Christmas Candy Cane Mani

Can you believe Christmas is already next week? It seems like just yesterday I started Christmas shopping…pushing old ladies out of the way to get to the last box of candy canes and wondering how unethical it would be to regift a bad Christmas sweater I received last year…

JK. But I really do love the craziness of the holiday season. I’ve always said there is absolutely nothing like Christmas in New York. The tree at Rockefeller center (which I am actually going to see later this evening), the windows at Macy’s, the ice skating and little holiday shops…. Throw in some Christmas music, the decorations and the lights…the excitement of trying to find that perfect gift…it gets me every time.

When I see all of those decorations and see everyone shopping, it feels like just right now, just for this one moment…everything is okay. Everyone seems a little less grumpy, and bit more happy, and even a bit more giving.

But I know that’s just me being optimistic. So how will I be spending the upcoming holiday? Watching The Grinch Who Stole Christmas and The Muppet Christmas Carol, consuming way too much hot chocolate, cuddling with the Mr., and lounging around in my Grinch Who Stole Christmas onesie (no, you are not allowed to judge me). And of course, doing my nails.

Disclosure: No old ladies were harmed in the making of this holiday manicure.


So this is my version of candy cane nails! For this look, I first painted my nails using one coat of Sally Hansen’s Quick Brick which is a lovely dark red shimmery polish. Over Quick Brick I did one coat of Milani’s Ruby Jewels. Ruby Jewels is a jelly polish with a red tinted base filled with tiny red sparkles. This color is completely opaque with three coats, but to avoid having multiple layers of polish I decided to use one coat of Quick Brick and one coat of Ruby Jewels. That way, my nail color looks completely opaque and not too jelly like.



Once my two coats of polish completely dried, I took several pieces of scotch tape and cute them length wise. I then arranged the tape on my nails where I wanted the red stripes to show through. Finally, I did one coat of Celeb City, and as soon as I finished painting the coat, I quickly removed the tape in one pull, leaving me with those nice straight lines.

Then I added some silver sparkles (platinum record) and stamped on a bow and tada! Instant Christmas.



Stay tuned because I have one last Christmas mani up my sleeve!

Like what you see? Check out my other designs on pinterest and tumblr.

"Christmas, my child, is love in action. Every time we love, every time we give, it's Christmas."

-Dale Evans 

Sally Hansen - Quick Brick (red base)
Milani - Ruby Jewels (red glitter topcoat)
Sally Hansen - Celeb City (stripes and stamping)
Color Club - Platinum Record (glitter)
Konad M59 - Bow