CHRISTMAS NAIL ART TUTORIAL 2026 , candy cane nail art designs , how to do Christmas nails

I have some candy cane theme Christmas
nail art and I just love how all of
these turned out so very excited to
share it with you and we’re going to get
started with the first design so I went
with a classic candy cane print started
off with a red gel base secured that and
then I’m using a white liner gel to
create my stripes so you can use regular
nail Posh for this but I will say gel
Posh is a lot easier to work with when
it comes the lines and you don’t have to
worry about the colors smearing together
when you go to apply the top coat but
again it’s is up to you either way I’m
going to start with a big stripe going
across my nail and then I’m making
smaller lines on each side of it so I’m
basically going to alternate big and
small lines you can adjust based on how
long your nails are or how big you want
the lines to be I am going to add a
slight curve to each line one because
it’s a candy cane and two it’s going to
hide that not every line is perfectly
straight so you know if it gets a little
wobbly here and there you won’t be able
to tell as much another reason I like to
use jna polish for freehand designs is
because it’s a lot more forgiving so so
if you mess up or you need to redo
something you can just take some rubbing
alcohol and wipe off your nail and it’s
like it never even happened so I did
decide to make each nail different and
this is another little hack for you guys
because if you try to make every single
nail the same it’s easier to mess up or
see the mistakes so by making the
stripes different on each nail you can’t
tell whether something was supposed to
be like that or not so I did do this one
where I had more red and then the next
nail I did more white so you know feel
free to mix it up a little bit and I
like the look that it gives so once I
was done I’m going to to add a glossy
top coat and you guys know I love a good
matte finish but when it came to the
candy can yert I just I felt like it
needed to be glossy you know and here is
the final look it literally it looks
like I took some candy canes and stuffed
them onto my nails a little in your face
but I love it if you’re looking for
something a little bit more subtle then
this next design could be a good option
for you so I decided to do a mix and
match Manny and I’m starting with my
middle nail and making sort of this what
do you call it swoop French swoop
situation
and then filling it in with a red gel
polish and caring that underneath my lay
I basically tried to make the swoop look
like a candy cane so if you have round
nails or almond nails this will look so
good please do this um but after that
I’m going to take a small detail brush
and white gel polish again and I’m going
to add little lines so for these they
are a lot smaller again I’m curving them
so you can’t tell when I mess up a
little bit and I’m just going to slowly
take my time I am going to cure my nail
as I go just in case I bump anything I
don’t want to have to start all the way
over so I’m going to do a few lines and
then cure my nails and then keep
going and look how cute guys I know I’ve
already seen this but it’s been about a
week now since I actually did these
nails and so seeing them again I’m just
like these are so cute I love these so
much all right moving on to the next
nail I’m starting off with a French tip
so to make this French tip I’m going to
make a line using that same small detail
brush and then I’m just going to take
the actual brush that comes in the gel
and fill in that top area there are so
many ways and methods to make a French
tip but this has definitely been my
go-to lately at least when I’m using gel
nail polish when I use regular nail
polish I like to use the French tip
stickers after carrying that tip I’m
going to go ahead and add these little
mini candy canes around the nail and I
did have them going different ways
different directions I think I did four
of these I don’t even know however many
you want on your nail and you really do
want to take your time with these that’s
why again I like using gel because you
don’t have to worry about the Polish
drying too quickly and then once you’re
done happy with your candy canes you can
cure them underneath your lamp to finish
the nail we’re going to add these tiny
little white lines I put the smallest
amount of gel on like the very tip of
the brush and I don’t even think I was
breathing when I drew these if you are a
beginner and you’re like absolutely not
you can always make these candy canes
out of dots so instead of doing the
candy cane and then adding the little
lines you basically make little red dots
alternating with little white dots in a
candye shape and I just I I love this
one too this would be so cute if you
just did every nail like this in a full
Manny for the next design starting off
with another French tip this time a
classic white and I’m just going to fill
that in and cure it and then we are
going to be adding a candy cane I know
surprise again you’re going to do the
red cure your nails and then add in
those white lines whenever you’re
switching colors or layering a color
make sure you carry your nails before
because it will all smudge together and
I will say it is easier to add the white
lines if you have a white background or
a white base because then you don’t have
to worry about keeping the white lines
inside of the candy cane they can go
outside of it a little bit and it kind
of just Blends in also side note do you
guys still eat candy canes because I I
can’t remember the last time I’ve
actually had a candy cane it’s
definitely been years like yeah I don’t
know let me know but to finish this
Manny I did a red tip on my pinky and
thumb and here is the final look I will
say this one is my favourite out of all

designs for the next design we’re
switching over to peppermint swirls
which I’m still going to count as a
candy cane okay but for this I did start
by just popping a tiny little red dot in
the center of my nail just so I knew
where the center point would be that
every swirl led to and what I like to do
is start out smaller than I actually
want the section or the swirl to be so
I’m going to make two curved lines and
then slowly build off of that until I’m
happy and I cure it underneath my lamp
again cure your nail as you go just in
case so you don’t accidentally smudge
something or let’s say I mess up on this
part I can still wipe it off without
having to start all the way over for the
spacing I’m not going to lie I just kind
of winged it and hope it would be
decently even and it did turn out pretty
even you can always go back at the end
and add certain areas to the white part
or the red part but it doesn’t need to
be perfect you do want to try to make
the lines get as thin as they can as
they go towards the center because as
you draw more and more it’s going to
turn into kind of a red blob if you make
it too thick so keep it thin and you’ll
be good and this what I was talking
about the white spacing was a little bit
off so I just made a few of the red
areas a little bit bigger and you can’t
even tell after doing that first swirl I
was like you know why not just make it
harder and make it even smaller so I did
and there was no reason to do this but
it was so worth it I don’t even know how
long this took honestly but it just it
turned out so much better than I could
have hoped main tip here again cure your
nail as you go cuz if I would have
bumped into one of these I would have
been so sad so here as you go and keep
the line as thin as possible you can
always make thicker so that’s the
biggest tip I just pretty much looked at
a picture of a swirl and Drew it on my
nail which I realized doesn’t help much
but if again you’re like this is just
too complicated they do have swirl
vinyls I’ve used them before and it
gives you a similar look so I will link
those down below for you guys to finish
the swirl I’m basically going to take
the very tip of the brush and just drag
it towards the center on each line so
that they all come to a point and I know
I said the last one is my favorite
design so overall that’s my favorite
design

Final Thoughts

but this one is my favourite nail because
I’m just I’m so shocked how this turned
out I’m really so proud of this I ended
up making the remaining Nails just
simple french tips because I felt like
doing swirls on every single nail would
be a little aggressive but I hope some
of you guys are able to recreate these
for the holidays I hope they inspired
you and I want to know which one was
your favourite so let me know Down Below