is to paint individual pumpkins with different facial expressions — but only if you’re up for a challenge (or just leave it up to your nail tech).
- Vampire coffins
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Coffin nails are a preferred nail shape, but did you know you can also use them for the vampire aesthetic? For this look, you first need to paint your coffin-shaped nails black. (Personally, I think a matte black polish would look great for this.) Next, outline the coffin shape with a lighter color, like silver or white. Lastly, add a cross in the middle to give it that spooky coffin look. Pro tip: Add sequins or gems for something a little extra.
- Flying bats
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Bat designs are also easy to do! First, pick a Halloween color for the base, such as white, orange, or purple. Then, you can paint multiple bats in different sizes or colors. There are so many ways you can make this design your own!
- Dripping fake blood
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Reminiscent of the vampire aesthetic (Elena Gilbert-core, anyone?), the dripping fake blood design is a must-have for your nails. To get the look, paint teardrop-like shapes on the top of your nail, replicating dripping blood with dark red polish. If you want to add a little *spice*, you can use red glitter polish instead!
- Glow-in-the-dark
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If you want to stand out at your next Halloween party (or just make sure that your friends can find you), glow-in-the-dark nails are the perfect accessory! To get the look, find a glow-in-the-dark polish you love and a quality top coat to make it last all night.
- Witchy aesthetic
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The witchy aesthetic is another Halloween nail favorite. This design can be done by painting a signature hat and broom — or you can even add more details like the moon and stars in the background. There are so many ideas you can choose from!
- Jack Skellington
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The Nightmare Before Christmas is both a Halloween and Christmas classic — so, it’s no surprise the main character Jack Skellington has become a popular Halloween nail idea. For this iconic character, all you need to master is his unique face by painting your entire nail white and drawing his face with black polish (or, if you’re not artsy, maybe leave it up to your nail artist).