Pet & Animal: How to Make Halloween Nail Art

For the ultimate in Halloween nail art, create 10 digits of funky, spooky nails that will compliment any costume and make you the hit of the Halloween party or while trick or treating.

Steps

Skull Nails

Use neon and black nail polish to design skull nails. This design will give you that “loud and in your face” look; the perfect compliment to a retro-80’s costume or the 21st century witch.

Select five neon nail polish colors. If possible, go even bolder by painting each nail a different color.

Choose black lacquer nail polish so that your skull faces won’t chip easily. Although you will be applying a clear topcoat, preserve your manicure by using strong polish for the details.

Apply your neon polish base coat and allow the nail polish to dry. Make sure the base coat is fully dry before you attempt to design your skull. Also, while you can get away with only one coat, consider painting two base coats for a stronger manicure.

Create your skull eyes by placing two black lacquer nail polish ovals toward the base of your nails. You’ll want your skulls to be looking outward instead of at you.

Design the skull nose by drawing an upside down heart in black polish underneath the eyes. One way to approach this is to paint two small slanted ovals side by side with the ends touching each other.

Draw the teeth using a nail art striper brush for a clean, linear effect. If you don’t have a brush try using a toothpick or even the tip of a dried out felt tip pen.

Provide ample dry time before adding the clear top coat. If you add the top coat too soon your skulls will smudge.

Zombie Nails

Fight the undead with zombie nails. There is nothing neat or precise about zombie nails. Zombies are messy and on a driven quest for one thing and one thing only-- brains!

Gather a multitude of nail polish colors. For the ultimate in nasty, zombie nails be sure you find the right color of pallid green to use as your base coat. Other polish considerations include red (for blood), black (for bruising and dirt), white, yellow and even purple.

Paint your base coat and allow it to dry before you add your design. Consider using a uniform color such as green or yellow to achieve the full effect.

Plan how your zombie nails will appear. Unlike the skull nails, zombie nails are messy and dirty, so your nail art should represent this. Consider painting splashes and splatters of red (blood) on some nails, creepy eyeballs and stitching on others.

Use a variety of tools to achieve your look. For example, cover your hand, exposing only one finger and go for the blood splattered look with red polish. Or use a dotting tool and a toothpick to create a bulging eye with blood oozing. Remember--there are no hard and fast rules on these nails, the grosser the better!

Bow & Heart Skulls

Glam up for Halloween and create skulls with bows and hearts. Perfect for the little lady about to go trick or treating, these nails are pink with a small faux diamond.

Choose your nail polishes. Select a bright, hot pink for the base coat and then pick up a bottle of white and black polish. You will be creating a small bow at the top of each skull so for that extra glamour, add a small nail faux diamond.

Paint the pink base coat and allow it to dry. For this manicure, two coats is a must for the bright pink color to be prominently displayed.

Designate which nails will hold a skull. You could paint these adorable skulls on each nail, however if you really want to make them pop and be noticed, select just two on each finger. The rest of the nails can hold a small heart at the tip.

Create the skull by painting a round circle in the middle of the nail using white nail polish. While the paint is still wet, extend the circle by painting a small rectangle underneath it. The rectangle will be the skull’s mouth.

Paint the skulls eye’s, mouth and bow once the skull paint has fully dried. Create two small dots for the skulls eyes in the middle of the large, white circle you painted. Use a toothpick or a nail art stripper to create the teeth by painting three straight lines down the middle of the rectangle. Draw the bow using black nail polish on the side of the skulls head using a toothpick or nail art stripper and add a small faux diamond in the middle of the bow using nail glue.

Paint a small white (or black) heart on the other nails. If your hand is steady, paint the heart using the polish brush. Otherwise create a small, slanted oval and then paint another small slanted oval next to it, making sure the ends touch.

Add the top coat when your skulls, bows and hearts are fully dried. You may want to add two layers of top coat to encase the small diamonds and the complex design.

Spider Web Nails

Designing spider web nails only looks difficult. Creating these webbed beauties will be a snap using a nail art striper brush or a toothpick.

Choose your base coat and web color. While going with the black base coat against white web may be traditional, consider getting funky by using a neon base color and a contrasting web color.

Paint your base coat and allow it to dry. You may get away with only one coat for this nail as the star is the webbing.

Create the web. For webs coming out of the side of your nail, draw two wavy circles coming from one side. Create the circle waves, like you would if you were to draw a wavy ocean pattern with peaks and valleys. While the circle waves are still wet, use your nail art striper brush or a tooth pick and lightly drag white polish down the side, middle and end of the circles.