Easy Halloween Nail Art Tutorial

As part of Blogtober, I'll be re-running some past posts that fit this month's theme. This post was originally published in October 2013.

It's no secret that I'm pretty into Halloween, and as with most holidays, I like to show that appreciation on my nails. The colors and themes of Halloween are just so much more fun than other holidays (sorry trees and eggs) and they really lend themselves to nail art. I was planning an eyeball manicure this year, but today I had second thoughts and was struck by indecision, resulting in a different design on every digit.

There are SO many other options that would be fun to add here, like candy corn, Dracula, witch, candy apple, werewolf...I ran out of fingernails way before I ran out of ideas. Here's my take on Halloween nail art and a step-by-step guide on how you can recreate the look:

What You Need

• White Nail Polish {White by Wet n Wild}
• Blue Nail Polish {Blue Me Away! by Sally Hansen}
• Red Nail Polish {223 by NYC}
• Lime Green Nail Polish {Innocent by Sinful Colors} 
• Gray Nail Polish {Light Grey by Forever 21}
• Orange Nail Polish {Orange Overload by Savvy}

• Seche Vite Top Coat

• Sharpie(s)

• Dotting Tools

• Nail Art Brush (optional)

Instructions

Paint a colored base for each nail. I applied white polish on my pinky and index finger, orange on my ring finger, green on my middle finger and gray on my thumb.

For the blood spatter design, first paint a red stripe at the tip of the nail. Using a nail art brush or small dotting tool, draw drips of red polish from the stripe toward the middle of the nail. Messy is fine here!

For the jack o'lantern design, use a Sharpie to draw the eyes and mouth. My orange polish reacted weirdly with the Sharpie for some reason, so I topped mine with black nail polish. Usually drawing with a Sharpie works wonders and is SO much easier than nail polish, but it can be unpredictable.

For Frankenstein, draw a zig zag line near the base of your nail [a] and fill in the empty space [b]. Next, use a dotting tool to make two white dots slightly above the zig zag [c]. Draw a black line above the dots with polish or a Sharpie [d] and add short perpendicular lines over it to look like stitches [e]. Add small black dots over the white dots to complete the eyes [f].

For the bloodshot eyeball, use a nail art brush or small dotting tool to draw squiggly red lines around the borders of your nail [a]. Next, draw a blue circle in the center of your nail with a dotting tool [b] and top it with a smaller black circle for a pupil [c]. Optionally, you can add a tiny white dot over the black and blue area as a highlight [d].

For the mummy, draw a thick-ish black stripe about a quarter of the way down your nail with polish or a Sharpie [a]. Use a thin brush or Sharpie to add random diagonal lines for the wrapping [b]. Use a dotting tool to make two white dots in the center of the black stripe [c] and top them with smaller black dots to finish [d].

Finish everything with top coat and ta-da! 
Your motley crew of Halloween nail art characters is complete. 

Here are some closeups of the designs:

BEAUTY: Spring Flowers Nail Art Tutorial

I know it isn't quite spring yet calendar-wise, and it feels even more distant weather-wise (thanks for that 19 degree morning, winter!), but I can't resist a theme project when one presents itself, which, coincidentally, is also why we're having Sweet Potato Irish Nachos and Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies for dinner and dessert tonight in honor of St. Patrick's Day, despite lacking even an iota of Irish heritage. I will seriously use food coloring in the name of ANY holiday. In a burst of warm weather inspiration I felt like I absolutely needed a flower-centric manicure immediately. I thought maybe if I kept flowers on my hands it would stop snowing for no reason out of nowhere all the time, but I was wrong. 

If you know what I'm talking about, console yourself with this springy nail sitch:

What You Need

Sky Blue Nail Polish {Wet n Wild I Need a Refresh-Mint}

Purple Nail Polish {Wet n Wild On a Trip}
White Nail Polish {Wet n Wild White}
Pink Nail Polish {Sally Hansen Coral Reef}
Yellow Nail Polish {Sally Hansen Mellow Yellow}
Green Nail Polish {Sally Hansen Going Green}
Top Coat {Seche Vite}
Dotting Tools & Paper Reinforcement Stickers

How To Do It

Start with 1-2 coats of the sky blue polish on all nails, except your ring fingers, which should have 1-2 coats of yellow polish.

Use the round tip of a dotting tool to create flower petal shapes on the top half of all the blue nails. These don't have to be perfect (hey, all flowers are different!) and it's easy to draw them by just making tiny dots in a star-shaped cluster.

Use a dotting tool to create a yellow center in all of the flowers. I find it helpful to put a glob of nail polish on a paper plate or paper towel and dip the dotting tool directly into it.

Use a dotting tool to draw straight lines with the green polish from the flowers to the edge of your nail.

Next, paint a green tip on the edge of your blue nails. I used a dotting tool to drag some polish up to make some uneven grass-like realness. 

Okay, we're finally coming back to that poor, lonely ring finger. First, put a paper reinforcement sticker over the top half of your nail [A]. It helps to stick it to skin first to remove some of the stickiness. Paint the bottom half of the nail sky blue [B]. Remove the sticker [C]. Use a tool to paint yellow stripes coming from the yellow semi-circle [D]. Now you have a sun with bright and friendly rays!

Top the whole thang off with a GOOD top coat to seal it all in and keep it glossy. I recommend Seche Vite for nail art because it doesn't drag the colors or muddy up designs, plus it dries in literally less time than it takes to peel an orange or brush your hair. Or more time, if you are extremely talented at either of those tasks. I'm not.

Are you into seasonal nail art? Is it already spring-like where you live? Do you know that makes everyone else furious with you?!

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BEAUTY: Fall Apple Manicure Tutorial

I love a theme! After my Halloween nail art, I was getting kind of bored with regular nail polish so I wanted to create another seasonal manicure. Instead of traditional Thanksgiving nails (okay, maybe those aren't traditional for most people), I wanted a general autumn situation on my nails. I almost went with leaves, you guys, but since I didn't get to go apple picking this year, I had to go with my favorite fall fruit. Plus, I had this vintage apple fabric for the backdrop so it was kind of inevitable.

WHAT YOU NEED

Red Nail Polish {NYC 223}

Green Nail Polish {Sally Hansen Going Green}

Lime Green Nail Polish {Sinful Colors Innocent}

Brown Nail Polish {Wet n Wild Wet Cement}

Black Nail Polish {Wet n Wild Ebony Hates Chris}

White Nail Polish {Wet n Wild White 449C}

Pale Nail Polish {NYC Love Letters}

Green Striper Nail Polish {L.A. Colors in Bright Green} - Optional

Top Coat {Seche Vite}  //  Dotting Tool

HOW TO DO IT

Start with a base of the pale polish. I'm using one meant for a French manicure. You can also just start with bare nails, but this adds a more polished (PUN ALERT) finish.

Use the small end of a dotting tool (or a nail art brush) to draw a curved line that looks like the top of an apple [a] across the middle of a nail. Fill in the space below the line to create the apple [b].

Repeat on all nails, using different shades.

Use the brown nail polish to add a small stem above each apple shape.

Use the green striper or the green polish on a brush or tool to add a leaf shape next to each stem.

For a fun variation, create a sliced open apple by painting a white shape that mimics the apple shape inside one of your apples. Add two black dots for seeds.

Use the dotting tool or a brush to add a white highlight mark on the right edge of each apple.

Finish with top coat.

I know bananas come in a bunch, but what do apples come in? Whatever that is, you have one now!

Are you into seasonal manicures? What would you choose for fall nail art? What do your nails look like right now?

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BEAUTY: Geometric Nails Tutorial

Nail art newbies - don't be intimidated by this look! It is deceptively simple and easy to replicate. The only thing you really need is the time to let everything dry well in between coats, but even those of us with shaky hands or less than stellar art skills can create this look. You can also get super crazy and draw a thin black outline between the shapes with a skinny nail art brush or add complementary colored polka dots to some of the sections. 

WHAT YOU NEED

Wet n Wild Nail Polish in On a Trip & White 

Sally Hansen Nail Polish in Mint Sorbet, Mellow Yellow & Pacific Blue

Milani Nail Polish in Toe-Mato Red

Revlon Colorstay Nail Polish in Sequin

Seche Vite Top Coat

Scotch Tape

HOW TO DO IT

Paint a base coat(s) of polish on each nail. I worked in a random pattern, but used mostly the lighter colors for the base since it's easier to paint darker shades over light rather than the other way around.

When the base coats are completely dry (I mean it, no cheating! I waited a couple of hours), place a strip of Scotch tape diagonally across a nail and press it gently to secure. I always stick the tape to the back of my hand first to remove some of the stickiness.

Use another shade to paint on the area that isn't taped off.

Slowly remove the tape. It's fine to do this before the nail polish dries.

Repeat these steps on the rest of your nails, maintaining a random color pattern.

You could stop at the last step, but to add a little more of a geometric vibe I painted colorful French tips on top of the diagonal sections. To do that, make sure that the nail polish is dry (again, really dry) and put a strip of tape across the tip of your nail, leaving a small section untaped. Fill in that untaped area with another color of nail polish. Remove the tape. You can also freehand the French tips if you feel up to it, which is what I did for most nails when I was too scared that it would mess up the existing nail polish.

Repeat on all nails and set with top coat to complete the multicolor geometric nail art. I like using a lot of colors that are kind of different to create a true randomness, but feel free to try this with a more matchy-matchy palette or even a monochromatic scheme.

I really like the un-matching nature of this design and color scheme for some reason. I usually tend to stick to more traditional schemes in my nail art and I definitely don't usually use this many colors in one look. Doing this pattern at random resulted in some unusual color pairings, and I actually ended up loving the mint green, yellow and silver combo the best. I would probably not have paired these before this experiment, but now I'm working on a whole nail art look based on just those shades.

Do you like geometric nails? Are you intimidated by creating any kind of pattern or art on your nails? Do you love Scotch tape as a nail tool as much as I do?

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