Halloween Manicure Ideas
The Halloween season is upon us. This means it’s time for us to let our hair down and have a ball – a Halloween ball that is. If you’ve got a costume ready, why not glam up your nails with Halloween themed nail designs? Your nails are often the missing link between a good and a great look. To this end, getting a “ghoulish” nail design can do wonders if you want to get into the Halloween spirit. The best part is you don’t need a costly trip to your local nail spa in order to give your nails that Halloween makeover. Just the right attitude, a little imagination, and some gel manicure.
Choose Your Color.
The first step to fabulous Halloween nails is choosing the right color. The most obvious choices are black and red, or a shade similar to the two. We recommend Caviar, Black Sapphire, and Fashion Victim from our gel manicure line. Caviar and Black Sapphire are shades that fall in the black color range with Black Sapphire featuring tiny specks of silver glitter – think a starry night sky! Fashion Victim on the other hand is, you guessed it, our version of blood red. Now you’re probably wondering why gel polish? The Rossi Nails line of gels can work on both natural and artificial nails, so you have that option.
So to start, you first apply and cure the base coat. When that's done you then apply a thin coat of the polish of your choice. After the 1st layer has set, apply a 2nd layer but this time, make this layer slightly thicker than the 1st.. This is to ensure you get the right coverage on your nails. Next, apply a layer of topcoat, and cure. After your mani has properly cured, apply come cuticle oil and you're done!
But Wait, There’s More...
As fab as your nails will look, there’s always a way to take your Halloween mani to the next level! One easy way is to blend two colors for an even more dramatic effect on your nails. Using Caviar as the base, you can paint a layer of Fashion Victim on the ends of your nails, to give them a “just scratched something and drew blood” look! When going this route, it’s best to lightly blend the red color against the black for the best effect. Keep in mind however that this color-blending doesn’t need to be perfect. This IS a Halloween nail job after all.
After painting-on the Fashion Victim shade, get a really thin nail art brush and sweep it back and forth, and up and down to get an ombre effect. Since you’re using a gel polish, you can actually take your time to get the effect right. When you’re satisfied with the results, you then could cure the mani, and you’re done! Remember that this effect can also work if you have the colors reversed.
Now for an even more awesome effect, how about some...veins! This veined effect is best done with a black over red color scheme, as this ensures the “veins” pop-out more. To get this effect, you first apply a layer of Caviar on the tips of your Fashion Victim-painted nails. Make sure that you have a little more product towards the ends as this area is going to serve as a “reservoir” of sorts. You then get your thin nail art brush and draw out your “veins” towards the base of your nail. Do this several times till you get the desired effect. And as always, cure when done!
Let Your Imagination Fly!
This is of course just the tip of the iceberg, as far as Halloween nail ideas are concerned. Other ideas you could do with just these colors, is a “oozing slime” effect. This effect is done similar to the vein effect described earlier. The difference is, the "slime" starts from the base of your nails, rather than the tips. Also remember to keep the dripping slime thicker to get the best effect.
Here are some examples of dripping slime nail designs. Design by @nailbyvan82 on Instagram
Another appropriate Halloween design is spider webs. When doing this design, you could have the webs at different locations on different nails. You could even add some glitter to the web for an even more glamorous look!
Check out these spider web designs with glitter! Design by @nailsbyamberley on Instagram
Yet another set of interesting design ideas are faces, insects or ghosts! Just like the veins and slime, you'll need your thin nail art brush for this one. Now this might take a bit more skill to pull off. Still, don't sweat it, and have fun!
Look at those faces and spiders! Design by @superflynails on Instagram.
All in all, just let your imagination fly! Not to overstate the fact but just have fun! That's what the season is for. And have a spooky, safe – and glam – Halloween!