Spooky season is here! Halloween might officially be only for a day, but everyone knows, October is Halloween month. No matter if you celebrate it or not; wether you're going to a party or just sitting at home handing out candy, there's no reason why your nails can't be spooky and festive. So here are 10 nail art ideas and the perfect outfits to pair with them so you can look your absolute best and grotesque this Halloween.
1. Vampy Vampires
One of the most famous monster and hence a very popular halloween costume each year, is the coveted #vampire. Dark and mysterious, this costume calls for dark and vampy nails. You need to have long nails for this, so either grow them out (see here how) or get stick-ons/ extensions. You can go all out with intricate designs of vampires and roses and blood, basically anything black and red; or you can go simple with deep wine drippings emulating blood, as if you've just conquered a fresh victim. You can achieve this look freehand as shown in the pictorial, or use stickers which are easily available online.
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A vampire costume of choice, not the Twilight vampires though, those need sparkly nails. Dark, long and flowy is the way to go, more layers, the better. Be sure to add hints of #wines and burgundies to break up the monotone and add some dimension to your look.
2. Broken Nail Horror
The #zombie trope was dying, but 'The Walking Dead' brought a resurgence in zombies where the zombies were no longer green creatures craving brains, but realistic corpses who were scary and vicious predators. As you'd expect, nail care isn't at the top of a zombie's priority list. So they'd have rough and ragged nails from digging out of they're grave and hunting and what not. So for this look, you need fake nails and fake blood/red paint to emulate broken nails, we aren't method actors. You can use the pictorial as a handy guide. If you don't want to make is as gory, you can make minor cuts and stitches on otherwise gorgeous nails. The minor cuts ands wounds can be used for other characters than zombies too.
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Anything undead and creepy/scary. #Zombies are the go-to, but you can get really creative. Your favourite #Disney character, they are undead. Bride? Undead. Nurses? yup, undead. You can make any generic "sexy" costume creepy and scary by turning it into, you guessed it, an undead zombie character. 'The Corpse Bride' would be perfect for this look, also the cute little plant eating zombies from 'Plants vs Zombies'. Just slather fake blood and dirt onto your costume with these nails, and you're in the running for 'The Best Costume' of the party.
3. Skeletal Scenes
If the last one was too much for you, let's go back to basics and simpler costumes. With this design, a simple combination of black and white makes for a classic yet chic look. You can use stickers/stamps or draw the #skeleton freehand. You can leave it as is, or add details to make it creepier or cuter, depending on your vibe and costume.
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This one is an artist's dream. Not only is this costume easy to find, the face and hand #makeup is a stepping stone for creativity. You can make it dark and gothic, or cute and modern. With this costume, the world is your oyster and you can keep it as simple as or as intricate as your hearts desire.
4. Ghoooossttsss!
Ghosts and spirits are a Halloween staple. Found in every house in decor and food, this is the simplest nail design to do. You can keep it simple, or go a little further and make 3D ghosts pressing out of your nails. This can be simple and cute or intricate and scary depending on your personal tastes and costume.
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Your wedding dress which isn't getting much use...just kidding. Anything flowy and white, be it a maxi dress or a plain white bedsheet. Slap on some white face paint and creepy details, and voila, you're a #ghost. Thanks to 'The Haunting of Hill House', the 'Bent Neck Lady' is in trend this year. You can also do the classic urban legend of 'La LLorona' (Lady in White) or a ghost bride waiting for their partner for eternity. If all else fails, a simple 'Bedsheet Ghost' never fails.
5. Witchy Ways
No Halloween is complete without a witch roaming around, and what does a #witch have other than creepy cackles? Long talons! #Stiletto nails are perfect for this look, so get extensions done or get stick-on nails. Depending on your outfit, you can keep it simple, fancy or creepy. #Black is the colour for this design.
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Gone are the days of green #witches with big moles and in are the times of the modern witches. These are powerful women and some men who aren't afraid to stand their ground and against the crowd and they won't be burned at the stake. Modern costumes ooze elegance and mysticism. Sexy layers of black and deeper tones paired with a chic black hat. You can totally whip up a costume by co-ordinating different items from your closet if you're already into black. Pair them with the gorgeous black nails as the feather in the cap.
6. Bloody Bits
Usually when a monster is busy in their daily routine of hunting victims and what not, they tend to use their nails as tools (a big no-no in the nail art world) and get them quite bloody. This nail design emulates that by using red nail paint in place of the blood. You can have the base of choice topped with a 'splatter' of red nail paint as shown in the pictorial; or you can draw 'drips' of blood instead manually.
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Any costume where blood is involved. Murderous surgeons, nurses and butchers are a good choice. The #nurses from the 'Silent Hill' game series are always a winner. Any crazed murderer or vampire looks will go along well with this nail design. Another unique take is the plastic surgery gone wrong look, which honestly sounds the scariest of them all.
7. Spiders!
What's scarier than ghosts, zombies or vampires? Spiders! Especially a #spider you can't find anymore! Though mostly harmless, there isn't a person who hasn't squirmed at the sight of a spider at least once in their life. This nail art uses these creepy critters as the centrepiece with sprawling cobwebs to add more pizzazz. You can use something called 'Spider Gel' to create 3D webs that stand out more.
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Even more spiders! Spider themed clothes, stick fake #spiders all over your clothes and hair. You can also do creepy old woman looks who might have cobwebs on their nails because of the dingy old mansion they come from. If you need a last minute costume and have mad makeup skills, you can draw these creepy crawlies all over your face and freak everyone out.
8. Moooooooon
Dreary nights with a crescent #moon barely visible is a common trope and the starting scene for most horror movies. Ominous and foretelling of bad things to come, this makes for a very gorgeous as well as mysterious nail art. This look is better achieved by drawing the various stages of the moon waning and waxing freehand over a deep black base. You can add details like stars and bats to make it creepier.
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Lunar costumes! One creature associated with the moon is the mighty Werewolf, so you can wear wolf costumes or do your makeup to emulate a wolf. You can also dress up as a 'Moon Witch' or 'Moon Child', mystical beings who use the moon's powers. The anime 'Sailor Moon' lends a lot of ideas for this design, particularly the 'Dark Moon Clan'.
9. Pentagrams
Pentagram is an ancient symbol associated with various religions, specifically paganism. It is now used mainly as a symbol of faith by #Wiccans. So our intention is not to offend anyone, but reference the common trope of it being associated with the dark arts, #Supernatural fans, where you at!? So once again, not vilifying any faiths, but using the various symbols to associate with the occult as shown in pop culture.
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Modern Wicca clothes. They are chic, mysterious and sexy. Layering your black clothes, but the end result is more classy than goth. You can also allude to Satanists by wearing robes and having #pentagrams and more satanic symbols in your look. A fun look would be 'Satan's Cheerleaders'.
10. The Shining
Rated the best horror movie year after year, 'The Shining' is arguably one of the most famous and popular horror movies out there. Stephen King's story and Stanley Kubrick's vision enamoured people of all ages and has some of the most iconic scenes in the genre. The 'Creepy Twins', 'Gushing Blood', 'REDRUM" and the quintessential "Here's Johny' scenes have been a very popular Halloween trope. So you can use stickers or your freehand skills to have these iconic #TheShining scenes on your nails.
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Any spooky character from the movie works. This makes for a fantastic couple or family costume. You can dress as the 'Grady Twins if your heights and physique match; the Torrence couple or the Torrence family. You can add as many details as you'd like and add different characters from the movie, but these are the most easily recognisable.
There you have it, 10 spooky nail art and costume ideas for you to rock this halloween and have a good old time. Check out the blog for more nail art inspiration and tips and hacks. Take care and flaunt those gorgeous creepy nails.
P.S.- None of the images used are owned by us unless watermarked with @nails_by_sujata.