Fun Halloween Nail Art

It doesn't matter if you go all out and dress yourself up from head-to-toe in a full-blown costume to the point where even your own mother doesn't recognize you (or won't admit to it anyway). Or, you may just be looking to accessorize your costume. Maybe you are a more low-key person who likes to fly slightly under the radar and celebrate Halloween in more understated and subtle ways.

If you are any one of these kinds of people, then Halloween nail art is right up your alley! Halloween nail designs fit in with every kind of costume, even - and especially - if you decide to dress up as yourself.

Halloween nail art can range from totally crazy and out there to very delicate and pretty designs. It's entirely up to you and your style.

You can change your nail art a lot easier than designing a whole new costume.

In anywhere from a few minutes to an hour (depending on how detailed you want to get,) you can transform your nails into a customized Halloween art form!

Without spending a great deal of time or money, you are all set to celebrate Halloween. This year, let your nails be a cool focal point of your costume and your very own Halloween style.

• Halloween Nail Polish
• Halloween Nail Stickers
• Halloween Nail Stencils
• Halloween Nail Stamp Plates
• Halloween Nail Ideas
• Halloween Fake Nails
• Halloween Toenail Designs
• Halloween Nail Art Tip
• Nail Art Accessories
• Halloween Party - Girls Only!
• Halloween Nail Art Designs
• Happy Halloween!

You don’t need to wait until October 31st to start experimenting and wearing some very cool Halloween nail polish.

There are so many awesome colors available to put you in the Halloween mood in the weeks leading up to the big day. Choose from purple, black and the classic orange to make your nails really pop.

You can find all kinds of different forms of nail polish from acrylic to gel, and with a super shiny or matte finish. There are fast drying formulas, and safer versions that don’t contain dangerous, smelly or otherwise icky ingredients such as formaldehyde or acetone.

Because you want to really turn it up a notch for Halloween, there are many nail polishes that have that special glitter already mixed in. There are pre-made polishes that give you a “crackle” look, as well.

To create your own special effects, there is always the option of painting lines or stripes on your nails with at least two different colors of polish. Paint every nail a different color.

There are also scented versions, neon colors and this is the best – glow in the dark nail polish! Your nails can speak for themselves as you dress them up in your own unique and creative style.

Whether glitter, glaze or lacquer, there is a nail polish you can use to really boo-st your Halloween look this year!

Nail polish strips and decals, too!

OK, so maybe you don’t want to use nail polish because you don’t have the time to get as detailed as you’d like to get. Or maybe a young child does a better job of painting nails than you do. Well, don’t worry because there are easier and less messy options out there for you.

For example, you can go with some creepy, spooky, cute or classic Halloween stickers for another customized and awesome nail art design. There are so many different sticker designs that it would be impossible to list them all, which is a good thing for you! Anything Halloween comes in a nail sticker, so you can really match your nails to the exact type of custom look you want.

In addition to nail stickers, there are also nail decals and strips, which give you all pretty much the same effect.

While nail stickers can cover the whole nail and give the appearance of a customized manicure, nail decals and strips may or may not cover the entire nail.

You can think of these decals and strips as temporary “tattoos” for the nails. Decals and strips work very well over nail polish and are usually very small designs that stick right on top of the polished nail.

The results are very cool because you can use the nail polish as a background color and then apply these small sticker, decal or strip designs right on top of your polished nails.

It’s fast, easy and in just a fraction of the time and expense, looks like you’ve spent a lot of time and money on your nails.

For another creative twist, try your hand at using nail stencils. At one time or another, we’ve all seen mom tracing stencil designs around the border of the dining room to create an elegant, custom look to those walls.

Well, nail stencils are the same thing; only smaller and on your fingernails. And Halloween nail stencils are certainly more fun!

Stencils come in a few different ways. You can buy a sheet of peel-on stencils, which are super easy to use because after you peel them off the sheet and adhere them to your fingernails, you simply paint them with your favorite Halloween-colored nail polish, peel away the stencil and there you go! A beautiful stencil design on your nails!

There are also those reusable stencils, which you hold or tape in place while working the design onto the nail. Lift up the stencil when you’re done and you have a cool stenciled design all ready for some nail polish to bring it to life. These stencils are usually on a more rigid type of sheet so you can clean them up and use again.

Lastly, there are stencils cut out of something that resembles a wheel. These stencils are great because you can use them over and over again. Wipe off the stencil wheel after each use and you’re ready to use them again. These stencils are also held in place over the nail until you apply the stencil design to the nail.

Stencils are great because you can use more than one design on each nail.

You might try a nail pen to draw the stencil design on your nails, or if you’re really daring, a nail airbrush.

Stencils really give you a lot of stylish ways to show off your original and creative nail art!

Nail stamping and nail stamping plates have become quite the hot trend in nail design.

This method of nail art is different from the others, because you actually stamp designs right on to the nail with nail polish. This gives a very upscale and awesome effect.

Supplies required

• Nail stamper
• Nail scraper
• Nail stamp plate
• Nail polish remover
• Q-tips and cotton balls

For stamping, it’s best to use a nail polish with a fast-drying formula. Usually fast-drying formulas are a bit thinner, and the thinner the better with stamping so your nail art doesn’t smear or run together on your nails. Stay completely away from anything containing glitter or any other additives to the polish because this will make a mess of your stamps and stamping plates. You can experiment with polishes that are shimmery or metallic, but that will be on a strictly trial and error basis.

Give your stamp plate a quick wipe with nail polish remover in between stamps to make sure each stamp is fresh, clear and as clean as possible.

You can watch the YouTube video for more detailed instructions immediately after reading this information, but here is the basic process -

• Apply a base coat to your nails and let completely dry
• Apply nail polish to the stamp plate design of your choice
• Scrape excess nail polish off stamp plate
• Press stamper down over the stamp plate design to transfer the design to the stamp
• With a quick, sweeping motion, roll the stamper from one side of the nail to the other
• Let the polish dry before applying top coat to seal stamp design on your nail

Pretty cool, huh?

Nail Art Stamping

Be sure to check out the video to walk you more thoroughly through the steps of stamping your nails with Halloween designs!

If you’re really “pressed” for time, you can always go with the tried and true classic press-on or “fake” nails.

These are very popular to use for Halloween costumes because they use a simple peel and stick method. If you have small hands and nails, you may have to cut or file the nails down to size.

They are usually pre-painted so you’ll be ready to go in just minutes. You’ll still want to apply a base or top coat to your bare nails before pressing the sticky glue or adhesive from these fake nails onto your real ones.

One big downside of these nails is that they are usually falling off your fingernails all night! Notoriously, the adhesive isn’t meant for long term use and even during the course of the evening, you may be fishing your fake nails out of your drink, appetizer plate or purse. Just in case, carry along a little plastic bag with some extra nails and adhesive for touch-ups on the fly.

While fairly inexpensive and work pretty well for the short term (if you take it easy on them), these would work out well for you!

These nails are great to use for a witch costume or really glam it up as some kind of diva.

And let’s not forget about those toenails! Perfect your Halloween look literally from head to toe by using any of these cool nail art ideas on those toenails.

Especially if you’ll be wearing some sort of sandal or open-toe shoe, having your toenails polished and/or done up in nail art is a must.

The only thing about toes is that they are not nearly as cooperative as fingers. So, to get those toes to cooperate a bit better and make them easier to work on, a toe separator should do the trick so you can work your toenail art to perfection!

Whether you match your toenails to your fingernails is entirely up to you. You may want to create nail art designs that complement each other between the finger and toenails.

Anything you can do to make your fingernails look amazing, you can do to those toenails, too.

Make sure your toenails are also clean and dry before working on them. If your heels and toes need a bit of sprucing up and moisturizing before being presented to the world at the end of October, be sure to slough off any dead skin and use a thick moisturizer to soften things up a bit. Give that moisturizer plenty of time to soak in (at least one hour) so it won’t present a problem for the pedi nail art!

For getting the best results with any of these nail art ideas, be sure to start out with clean, dry nails.

Always use a clear basecoat under your nail polish or before using the stencils, stickers, decals, tattoos, strips or stamps because these items work better with a coat or two of polish on the nails.

Bare nails will work, but the effects will wear off faster, may stain the nails and just won't look as crisp or nice.

Before you begin creating beautiful Halloween nail art designs, be sure you have all the supplies you’ll need on hand. There’s nothing worse than getting your nail polish on in places it’s not supposed to be and suddenly realizing that you don’t have nail polish remover! Sound familiar? I’ve done it at least a million times : )

So before you begin, just have all your stuff on the ready. Give yourself a nice, comfy space to work that’s free of clutter.

If you have cats like I do, make sure your vacuum up all the hair that may be lurking in the air and will take direct aim at your wet nail polish! It’s best to either work on your nails in the bathroom – away from the pets – or maybe let them go outside or into another area behind closed doors.

Aside from all the important tools you’ll need like emery boards, buffers, nail files/shapers, nail polish remover, cotton balls, Q-tips, toe separator and plenty of base and topcoats, the single most important item you’ll probably want on hand is a nail dryer.

A nail dryer really speeds up the time it takes for your nails to dry. By using a dryer, you can be more confident that your nails are completely dry before you move on to the next step.

Nail dryers come in all shapes and sizes, and you’ll be happy to have one so you can move forward with the fun stuff of designing your nail art instead of waiting for your polish to dry.

If there are girls in your home – especially girls with a Halloween birthday – why not throw a Halloween or birthday nail art theme party?

Because nail art is so fun and so cool, the girls would have a blast coming up with original and creative designs to show off at Halloween or any other time for that matter.

A slumber party with a Halloween nail art theme is sure to be a big hit. And the best part is – there is no age restriction on this type of party! This kind of party would be fun for girls, teenagers and really, ladies of all ages.

I had one of these nail art parties with my sisters and we had a blast! And if the truth be told, we’re far from being teenagers : )

If you’re not up for a party, include some nail art tattoos, polish, stencils or stickers in a Halloween goodie bag for something just as good as candy without all the calories!

Well, I hope you enjoyed reading about all the many, many options out there for you and your Halloween nail art...

I also hope the information presented here inspires you to get even more creative this year with Halloween nail art. Since you can use it alone to simply get into the spirit (so to speak), or as a finishing touch to an already amazing costume.

Any way you do it - have a Happy Halloween!!